As a little kid sheltered from the outcomes of war and battle when studying history, naturally the public elementary school system delivered a very boring education of the past.  Such water downed lessons that were drilled into my head included the story of Joan of Arc.  To give you a clue of what I mean, I submit a summarized lesson plan involving this famous heroin:

“England wanted to rule France.  Joan of Arc didn’t want that to happen so she inspired France to stand up for itself.  England lost.”

TAH-DAH!  I’m not mocking the public school system here because I understand that pressing death and the higher meaning of religion inside the Joan of Arc learning guide for 9 year olds is just as much of a good idea as using your N-Gage to pick up freshly laid coils your dog leaves in the backyard.  But the major stunner for me was how young she was as a leader and her gruesome fate that was placed in the hands of her enemies.

Anyways, I digress.  Wars & Warriors:  Joan of Arc places you in the armor of French warrior herself, fighting her greatest battles and facing her toughest challenges.  At first glace, I was half expecting this to be a strategy title in a long line of Wars & Warriors.  I was surprisingly delighted to later find out it is a RPG, who’s action rivals that of a beloved button-smashing collection of mine known as Dynasty Warriors.  From searching for previous W &W games, I have come to the conclusion that this is the premiere title for this series, in which I have high hopes for.  Unfortunately, though Joan of Arc remains to be the coolest heroin ever in history, Enlight would have done best to hold off on the PC version and concentrated harder on developing a solid game experience for the console.

The interface and gameplay is very much like Dynasty Warriors, giving you a handful of characters along with Joan, leading the charge with hundreds of French warriors against your enemy.  You have bows at your disposal, but the majority of your time will be getting your hands dirty with a little sword to sword “negotiations”.  Enemy AI isn’t too bright in this respect; they charge in small packs, attack in predictable sequences, and always find themselves surrounded in impossible odds without a care in the world.  That doesn’t mean they are a pain to take down, some just won’t die easily.  Your enemies vary from bosses on horseback to archers.  The fun thing about archers is taking them out in close ranged combat (they, of course, have the upper hand in the long range).  I loved the ability to saddle up on a horse when fighting even though the control was shaky.

Going back to my initial inclinations that I was going to install a RTS title, Joan of Arc does include elements of strategy.  You can command your troops when taking an enemy castle, opening up the gameplay to many more possibilities.  The fighting can best be described as awkward in some respect.  It’s a hack-and-slash till the bitter end, but you must use both mouse buttons to carry out deadly sequences.  For any h-a-s fan, that can get a bit weird.  As you progress though the game, you will learn new moves and grow stronger.  Of course, keep on the look out for grub when your health is low or else you wont be seeing another battle in your lifetime.

There are 8 missions throughout the game, which vary in fairly lengthy adventures.  When playing, take your time enjoying the heat of combat.  Make the most out of your army but don’t forget to serve yourself a slice of the action.  Even with all of these good aspects, I found a couple things to the game that made me cringe.  The camera-angles speak for themselves.  I understand that when many units are on screen simultaneously, its nearly impossible not to get confused.  But the way the camera sometimes made some objects transparent while not others and the constant change in camera location for the 3^rd person view making it that much harder to focus your attacks doesn’t make Joan of Arc appealing.  You must get the hang of the pathfinding problems when fighting.  Your group may be caught stuck on the side of a wall trying to follow you so you must adjust accordingly.  Never jump into a crowd of British warriors alone, expecting your men to back you up.

Graphically, there isn’t anything special.  Games like this must rely heavily on realistic combat and attacks and it’s unfortunate that Joan of Arc didn’t quite pass the test.  The units were also designed with mediocrity.  I liked the design of the towns, cities, and castles, but throwing in a few unneeded bugs and what many like to call “invisible walls”, there is much improvement needed generally.  The sound also suffers with lackluster voice acting but makes up for it in its heart-pounding musical pieces.

The game is scheduled to be released on the Xbox fairly soon.  Based on the performance of the PC version and the realization that the game should have been an original console title, I have high hopes for the improvements it will offer Xbox users.  If you don’t have an Xbox, but consider yourself to be a fan of hack-and-slash games like Dynasty Warriors, you may find this game to be a good attempt worth checking out.

Gameplay: 7.3
With the exception of some problematic bugs that can get a little uncomfortable, its a stable hack-and-slash adventure.

Graphics: 6
Besides the nicely rendered environments, the roughness of the units and combat sequences helped sink this score.

Sound: 6.7
Music of the Motion Pictures = an emotional journey to capture the intensity, Voice acting of a local television commercial= terribly scripted, acted, and edited.

Difficulty: Medium/Hard
Most of the difficulty comes from the enormity of the battles, the enemies, and the missions themselves.  However, the controls, camera problems, and "invisible walls" don't make it any easier.

Concept: 8
Live in the world of Joan of Arc as the historical legend unfolds for you to experience.

Overall: 6.9
Fans of button-smashers, here comes another experience you should have fun with.  Bored when playing Dynasty Warriors?  Stay away from this game!  Its an interesting split between the two.  You may want to hold out until Joan of Arc hits the Xbox.