Knights of Honor
- February 3, 2009
- Black Sea Studios Ltd
- 69h median play time
Get on Steam"Knights of Honor" is a real-time strategy game set in medieval Europe. Players can choose to lead one of over 100 kingdoms, managing resources, building cities, and waging war against rival factions. The game features a dynamic world map, diplomacy, and large-scale battles, allowing for an immersive and complex grand strategy experience.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- Knights of Honor offers a unique blend of real-time strategy and grand strategy elements, allowing players to manage kingdoms while engaging in tactical battles.
- The game features a rich medieval atmosphere with a captivating soundtrack and charming graphics that have aged well.
- High replayability due to randomization of resources, events, and the ability to play as various nations across different historical periods.
- The game suffers from outdated graphics and a limited resolution, making it difficult to play on modern displays without mods.
- AI behavior can be inconsistent, often leading to frustrating experiences, especially in late-game scenarios where rebellions and unexpected betrayals occur frequently.
- The lack of a comprehensive tutorial and some convoluted mechanics can make it challenging for new players to grasp the game's depth.
- gameplay115 mentions
- 34 % positive mentions
- 61 % neutral mentions
- 5 % negative mentions
The gameplay of "Knights of Honor" is characterized by its addictive mechanics and depth, offering a blend of real-time strategy and grand strategy elements that engage players for hours. While some aspects, such as AI behavior and combat mechanics, are criticized for being simplistic or outdated, the game compensates with intricate diplomacy, diverse gameplay options, and a nostalgic charm that appeals to long-time fans. Overall, despite its age, the game remains enjoyable and complex, making it a worthwhile experience for strategy enthusiasts.
“The expansive map, intricate diplomacy, and diverse gameplay mechanics offer an engaging medieval experience.”
“The gameplay depth is amazing for such an old game and the graphics still look decent.”
“With very fun and intuitive gameplay, this greatly underrated, 100% real-time true strategy war game more than deserves a place among my top 5 best games of all time list.”
“I started and quit half a dozen times thinking the mechanics were broken.”
“Gameplay-wise, the AI combat is pretty dumb in general; both in the battle map (you can cheese with archers very easily) and in buildings for their provinces (they rarely build for stronger troop units).”
“The interface now feels very cumbersome (you can't even zoom out), the mechanics too shallow, and the battles too haphazard.”
- graphics101 mentions
- 30 % positive mentions
- 56 % neutral mentions
- 14 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are generally considered outdated, reflecting its age, but many players appreciate the charming art style and nostalgic appeal. While some find the visuals lackluster compared to modern standards, others argue that the graphics have aged well and still contribute to an immersive experience, especially when paired with the game's soundtrack. Players often recommend using mods to enhance the graphics for a more contemporary feel, but overall, the gameplay remains the primary draw despite the visual limitations.
“The art style is charming, and the game has an amazing soundtrack that really makes you feel like a ruler of a medieval kingdom.”
“The graphics still look fairly nice and don't diminish the enjoyment of the game.”
“It is old, but its beautiful 2D graphics stand the test of time, unlike so many 2000's games that made the switch to full 3D.”
“The graphics of Knights of Honor are fair, but in today’s time, the low resolution is a little bit harder to watch.”
“The graphic presentation of the game is not really good when considering the high standard of graphics nowadays, and even compared to other games released in the same year, it is seen as threatened to be called ugly.”
“The graphics are outdated, the mechanics are outdated.”
- music53 mentions
- 66 % positive mentions
- 28 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The music in the game is widely praised for its emotional depth and ability to enhance the medieval atmosphere, with many reviewers describing it as legendary, bombastic, and captivating. Composed by Borislav Slavov, the soundtrack is noted for its orchestral quality and fitting accompaniment to gameplay, evoking nostalgia and immersion. Overall, the music is considered one of the standout features, elevating the gaming experience and leaving a lasting impression on players.
“A fabulous game for its time, far ahead of others with a stupendous, wonderful, spectacular, emotional, engaging, and captivating soundtrack like you rarely see or hear nowadays.”
“The music is excellent; the composer Borislav Slavov is a genius.”
“The soundtrack will keep you humming the tunes for days; it's truly perfect music for this medieval style.”
“The music and general medieval immersion are also spot on.”
“The soundtrack will keep you humming the tunes for days, it's truly perfect music for this medieval style.”
“Very atmospheric music, too.”
- replayability19 mentions
- 53 % positive mentions
- 32 % neutral mentions
- 16 % negative mentions
Overall, the game is praised for its high replayability, with many players highlighting the variety of starting options, different factions, and the depth of gameplay that encourages multiple playthroughs. While some express concerns about long-term appeal, the combination of sandbox elements, historical contexts, and a supportive modding community contributes to its enduring replay value. Players appreciate the balance of accessibility and complexity, making it easy to pick up yet challenging to master.
“One of those games that has a lot more under the surface than first appearances, good replay value which is important to me.”
“While only really having one play mode (sandbox of Europe + the Mediterranean), it offers 3 different starting constellations of states (basically representing different time frames in history) and a lot of replayability and difficulty comes from your choice of country to lead.”
“The game offers a large amount of replayability, due to the fact that you can play as any country (no matter their starting size or possible vassalage) and each of the 3 eras offer different mapscapes.”
“Replayability: some players may question the long-term appeal of the game.”
“The game offers a large amount of replayability, due to the fact that you can play as any country (no matter their starting size or possible vassalage) and each of the 3 eras offers different mapscapes.”
“The game is very much replayable and there are so many starting options; I personally have been playing the same path for 9 hours (Byzantine, year 1000, easy). With that being said, I either really suck or the game's just that complicated.”
- atmosphere8 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 25 % negative mentions
The game excels in creating a rich medieval atmosphere, immersing players in its historical charm through fantastic artwork and atmospheric music. Reviewers appreciate the attention to detail and the overall engaging environment, making it a standout choice for those seeking an authentic experience.
“The game offers historical richness by successfully reflecting the medieval atmosphere.”
“This gives players the feeling of getting lost in an atmosphere of the period.”
“It has a great charm and atmosphere to it, and the artwork for a 2D game is fantastic.”
“But the atmosphere remained the same.”
“If you want to conquer Europe, but most games out there look unappealing, have a high learning curve, unattractive graphics, and a boring atmosphere, then you should try Knights of Honor.”
- humor7 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is highlighted through entertaining character interactions and unique voice lines that add a fun twist to the gameplay. While some players find the humor to be absurd or lacking in fun, others appreciate the comedic elements, including amusing speeches and the overall ridiculousness of the experience. Overall, the humor is a mixed bag, with some players enjoying its quirky charm while others feel it detracts from the game's enjoyment.
“Plus, there's a lot of humor in the interactions between characters that adds a fun twist to the game.”
“If you ever wanted to rule the world, this game is a really funny way to accomplish that.”
“A very funny and cool game, you can do lots of stuff to rule your kingdom throughout Europe.”
- story5 mentions
- 40 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 60 % negative mentions
The game's story is characterized by player-driven narratives that emerge from strategic decisions, allowing for a unique and engaging experience without the constraints of traditional quests. Set in a medieval context, players navigate complex political dynamics, facing betrayals and challenges that can lead to dramatic shifts in power and resources. Overall, the narrative is enhanced by a compelling narration style, despite initial impressions of a simplistic aesthetic.
“They have stats, and if used to justify your actions, you will have an interesting emergent story.”
“Sent my last spy on a mission. While gone, my throne was infiltrated, and all of my near-maxed-out marshals claimed lands of mine as theirs and rebelled. I still had 3 provinces left and a few marshals. My treasury, which was 1k gold a cycle, dropped to -700ish. I was near 100k. Quickly, my marshals that remained loyal were trying to reclaim the lands I had 'liberated.' My new marshals were left with basic units, and many died in service or were imprisoned.”
“I didn't think I would like this game; it looks a bit like the kingdoms of a children's story and sounds like it's narrated by Morgan Freeman.”
“Sent my last spy on a mission. While gone, my throne was infiltrated and all of my near-maxed out marshals claimed lands of mine as theirs and rebelled. I still had 3 provinces left and a few marshals. My treasury, which was 1k gold a cycle, dropped to -700ish; I was near 100k. Quickly, my marshals that remained loyal were trying to reclaim the lands I had 'liberated.' My new marshals were left with basic units, and many died in service or were imprisoned.”
“Story: 6 (middle ages-historic)”
- optimization4 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The game's optimization for modern displays has been widely criticized, with users noting that it feels outdated and poorly adapted for current hardware. Many feel that the developer has been lazy in simply porting the original version without necessary updates, leading to performance issues that detract from the overall experience.
“Which means that it will always have a place on my hard drive, since MTW1 just doesn't seem to run well on fast, modern machines, while Knights of Honor runs smoothly and is almost completely crash-free.”
“Good game but has not aged that well and is badly optimized for modern displays.”
“My problem stems from the fact that this game is a prime example of a developer being lazy and just dumping the original game, unpatched and unoptimized to Steam for a price that seems very steep, considering the performance quality of this game.”
- grinding4 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be a significant timesink, often describing it as tedious and repetitive, particularly in the context of expanding territories. Those who dislike grind-heavy gameplay are advised to approach with caution, as it can consume many hours without substantial variation.
“It really is a grindy time sink.”
“The whole process is focused on blobbing out, the most tedious aim in CK2.”
“This old game has absorbed many hours of my life, grinding through the whole of the old world.”
- monetization3 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The monetization of Knights of Honor has been criticized for its reliance on microtransactions, which some players view as a cash grab, particularly in the context of its remastered version. While the game itself is considered interesting, it suffers from randomness that detracts from the overall experience.
“Knights of Honor is an old glory overshadowed at the time by far better games in the same genre like the first Rome: Total War. Stay away from the cash grab 'remastered.' It's still a very interesting game, but it's plagued by randomness.”
“This game is a testament to why microtransactions are indeed about player choice.”
“With microtransactions?”
- stability3 mentions
- 67 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 33 % negative mentions
User reviews on stability are mixed; while some players report a polished experience with no glitches or bugs, others experience frequent crashes after extended playtime, expressing frustration over the game's stability issues.
“Not too easy, not too complex; complete and polished at launch. It isn't plagued with excessive DLCs, easily supports mods, and isn't buggy.”
“There are no glitches or bugs in my personal experience.”
“Keeps crashing after 4 hours of play, and no, I'm not going to do work trying to fix a buggy game that I paid money for.”
- emotional1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game is praised for its exceptional emotional impact, highlighted by a captivating and engaging soundtrack that sets it apart from contemporaries and even later titles like Knights of Honor II: Sovereign. Users find it to be a groundbreaking experience that resonates deeply, making it a standout in its genre.
“A fabulous game for its time, far ahead of others with a stupendous, emotional, engaging, and captivating soundtrack like you rarely see or hear nowadays.”
