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- E
- Strategy First
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- Strategy First
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- Strategy First
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- Strategy First
Celtic Kings: Rage of War
Released On: Aug 21, 2002
82
7.1
All Platforms
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 11 Critic Reviews
82
73% Positive
8 Reviews
8 Reviews
27% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 11 Critic Reviews
82
73% Positive
8 Reviews
8 Reviews
27% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Truly a delight to play. I found myself going back and forth from RPG to RTS. It's a great dilemma to have.
A fine blend of strategy, combat, and role playing. [Nov 2002, p.122]
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 17 User Ratings
7.1
59% Positive
10 Ratings
10 Ratings
18% Mixed
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
24% Negative
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 17 User Ratings
7.1
59% Positive
10 Ratings
10 Ratings
18% Mixed
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
24% Negative
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
The powerful, easy-to-learn in-game editor, which allows players to create new adventures and strategic scenarios, is gravy on this tasty dish, virtually guaranteeing a long shelf life for this product, particularly among the hardcore.
This game is really more of a strategy than a real RPG. This is far from bad… on the contrary; the guys from Haemimont Games did a good job combining what is hard to combine.
Adheres strongly to the Keep It Simple, Stupid principle. By doing so, it manages to meld these different genres where others have failed. [Nov 2002, p.120]
Came up a little short on the gameplay side of things. My major gripe stems from the fact that I just didn't give a damn about the story. [Nov 2002, p.149]
The campaign in Celtic Kings isn’t especially different than campaigns in any other real-time strategy game, and, in fact, nothing about Celtic Kings is especially different than what you’ll find in other games.
Celtic Kings disappoints immediately by its ignorance of basic Gaulish history, culture, topology and every other detail. It's awfully counter-educative. It's got non-Gaulish names, horned helmets, even (while on the subject) Vikings, which are almost 1000 years apart. On the other hand, no wooden roads, no war chariots, nothing the Gauls are famous for. A big turn off for Celtic lovers.
The graphics are good. The sound is bad, particularly the voices. The built-in editor is pretty cool and saves this title from too low a rating by adding to an already more than decent durability.
Now for the gameplay, supposedly a mix of RPG and RTS. Contrary to what professional reviews pretend, CK examplifies how to fail at both. This is as much an RPG as my grandfather was the imperatrix of Samoa. Hack n' slash, yes, with your hero mowing nondescript units without your intervention. Leveling, artefacts, and everybody's personal favorite, the escort quest, don't make it an RPG either.
The RTS part generously includes not building anything, which again is a turn off for me because it means it's going to be battles after battles. These battles are just a mess, to put it simply. The way units look, are controlled, move and are animated, one would really need a slow mo and a magnifying glass to follow what's happening.
Your units can starve. Quickly. From experience, it always sounds like a bad idea to include such mechanics. On the paper, it kind of appeals, but it's really hard to implement without introducing a huge hassle. CK handles that pretty well, all things considered, mainly because it uses only 2 resources. Still, after a while, sending mules becomes really tedious.
If you forget about Gaul and take it as classic heroic fantasy shenanigans, try CK, as there is nothing really bad with the mechanics. On the contrary, it does offer some welcome originality, making it a pure question of taste.
Report
PC
Summary Both RTS and Role-Playing gamers will enjoy the experience of becoming the young Warrior Larax, who after losing his beloved one, has given himself to the goddess of war, Kathubodua. In strategic mode, you play against computer opponents or other players on the Internet exercising your strategic and tactical skills to achieve objective v...
Rated E
for Everyone
Platforms:
- PC
Initial Release Date: Aug 21, 2002
Developer:
- Haemimont Games
Publisher: Strategy First
Genres:
