"“Let’s see what England has to offer…”"

Many years ago, somewhere between the dinosaurs and the coming of the NES, there was a game called Defender of the Crown. Defender of the Crown brought much fun through its combination of turn-based strategy, its daring night raid levels, intense 8-bit jousts and mace duels, siege warfare and tactical battles, not to mention hiring the merry men of Sherwood Forest to slit some throats while you conquer England.

This time around, you are the merry men of Sherwood, and as the name suggests, Robin Hood: Defender of the Crown puts you in the lincoln green attire of Robin Hood himself. Loosely based on the old English legend, the story is introduced through an opening cinematic; showing scenes of war and conflict. Richard the Lionheart is captured while on the Crusade, leaving the throne of England to his insidious brother, Prince John. The lords of the realm bicker amongst each other over Prince John's right to rule. Prince John, not entirely fond of this argument, expels the noble lords and plunges the kingdom into civil war.

Meanwhile, somewhere in Nottingham, a merchant is plucked by Robin Hood and his merry men, and his wealth distributed to the poor. This disgruntled merchant complains to the notorious Sheriff of Nottingham, and together they plan to march on Sherwood Forest with an army, intending to wipe out the merry men from Nottingham. Through this initial clash between Robin Hood and the Sheriff of Nottingham, Robin Hood begins to realise the bigger picture of England in strife, and ultimately marches forth to unite England under the name of Richard the Lionheart and stop the self-centred English lords and Prince John from claiming England as their own.

Like its original classic, Robin Hood: Defender of the Crown consists of a turn-based strategy element with smaller mini-games to progress the game, both as means of conquest and to advance the plot itself. Most of the game takes place on the overworld map of England, divided into many counties. Robin Hood starts out with Nottingham, and scattered throughout England are the rival lords that must be eliminated, as they will attempt to you remove you in order to achieve their goals. Each lord has one campaign army to conquer counties with, as well as soldiers to defend their own counties. Capturing more counties brings in more gold, which in turn is used to recruit more men and build strongholds to bring Robin Hood closer to uniting England.

Robin Hood is not alone in his campaign. The familiar faces of Sherwood Forest work alongside Robin to bring justice to Prince John. Little John acts as the general of the campaign army, and is able to move the army around and recruit more men. Wilfred of Ivanhoe, a noble knight, acts as Robin's champion, fighting in tournaments, building fortifications and informing Robin of the other lords and lands of England. Maid Marian acts as Robin's lover, as well as being a vital contact and spy to the royal court. Finally, Friar Tuck visits Robin periodically to collect gold for King Richard's ransom.

There several things the player can do while conquering England, each having their own unique mini-game and objectives. Initially, Robin Hood is by himself and cannot lead an army. However, he is able to raid enemy caravans and forts to gain more gold. Robin can perch himself in a tree to ambush a passing convoy, putting the player in first-person control of Robin. Players must fire arrows and take out enemy soldiers and pick off wagon drivers, taking into account distance and ballistics, while dodging enemy return fire, taking place in different ambush settings and even at night. Alternatively, Robin can fight his way through an enemy stronghold with his fine swordsmanship skills, much like the old Defender of the Crown raids. Robin can use high and low attacks to form combos, and defend himself by blocking, parrying and dodging, each with different effects to swing the battle to his favour as he leaps across rooftops and through grand halls to reach the treasury.

Wilfred of Ivanhoe, as a noble knight, can hold and participate in jousting tournaments, much like Defender of the Crown. Players can select their opponents from their rival lords for fame, gold and land. Jousting consists of mashing buttons to increase the speed and impetus of your horse, followed by aiming the lance with the mouse (reminiscent of the classic game), ending with a dramatic slow-mo of the two knights slamming into each other, scoring points through hits or by knocking the other off their horse with enough power.

Little John can partake in siege warfare, also heavily based off the original Defender of the Crown. Players can siege enemy forts and use catapults to knock down walls to allow the army to assault. By using the mouse or the arrow keys, players can determine the trajectory of the catapults so that they can efficiently knock down the castle walls. With multiple catapults in the attacking force, multiple rocks can be hurled in a volley for more devastating effects. In addition, players can also select Greek fire projectiles to destroy vital structures inside the walls, and Disease payloads to cripple enemy forces.

After knocking down the castle wars, or otherwise attacking a vulnerable army, players engage in battle. Using an assortment of unit-types ranging from archers to footmen to knights, players battle on a 2D map with pieces representing the army units, with a certain number of attack paths. Players select the desired unit to attack and determine the type and strength of attack they want to use, and send the units on their way, while the enemy handles their army similarly. Units that run into each other take damage, with the stronger units continuing their attack until they reach the enemy's side, in which case they deal their maximum damage and return for another attack.

As mentioned above, the game also features a constantly developing plot behind the liberation of England. From the onset, the comical relationship between Robin and Maid Marian is made obvious, as is the antagonism of the Sheriff of Nottingham, and later the sinister assassin Guy of Gisborne, as well as Prince John himself. The plot also forces players to go through the above mini-games to advance the storyline. For example, Robin Hood must duel with the Sheriff of Nottingham and Guy of Gisborne, as well as swordfight through castles to rescue maidens. Other side-missions include ambushing a convoy to free captured knights or distribute food in return for fame.

The visual side of the game is pleasing to the eye. Robin's bow and arrow are finely detailed as he sits in the densely packed trees waiting for the wagons to wander aimlessly through the sunlit woods or the moonlit bridge. Sieges are conducted against awesome castles with towering walls and burning arrows raining down. Sword raids take Robin through stables, long stairs, towers and even a 3D re-creation of the classic Defender of the Crown raid level. However, the character models are hardly inspired. All units look the same, and knights are only distinguished by their oddly-shaped bulky hexagonal helmets. All other units look alike, with differences only to their uniforms based on their lord's colors.

The soundtrack is excellent, however. The music varies from dramatic, war-like fanfares of drums and trumpets. Ambushes follow a peaceful nature tune with running water in the background, raids sound adventurous with flutes and horns in the background of clashing steel. Jousts are filled with background cheers and heartbeats as knights continuously charge down the lists amidst the sound of splintering lances. While the number of tracks are limited, at least the music is appropriate and worth listening to.

Unfortunately, because of the simplicity of the game, there really isn't much depth to it. Raiding levels repeat themselves, the AI doesn't present much of a challenge in any of the mini-games, and indeed Prince John can be insanely cheap with almost limitless gold and naval reinforcements attacking your least protected counties. If it weren't for the advancing plot, the repetition of the game would have killed it 20 minutes in. After completing the game once, there isn't anything to unlock, and certainly little incentive to play the whole thing over again. The only last fun is to load up some archery raids to pick off a few hapless riders.

With that said, Robin Hood: Defender of the Crown is a game worth visiting (or re-visiting, for the older, classic gamers), and is remarkably simple in its execution and gameplay, with good visuals and sound. However, it is a one-off experience, and once you beat the game; there is nothing more to it. With the fact that the PC version is a later port of the PS2 version, it is very disappointing to see that the only significant advantage is the faster loading times.

Graphics: 8/10
Sound: 10/10
Gameplay: 7/10
Replay: 4/10
Overall: 6/10

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 05/26/05