Robin Hood: Defender of the Crown (Xbox)

Reviewed by Bob Colayco
Review date: 11/25/03
Release date: 11/11/03

Released on various computer platforms in the late 1980s, the original Defender of the Crown put you in the role of one of four Saxon knights struggling for control over England. Robin Hood played a supporting role in that game as you led armies, dueled in daring raids, and jousted in tournaments for fame. More than a decade later, Defender of the Crown has been remade for the PC and major consoles. While the themes and even general gameplay mechanics remain largely intact, the legendary Robin Hood and his merry band of outlaws (Little John, Wil Scarlett, Friar Tuck, and Maid Marian) step prominently into the starring roles. At its core, the new Robin Hood: Defender of the Crown is essentially a turn-based series of minigames. It's deeper and more enjoyable than you might expect from that description, but ultimately it gets somewhat repetitive and can be completed rather quickly and easily.

You play as the legendary archer Robin Hood.

You play as Robin Hood; as you start the game, you'll be defending Sherwood Forest from the Sheriff of Nottingham. This first portion effectively serves as a tutorial before you take over the entire region of Nottingham and eventually go to war with the lords in the other areas of England. The reason the entire island is in turmoil is that King Richard has been abducted and is up for ransom in Austria. Richard's evil brother, Prince John, has declared Richard dead and seized the throne of England for himself. You are tasked with gathering up enough money to pay Richard's ransom, raising armies of your own to fight for control of each of England's counties, and eventually attacking Prince John and overthrowing him from his seat of power in southern England. At the start of every turn, you'll collect taxes from your counties; the more counties you control, the more money you bring in. The gold you collect you can use to raise armies for your campaign forces or county garrisons, to build strongholds on your provinces, or to partially pay off King Richard's ransom. If Maid Marian is around, you can send her to spy on an enemy province, which will give you a permanent look at the troop strength in that territory. Once you're done reinforcing your army or your defenses, you will have a few basic choices. You can go on a raid in one of your enemy's provinces, you can hold a jousting tournament with Sir Ivanhoe serving as your proxy, or you can attack a neighboring province with your army to bring it under your control. Each choice opens up a different minigame.

Raiding castles is more profitable, in general.

There are two different types of raids. The archery raid is basically a shooting-gallery minigame where you fire arrows at passing horsemen and carriages as they travel along a forest road or through a clearing. With every rider you kill, you earn gold from an enemy's coffers and add it to your own. Enemy archers will be part of the train, however, so if you get shot three times, you're forced to retreat, and you won't get any money. Raiding castles opens up a sword-dueling minigame. Here you'll move through various portions of a castle, fighting against footmen and knights until you eventually reach the castle's treasury. The dueling mechanics are pretty simple, and generally you can earn more money from a castle raid than an ambush. The danger is that if you lose all your health while dueling through a castle, you'll be captured and thrown into that castle's dungeon. You'll lose precious turns in the world map as you try to ransom your way out or escape.