As every good kobold-lover knows, the surprise release of Baldur’s Gate from developer Bioware breathed fresh life into a fading genre. No longer consigned to dark corners and seedy after-school role-playing clubs, the previously oppressed fanatics revelled in their newfound acceptance. Recognising a lucrative market when they saw one, gaming companies released a plethora of quality RPG’s designed to slake the ravenous thirst of the gaming public. To those in the know, however, there was a game released in 1998, a game that deserved at least some of the credit for the revival now taking place – Fallout.

What made particularly good, apart from the unusual (for an RPG) post apocalyptic setting, was its innovative character system, known as SPECIAL. SPECIAL is an acronym for Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility, and Luck, these being the primary statistics of the main character. SPECIAL uses a skill-based system that was not common at the time, but which we now see incorporated into many new releases. It also uses a system of traits and perks to supplement character distinctiveness. It is a system that has gradually been adopted by most other RPG’s – the oft-hyped 3rd Edition rules used in the likes of Neverwinter Nights reflects this, adopting a similar “feat” system. The end result of the SPECIAL system is that characters can grow to accumulate the skills the player likes and finds most useful, instead of being railroaded into unwanted choices based on a character class picked right at the start of the game.

SPECIAL was an excellent system, and the boys at Reflexive Entertainment decided it was time to dust it off and take advantage of it once again, this time in their new game, Lionheart.

The game is based on an interesting premise, with a skewed version of real history providing the detailed story. Events begin with the Third Crusade, with the eponymous Richard heading off to the Holy Lands hoping to find some trouble. After a few encounters with archenemy Saladin, Richard - taking the advice of his chief advisor - gathers some holy artefacts and unwittingly tears a hole in the fabric of reality. Demons are released; Saladin and Richard join forces, defeating the demon horde and the evil advisor, and patching the hole in reality. But the damage is done, and the world is changed forever by this disjunction.

Reflexive use this story to present to us a medieval that is saturated in magic. History travels a recognizable course, distorted with demons, magic and mythical creatures, until the game begins in the 16th century and the impending invasion of the Spanish Armada. The backdrop to this is a conflict based on the English Queen’s admission that her forces use magic to defend the realm. The Spanish, heavily influenced by the anti-magic Inquisition, prepare to invade. It is into this rich world that the player character enters.