Brigandine

Long, extended battles that hinge too much on blind luck, tactic visuals, and boring sound effects make Brigandine a theme park ride for those with weak hearts. It's overly complicated, under-exciting, and a plain ol' bore unless complex turn-bast strategy rocks you world.

Brigandine combines some RPG elements with turn-based strategy: It's Risk meets Ogre Battle and Dragon Force. But despite tons of potential, the game ends up being excruciatingly long and rarely exciting.

Brigantic Scope
The heart of Brigandine is a compelling strategy game that would've succeeded if it had more flash--you'll find more pizzazz on your average Spice Girl. Several factions have divided up a continent; each group has a few knights, or party leaders, and the ability to spawn monsters that fight under them. Your job is to conquer the lands through turn-based conflict. Each turn has two parts: The "organize" section allows you to spawn monsters, move your warriors or send characters on quests (which may turn up mystical items or new allies); the "attack" section lets you engage an enemy town on a battlefield that will seem very familiar to vets of The Unholy War.

Not-Very-Intelligent Luck
Every battle in this game is an epic tactical turn-based war, which may encompass more than 50 characters. Even some first-level characters may have 500 hit points, so these are long, drawn-out conflicts--which, unfortunately, are often decided on the dumb luck of a particular character missing an attack or being paralyzed. Even after minute planning and a nicely executed strategy, you're undermined by chance.

As for the battlefields, they're not only scrunched, but every monster looks like it's the same size on the grid--although they're grossly different in battle. This is especially troublesome because giant monsters can't attack small enemies (for some strange reason), and short land-dwellers are impotent against airborne assailants. This glitch means you can't get an idea of what the match-up will be at a glance.

Lazy Lore
The game's bare-bones graphics and sound reek of laziness. Every conversation and the results of quests are told through static headshots and scrolling text. Brigandine is a very disappointing product that squanders a lot of potential with pure inertia. It's difficult to develop a passion for characters who never move or speak and a game that never aspires. Unless dense turn-base strategy is your cup of tea, throw this one into the moat.

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