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Knights of Honor

Knights of Honor Game Cover
90%Game Brain Score
gameplay, graphics
story, grinding
92% User Score Based on 1,160 reviews
Critic Score 79%Based on 1 reviews

Platforms

PCWindows
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Knights of Honor Game Cover

About

Knights of Honor is a single player and multiplayer real-time strategy game with fantasy, medieval and historical themes. It was developed by Black Sea Studios Ltd and was released on February 3, 2009. It received mostly positive reviews from critics and very positive reviews from players.

As King, it is your duty to lead your people in their struggle to raise your kingdom from its humble beginnings to a position of power and prestige. War, diplomacy and a burgeoning economy are the means by which you increase your power and expand your influence. A unique Knight-management system will offer you brand new possibilities to enhance your personal strategy.

Genres & Tags
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92%
Audience ScoreBased on 1,160 reviews
gameplay46 positive mentions
grinding7 negative mentions
  • Deep and engaging medieval grand strategy gameplay with a good blend of real-time strategy and empire management.
  • High replayability with many playable kingdoms, time periods, and varied strategic approaches including diplomacy, spying, and warfare.
  • Strong historical atmosphere enhanced by excellent soundtrack, voice acting, and detailed unit/building variety.
  • Outdated graphics and limited resolution support causing issues on modern displays without community mods.
  • AI weaknesses such as easy battles, predictable diplomacy, and annoying rebellion mechanics especially in the late game.
  • Technical problems including random crashes, lack of tutorial guidance, and poor interface usability particularly for new players.
  • gameplay
    142 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Knights of Honor offers a deep and engaging real-time grand strategy experience with unique mechanics reflecting cultural and religious dynamics, blending complex empire management and warfare. While its battle system and AI can be simplistic or flawed, the gameplay remains addictive, accessible, and richly layered, providing extensive replayability and a nostalgic appeal despite dated graphics and some interface limitations. Mods and community support further enhance its depth, making it a standout classic for fans of medieval strategy.

    • “Orthodox, Islamic, and pagan realms bring their own dynamics, ensuring that cultural and religious differences are not just cosmetic but mechanically significant.”
    • “The gameplay is packed with many features hard to summarize in a few lines and combined with a simple but good battle system can offer dozens of hours of fun.”
    • “Knights of Honor is a gem among grand strategy games, seamlessly blending depth, accessibility, and immersive gameplay.”
    • “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.”
  • graphics
    119 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The graphics of Knights of Honor are clearly dated by modern standards but maintain a charming and clean 2D art style that many players find nostalgic and pleasant. While the resolution and lack of widescreen or zoom support can be limiting, the visuals remain functional and aid strategic clarity, with mods available to enhance the graphics for contemporary displays. Overall, the game’s dated graphics do not detract significantly from its engaging gameplay and immersive medieval atmosphere.

    • “The map remains easy to read even during large-scale conflicts, and the understated art style allows players to focus on strategic information rather than visual clutter.”
    • “While Knights of Honor may not boast cutting-edge visuals by today’s standards, its art style is timelessly charming.”
    • “It is old, but its beautiful 2D graphics stand the test of time, unlike so many 2000s games that made the switch to full 3D.”
    • “The graphic presentation of the game is not really good taken into consideration the high standard of graphics nowadays and even compared to other games released in the same year (like Rise of Nations or The Settlers), its graphics can be called ugly.”
    • “The graphics are outdated, and the mechanics are outdated.”
    • “Graphics engine lacks options demanded nowadays, like higher resolutions and widescreen.”
  • music
    65 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's music is widely praised for its majestic, orchestral medieval soundtrack that greatly enhances immersion and emotional engagement. Composed by Borislav Slavov, the score is considered iconic, memorable, and often cited as one of the best in strategy gaming, with players frequently keeping it on their playlists long after playing. The soundtrack's variety and perfect timing during battles contribute significantly to the game's enduring appeal and nostalgic charm.

    • “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, and above all much better than its later Knights of Honor II: Sovereign that came out in 2022.”
    • “I was struck dumb by how the music soars in battle and gives the little 2D sprites the life and intensity of a true field of war. I remember once right as I claimed victory, the music reached its climax and then faded out as the victory screen came up—excellent timing, it really brings this game to life.”
    • “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.”
    • “I love its tasteful 2D graphics and the orchestral medieval music, which I still keep on my playlist.”
    • “I was struck dumb by how it soars in battle and gives the little 2D sprites the life and intensity of a true field of war; I remember once right as I claimed victory the music reached its climax and then faded out as the victory screen came up, excellent timing, it really brings this game to life.”
  • replayability
    27 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game is widely praised for its extensive replayability, driven by unique real-time strategy mechanics, multiple starting eras, and a variety of factions to lead. Despite having primarily one play mode, the different historical timeframes, difficulty levels, and moddable content provide nearly endless opportunities for varied gameplay experiences. This depth keeps players engaged over long campaigns and encourages repeated playthroughs.

    • “One of the game’s greatest strengths is its replayability.”
    • “Its unique mechanics, charming presentation, and endlessly replayable nature make it a beloved classic for anyone who dreams of ruling a medieval kingdom.”
    • “With its unique real-time strategy mechanics and vast replayability, Knights of Honor remains a standout title in the grand strategy genre, earning a place in the hearts of players who crave epic medieval conquest.”
    • “Replayability: some players may question the long-term appeal of the game.”
    • “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). A lot of replayability and difficulty comes from your choice of country to lead.”
    • “The game is very much replayable and there's 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 suck or the game's just that complicated.”
  • story
    11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's story aspect is rated around average (6.8/10), featuring a historically accurate and dynamic world with various factions and emergent narratives driven by player actions rather than fixed quests. While players appreciate the freedom and depth in managing territories and conflicts, some find the story lacking a traditional structured narrative, leading to mixed enthusiasm.

    • “Game has a good representation of cities, factions, and locations; there are a lot of factions to play, units change from place to place and historically it is sufficiently accurate.”
    • “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... still had 3 provinces left and a few marshals... my treasury dropped from 1k gold a cycle to -700ish, I was near 100k... quickly my loyal marshals tried to reclaim the lands I had 'liberated'... my new marshals were left with basic units and many died in service or imprisoned.”
    • “☑ no story”
    • “True story and true about this game don't even waste your money.”
    • “On top of it Steam says I have it and yet when I hit install it has the puzzle quest name.”
  • atmosphere
    10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its authentic medieval setting, enhanced by restrained audio design and atmospheric music that enrich the historical experience without overwhelming gameplay. Its charm is amplified by impressive 2D artwork and detailed thematic elements, creating an immersive environment that stands out in the strategy genre.

    • “This strategy game is one of a kind, combining RTS with brilliant historical atmosphere and resource management.”
    • “The game offers historical richness by successfully reflecting the medieval atmosphere.”
    • “It gives players the feeling of getting lost in the atmosphere of the period.”
    • “But the atmosphere remained the same.”
    • “If you want to conquer Europe, but most games out there look awful, have a high learning curve, unattractive graphics, and boring atmosphere, then you should try Knights of Honor.”
  • grinding
    7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Grinding in the game is often described as tedious and time-consuming, particularly in battles and managing large-scale strategy like "blobbing." Many players find the process repetitive and frustrating, with some recommending relying on auto-battle to avoid the grind. Overall, it can be a significant time sink that may not appeal to those who dislike grind-heavy gameplay.

    • “It really is a grindy timesink.”
    • “Its a bit grindy, so those that don't like grindy games, please stay away.”
    • “Actual in game issues are few in the area of glitches, but some sections of the game are cruelly tedious, like rebellion and currency inflation.”
  • humor
    7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The humor in the game is noted for its entertaining character interactions and unique voice lines, adding a fun twist to the gameplay. While some players appreciate the amusing and clever elements, others find the humor falls flat and the game itself less engaging. Overall, the humor contributes positively but may not appeal equally to everyone.

    • “There's a lot of humor in the interactions between characters that adds a fun twist to the game.”
    • “I do wish they had funny accents from all over Europe like in Medieval II, but that's an incredibly minor nitpick. The units do have unique voice lines—the Normans sound French, the men-at-arms sound... well, I can't place them, and the bowmen sound like gruff peasants fighting because they have to. Genuinely, it's quite a nice little game.”
    • “Some hilarious speeches also.”
  • optimization
    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game suffers from poor optimization on modern displays and hardware, leading to performance issues and crashes. Users feel the developer neglected proper updates, resulting in an unpatched and outdated experience that feels overpriced given its technical shortcomings.

    • “Which means that it will always have a place on my hard drive, since MTW1 just plain doesn't seem to like to run on fast, modern machines, while Knights of Honor runs smoothly and almost completely crash-free.”
    • “Good game but has not aged that well and is badly optimized for modern displays.”
    • “My problem is 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 the game.”
    • “My problem is 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 the game.”
  • stability
    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game generally runs stable with few glitches, especially after patch v1.03, which resolves most issues. However, some users experience crashes after extended playtime, indicating occasional stability problems.

    • “There are no glitches or bugs - my personal experience.”
    • “As far as the game v1.05 info goes, from what I read, v1.03 patches the game well enough for most and is bug free.”
    • “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.”
  • monetization
    3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The monetization of the game is criticized, particularly the "remastered" version, which is viewed as a cash grab. However, the presence of microtransactions is noted to offer player choice rather than being overly intrusive.

    • “This game is a testament to why microtransactions are indeed about player choice.”
    • “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'.”
  • emotional
    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game is praised for its exceptional and captivating emotional impact, largely driven by a remarkable and memorable soundtrack that stands out even compared to its sequel. Users find the emotional experience engaging and far ahead of its time.

    • “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.”
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79%Critics’ scoreBased on 1 critic reviews
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69h Median play time
105h Average play time
15-120h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 7 analyzed playthroughs
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Frequently Asked Questions

Knights of Honor is a real-time strategy game with fantasy, medieval and historical themes.

Knights of Honor is available on PC and Windows.

On average players spend around 105 hours playing Knights of Honor.

Knights of Honor was released on February 3, 2009.

Knights of Honor was developed by Black Sea Studios Ltd.

Knights of Honor has received very positive reviews from players. Most players liked Knights of Honor for its gameplay but disliked it for its story.

Knights of Honor is a single player game with multiplayer support.

Similar games include Knights of Honor II: Sovereign, Rise of Nations, Medieval: Total War - Collection, Rome: Total War, Medieval II: Total War and others.