Mage Knight Apocalypse is a hack and slash fantasy role playing game set in WizKids popular Mage Knight collectible miniatures game world. Fun at times, the video game ultimately comes up a little short in delivering the same fun that kids have found with the minature game.
Pros
- Good graphics.
- Set in the Mage Knight universe.
Cons
- Awkward camera controls.
- Linear storyline.
- Doesn't bring the table top game to life on the PC.
Storyline and Gameplay
At first glance MKA has the look and feel of many role playing games you've seen before. Upon selecting one of five prebuilt characters you set out on your mission to seek and destroy the evil that is plaguing the land which is being led by the five headed Apocalypse Dragon. The story for Mage Knight Apocalypse should be appealing to many fans of the miniature game, but overall it's quite linear and unflexible. There are no opprotunities to get off the beaten path and explore different areas or take on side quests. This is a big disappointment in today's world of RPG games that have more and more detailed living universe outside of the main objectives and could have been an easy task considering the rich detail of the Mage Knight universe.
The overall game play of Mage Knight Apocalypse is quite easy to learn and works well with the overall flow of the game. A simple left-mouse click to move to a location, combat has the same controls, click to attack an enemy. One aspect however that doesn't work well is the camera positioning and rotation. The controls are poorly designed and downright awkward when your in the heat of combat. In short, if by chance during combat if you move so that an enemy is off camera you have to manually take time to rotate the camera to bring him back into view. This is controls become even more inconvienient if you're already engaged with another enemy and it becomes an obsticale to overcome on top of fighting enemies.
Graphics and RPG Elements
The graphics in Mage Knight Apoclaypse are probably it's best feature, the environments are large and nicely detailed with good textures, while character models show the same level of detail as well as display smooth and fluid movements through combat and non-combat situations. The graphics are also good for the animation cut scenes that tell the background for the story and missions but with fair voice acting, they become tiresome and unengaging after the first few.One aspect where Mage Knight Apoclaypse id different from other standard computer RPG is that there is not a lot of room for customization of your character. There are five characters to choose from Dwarf Gunner, Vampire Nightblade, Amazon Huntress, Draconum Mage, and Elven Guardian but aside from that there's no opportunity to alter them in anyway and gaining new abilities and skills is not as engaging as it could be. Experience in MKA is gained through combat and casting spells but there's no real format for increasing abilities/skills and no levels. At times it feels more like a simple action games with different powerups rather than a role playing game.
Bottom Line
Mage Knight Apocalypse is probably not a game for everyone and even die hard Mage Knight fans may have mixed feelings about this one. In one aspect the game has given the exciting Mage Knight universe another platform to be experienced on, but if you're looking for the computer version of the table top game, you won't find it in Mage Knight Apocaplyse. In short, MKA turns out to be a typical role playing game that has been done before and done better. Overall it fails to meet the expectations that loyal Mage Knight miniature game fans deserve.
