Broadsword : Age of Chivalry Review

There are some games which I give the benefit of the doubt to. When looking at some titles you understand a bug here, an error in design there, as long as the final product is neat, tidy and at least functions as a pleasurable experience. Unfortunately I simply can’t give that treatment to Broadsword : Age of Chivalry.

My love affair with the turn-based strategy game began with Kessen on the PS2 way back in 2000. With that in mind I can happily say that one of the major plus points for Age of Chivalry is the fact that it looks like that title from 15 years ago. I can also say that while Age of Chivalry looks a little like Kessen, a game that was developed in the last millennium (let that sink in), it actually looks worse.

Now, I could forgive that if the gameplay was neat and enjoyable. After all, graphics aren’t everything. Unfortunately there’s not much gameplay in Age of Chivalry, either. The game takes place during the Hundred Years’ War, and allows you to command from both sides of the conflict. The opening campaign, which includes the tutorial, is from the perspective of Joan of Arc while subsequent campaigns focus on the English.

Your objective in Age of Chivalry is to take over your enemy’s stronghold on a tabletop-like overworld with the units you’re given for the scenario. Along the way you’ll have to battle and defeat their pieces, trying to exploit the various unit type’s weaknesses to ensure a quick victory. Units are moved across the board using a tile system and can enter into conflict with another through a system not too dissimilar to The Banner Saga.

When my first units engaged in combat, however, I had to choke back a laugh. The camera pans down onto a nondescript field surrounded by polygonal trees while a four-second looping track of what sounds like stock audio of a bustling market plays continuously. The two armies then ‘charge’ towards each other with stiff and rigid movement cycles that would bring a proud tear to any Cyberman or Terminator’s eye. They then clash and swing wildly at each other before respectively falling over. The casualties are then deducted from a HP bar the units are given.

I found it hard to make it past that initial battle but pushed on in the hope the game got better. It did not. As well as fighting on the field you can perform research on technologies and units to make them more effective. You’re not told this, however, and left to find out by randomly clicking the flat JPEG-like images that adorn the UI. On top of that it took me a full five minutes to find the ‘end turn’ button. Is it on the UI? No. Is it in the menu that pops up when I click on the hourglass? No. It’s on the pause menu.

The sound and music in this game is equally messy and rushed. At times the voice actors sounded either overly-enthusiastic – shouting their lines far too loudly – or bored. Both sets of units say the same canned lines no matter what side they’re on. They both have non-descript ye olde English accents. Only the ‘hero’ units (themselves only normal units with different names) have different voices. The soundtrack is bombastic and repetitive, full of horns and medieval fanfare that I found myself turning off ten minutes into the game.

So, with the gameplay and sound explained, I can now move onto the graphics. Were Age of Chivalry a mobile game I could perhaps forgive its lazy models, blocky textures and sore-on-the-eyes colour schemes. Unfortunately the developers saw fit to release it on PC and thus I must judge it by the standards of the platform. In short, the graphics are awful and at times laughable. Localisation issues are also rampant, as are spelling and grammar errors. It boggles the mind how a company can be so lackadaisical on such crucial elements of design.

With all that said though at least Age of Chivalry works. I encountered few bugs and glitches during my time with it, while the attempt to faithfully recreate the Hundred Years’ War is commendable. It’s a shame that the game is let down by its other features. If you’re looking for a historical strategy game and your computer or laptop is a potato then maybe you could consider this game. As it is, there are far better options out there for you.