Knights Contract (Xbox 360)

Wow - Whats with all the hatred for this game???

Knights Contract is a game that I had my eye on for several months before its release. Perhaps it just the fact that I seem to prefer a good story driven adventure to another tired old war shooter. Perhaps it was the very cool pre-rendered trailers on you tube, or the dark and twisted gothic setting. Whatever it was - I was very excited about Knights contract... and then the first reviews came pouring in (with one particularly critical IGN review). I was so disappointed I almost did not pick the game up at all.

...But I reminded myself that I've enjoyed other poor scoring games in the past, so I went my gut and picked this up. And I'm glad I did.

First off, if you are the type that gets frustrated with your games easily, this may not be the game for you. If you are willing to look past a few minor issues, there's plenty fun to be had though.

Knights contract is primarily one long escort mission. Yes I said it. Is this a bad thing? We'll let's consider that other excellent games like : Ico, Resident Evil 5, Prince of Persia, Half Life 2, Silent Hill 4 and many others are also escort missions, and you'll see that it's not necessarily bad.

Knights contract is a competent Hack and slash game. Its not the greatest game in the genre, but its definitely not the worst either. If you enjoyed Dante's inferno, Conan, Castlevania or The force Unleashed there's a good chance you'll enjoy this too.

The story revolves around Heinrich- a hardened immortal warrior, and the beautiful Gretchen - a reincarnation of a witch that Heinrich previously executed. Its a dark and grizzly fantasy tale, that's both interesting and moving - with 2 main characters you'll grow to care about, and definitely want to see through to their ultimate destination.

The graphics are pretty decent. This is not Gears of War, but it's still a nice looking game, with plenty diversity and nice looking characters. It has a couple of pre-rendered cut-scenes, which are absolutely stunning - we're talking Final Fantasy XIII quality here. Ignore the haters saying this game looks like a PS2 title. That is obviously not true.

The voice acting and sound are also pretty cool. Heinrich sounds suitably tough and rugged, while Gretchen plays her part well too.

As mentioned earlier, Heinrich is an immortal and cannot die. Gretchen however is definitely mortal and susceptible to harm. Others have hated this, but I found it refreshing. Gretchen is your charge, and you need to protect her as such. If you want to run off and kill everything that moves, and just ignore her, you are missing the point, and you are more than likely just going to be frustrated. I loved the fact that Gretchen was weak and vulnerable, and I particularly liked the way in which Heinrich could pick her up and carry her to safety - an emotional and subtly interesting touch. Call me old fashioned, but I found that one small detail great.

Overall, I'd say Knights Contract is a pretty decent hack and slash title. It does a few things differently, but if you approach it with an open mind, I can guarantee you that there's plenty fun to be had here. Don't listen to the nay-sayers. Knights contract is a decent game with a captivating story in a dark and interesting world - that you'll definitely want to see through to its conclusion.

Now when I read about this game sometime ago I wanted it so on release day it came and I put it on straight away. The games rendering is good and I enjoyed the atmoshere and gothic feel to it. The action is okay but this is one of those games where you really have to work hard at moving on to the next segment. Yes it is an escort game but it is a very moody and sultry background that fits right in with the Immortal knight Heinrich it has lots to offer except for me it did not grab me and make me want to keep playing,others may find it more entertaining than me and then again others won't. Good fights,great atmospheric gameplay and graphics.

I found this game to be quite good fun to play, especially when I had upgraded the witchcraft powers. But be warned - you WILL at times feel like smashing your console into tiny pieces in a fit of rage if you don't like games that can be frustratingly difficult and sometimes confusing.