Games Convention: Knightshift Impressions
Jaz, 2003-08-28

The Games Convention 2003 in Leipzig was significantly bigger than the first GC in 2002 - and what's more, this time a significantly larger amount of CRPGs (or games with RPG elements) were shown. Unfortunately, the two days I spent at the GC weren't enough to cover all of the RPG/like games - in fact, I was really glad I glimpsed as many games as I did, because sprinting from booth to booth, from award ceremony to press center and back while elbowing my way through hordes of gamers took a considerable amount of time.

Here is a short overview of KnightShift.

KnightShift (Koch Media, PC)
The promotional, uh, artwork may have biased me against KnightShift at first, but when I saw it at the stall my bias gave way to professional curiosity, and I'm really glad I checked into this game. If there is one word to characterize KnightShift, it's versatility: a multi-purpose game for multiple audiences. The graphics are brilliant, zoomable full 3D with neat effects. But what makes the game really interesting are the three basically different (single player) game modes.

First, there's what I'd call adventure mode: you are Prince John, a guy who has been banned from his realm and now needs to find a way back. In this mode you have one fixed character, a fixed way of character development and a fixed scenario to play - some kind of ‘adventure with RPG and RTS elements'. The second mode is the so-called RPG mode, quite action-oriented, where you can choose between several - classic and not-so-classic- character classes; character development is up to the player, and there's a story arc with several quest. Then there is the RTS mode where you build bases and battle against enemies from other bases. Each SP mode has a corresponding MP mode, or so I was told, but I couldn't check it at the booth.

From what I glimpsed the story is - in each of the modes - no more than average, but it's not what makes this game interesting, anyway - the versatility is. No matter if you prefer adventure light, RPG light or RTS light, this game will hold at least some fascination for you, and perhaps it will get some players interested in a genre they didn't consider playing before.

First Impression
Very favourable. The multitool of modern games. KnightShift may not satisfy either hardcore RPGers or RTSers, but it will appeal to a broad audience.