Game:

Arthur's Knights II: The Secret of Merlin (2001)

Category:

Let's Play

Duration: 53:18

1,096 views

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Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6iNuXuk2gdj2zEL1uL4K9IVABanAI8IG
Developed by: Cryo Interactive / Dreamcatcher Interactive Inc.

The sequel to "Arthur's Knights: Tales of Chivalry." The story starts exactly there were the first game left off.

Gameplay footage of these games are really difficult to find on the internet. For a number of reasons, I suposse. First of all, the games are not that great. For some odd reason though, it still captivated me enough to keep playing. Maybe the sometimes good captured atmosphere with it's strange sounds and unpredictable magical creatures? The sparse but good cinematics perhaps? Or could it be the European story, rooted in the world of myths and legends and which was at its basis quite interesting..?

Cryo made some improvements in the sequel. The storylines are more interesting. There's less travelling in between locations and if you HAVE to find your way; maps are included now. Lots of environments are the same, except this time it's spring. If that's an improvement depends on your taste. Both had their charm for me. There's more music under the gameplay-footage and I thought a lot of dialogue was better delivered now. Bradwen is replaced by the wonderful actor Geoffrey Bateman and he adds an authority to Bradwen that suits a true king.


TECHNICAL NOTE

Another reason for it's absence on the internet is it's poor compatibility. This game was known for not even start on hardware the developer himself recommended. When it DID start it crashed a lot when playing. Eventually I managed to play it on Windows 10 with Virtual Box and Ubuntu 15.10 (incl. WineHQ + PlayonLinux v. 4.2.10) installed on it and the patch applied. The only downside is that the in-game 3D acceleration cannot be enabled because of glitches in the characters. So originally, the game was less pixelated than the footage in my videos. For more glossy examples, check these screenshots: http://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/arthurs-knights-ii-the-secret-of-merlin/screenshots

But in the end, it was very playable without crashes, which in itself was quite surprising...


© Cryo Interactive Entertainment / Wanadoo Edition

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