Whether you consider Arthur’s
Knights: The Secret Of Merlin to be a second chapter, a sequel
or a continuation of the story and events presented by its predecessor,
Arthur’s Knights: Tales of Chivalry, it is my opinion that
the player will benefit greatly by having played these games in sequence.
There is a historical trail of events and enough references to past
interchanges with characters from the first game that leads me to
recommend that those interested in Arthur’s Knights start by playing
Tales of Chivalry first and then continuing with this sequel
later.

If
you want to get some background on the first Arthur’s Knights
game, please refer to my earlier review of Tales of Chivalry,
which can be found in the archives here at Just Adventure. Seeing
no really useful purpose in repeating what I have already written,
this review will not provide any additional information on the gameplay
features, because they are essentially the same as I described previously.

As with the first Arthur’s
Knights game, the chronicler of the Knights of the Round Table,
Master Foulque, tells the continuing story of Bradwen, King of the
Atrebates, to his pupil, a young boy who is a page in the court of
his uncle, the Count of Champagne.

It is later in the 6th
century AD in Briton, a period known as the Dark Ages, when Christian
and Celtic traditions compete to fill the cultural and religious void
left behind by the collapse of Roman rule. In addition, it is the
time when the legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round
Table were at their peak and would leave their mark on literary history
for many years to come.

But Arthur’s Knights
2 isn’t really about the legend of King Arthur so much, in fact,
Arthur only appears in this game once and that time as a ghost. Rather,
it is about the influence that Merlin had on the life and times of
Arthur, as portrayed through events affecting your character, Bradwen,
as he attempts to assume the throne as King of the Atrebates.

Medieval legends of Merlin
credit him with playing a key role in the birth of Arthur. When King
Uther Pendragon was attracted to Lady Igraine, the wife of the Duke
of Cornwall, and she rebuffed him, it was Merlin who devised a magical
plan of deceit that allowed Uther to appear to Igraine in the image
of her husband. The result was the birth of Arthur and legend says
that to fulfill the conditions that Merlin had negotiated with Uther
the child would be turned over to Merlin, who would become his teacher.
Merlin was a multi-faceted figure and his legend as a sorcerer, seer
and prophet who embodied the themes of magic and myths forms the environment
into which Bradwen must negotiate his way through many trials and
tribulations.

Curses…This
Crown Turned My Hair White: After winning a duel with his evil
half-brother Morganor, Bradwen is determined by King Arthur to be
King of the Atrebates and desires to return to his kingdom to claim
the throne. However, there are battles to be won first and as a Knight
of the Round Table, Bradwen must spend several years fighting to defeat
invading hordes of Saxon barbarians, in order to unite Briton under
the leadership of the High King Arthur.

When, finally, Bradwen
returns to the kingdom of the Atrebates, there are many obstacles
that await him and make his desire to claim the throne a difficult
one. He will need to find the crown, which isn’t just sitting on the
throne waiting for him. He will need to deal with someone who was
left there to be a “safekeeper” while Bradwen was away at
war, and who now seems to have become established as a “legitimate”
king in the eyes of the Atrebate citizens.

Eventually, Bradwen discovers
that there is a curse on his family that was brought about by a serious
transgression perpetrated by one of his ancestors against the fairies,
who live in the Other World, but whose magic and powers extend into
Man’s World. When Bradwen is offered a pact with the Devil that will
lift the curse if he renounces his Code of Chivalry, Bradwen refuses
and, instead, sets out to seek the advice of Merlin.

A Bumpy Road and Saddle
Sores Await: As in the first Arthur’s Knights, you will be given
the choice of playing the game as Bradwen, the Celtic warrior, who
is guided by his druid beliefs or Bradwen, the Paladin, with traditions
and Christian faith taken from the Romans. What is offered in Arthur’s
Knights: The Secret of Merlin is two games in one and both games are
long, so you should plan on spending many days, if not weeks, enjoying
this fascinating adventure through the real and imaginary worlds of
6th century Briton.

Although each game is similar
in nature and purpose, the route that is taken is quite different,
so you will feel like you are playing an entirely new game, each time.
The common ground is that you travel between “worlds” within
the adventure, on horseback, so plan on spending a lot of time getting
on and off your horse.

As the Celtic warrior,
Bradwen will travel back and forth between the “worlds”
of Uffington (his kingdom), Arden Forest, Avalon, Cornwall and the
Land of the Shadows.

As the Paladin, you will
travel these same worlds, plus Magnovenium (the Christian monastery),
but again the story will be completely different.

What each story has in
common is that, after dealing with many tests that lead you to find
the missing crown and discover its accompanying curse, you accept
Merlin’s advice to follow the White Stag. This will take you to Avalon,
the center of the fairy world, where you hope to learn about the origins
of the curse and how to lift it.

Later, in each story, your
complex adventure will require you to conquer the Shadow of the Dragon/The
Hidden King, whose pact with the Devil poses a chilling prospect that
Briton can fall under the rule of the most evil of forces.

An interesting sidelight
to the game is that Bradwen has a different wife in each story. As
a Celt, his wife is Fydia, a fairy, which is very much in keeping
with the strong influence that the story has regarding the relationship
of the world of fairies and man’s world. As a Paladin, Bradwen’s wife
is Lady Lutisse, a noblewoman, who has been brought up by the Christian
monks.

Like
its predecessor, this Arthur’s Knights game is a real “tour deforce”
that will provide numerous days/weeks of adventuring enjoyment, as
you romp through beautifully rendered 3D settings and test your resolve
to meet and conquer the trials of reaching your objective…to
become the legitimate King of the Atrebates.

A Labyrinth of Time
and Historical Characters: The puzzles in Arthur’s Knights:
The Secret of Merlin consist mainly of finding objects and using
them in the right situation or at the correct place. Often, you are
required to perform tests to prove that you are worthy of obtaining
needed information. Sometimes these are tests of combat or choices
that will allow you to maintain your honor under the Code of Chivalry,
but in other instances the tests are in the form of riddles that need
to be solved in order to progress in what is a very linear game environment.

Each game does provide,
however, a puzzle called the Labyrinth of Time, which is…you
guessed right if you said a “matrix/maze” puzzle. But don’t
despair, because in this case the maze puzzles are quite benign and
no one should have any problem finding their way through and discovering
their hidden secrets.

Also…yes, this is
a historical adventure game, which provides the player with the opportunity
to revisit the legendary past and interface with the likes of Merlin,
Arthur, Gawain, Lancelot, Guinevere and Mordred. The game also preserves
a nice balance by giving the player a chance to meet and deal with
many magical beings from the world of the fairies, such as, Morgan
(the Mother Goddess) and Rhiannon, who plays such a key role in the
story.

For those of you who appreciate
the opportunity to refresh your memories with regard to legend and
history, there is a “built-in” historical/documentary database
that gives access to subjects, such as: Briton in the Dark Ages, End
of the Roman Empire, The Chivalric Ideal, The Life of a Knight and
Heroic Historical Figures.

Some Final Impressions:
All in all, like the first Arthur’s Knights game, Arthur’s
Knights: The Secret of Merlin was very enjoyable (even with the
tedium of frequent travels by horseback) and most challenging (even
though it took me almost 2 months to complete both stories).

The game had some particularly
interesting villains who were presented with some of the best voice
acting that I can remember. For instance, the Devil’s voice was very
smooth and soothing to the point that resistance would seem difficult.
Morgan, the Mother Goddess of the fairies, sounded just the way a
temptress would sound when she was expressing her desires…only
to turn threatening, when rebuked. But, the best is reserved for the
voice of the Horned Snake, who gave a sinister performance by incorporating
“hissing” sounds into his speech.

The
animations and sounds of animals are another of the strong points
that continued as carrying over from the first Arthur’s Knights. Chirping
birds, meowing cats, baying sheep and roaring beasts all contribute
to a spectacular visual experience that accompanies the player as
he/she travel through the worlds of Bradwen’s adventure.

Another feature of both
Arthur’s Knights games is the Book of Adventures, which is Master
Foulque’s chronicle of the events that are required in order to progress
in the “quests” that make up the stories. As Bradwen discovers
objects or uncovers key information, a record of these events is written
into a sort of journal that can be accessed at any time and, therefore,
serves as a linear measure of where you are in the game.

Although I don’t remember
this feature from the first Arthur’s Knights game, there is a really
nice Map feature that can be accessed at any time during the game
showing exactly where your horse is located and, therefore, where
you left it. Also, while on the horse, you can use the map to select
paths that you want to choose in order to reach a desired location
in the game.

Since everything is not
“perfect” in an adventure game, no matter how much you might
wish it to be, I must mention a couple of miscues that appeared. Often,
when Bradwen would come across “sayings” that were written
or engraved on plaques or stone monuments, he would read them aloud
and his words were in Latin. I’m afraid my Latin isn’t what it once
was, so I missed out on some of the verbal details. Also, some of
the writings in the Book of Adventures were in French, indicating
that the translation to English had been overlooked. Pardon my French,
but I got by anyway.

My Conclusion and Rating:
A-

As I have said, you will
get your money’s worth with Arthur’s Knights, whether it is the first
or second game, because each game has two stories that are quite lengthy
by themselves. But what you really are getting is good value, since
these games have plenty of variety in adventuring, interesting stories
of historical significance, lots of entertainment, great graphics
and animations and fun, story-based puzzles.

The characters are fascinating
and the melding of different worlds (fairies and mankind) against
a backdrop of the Dark Ages of Briton always provided a terrific story
line that will cause you to eagerly look forward to your next challenge
and anticipate where the adventure will lead. I would particularly
recommend the Arthur’s Knights games, especially Arthur’s Knights:
The Secret of Merlin, which I enjoyed a bit more than Tales of Chivalry,
to anyone who enjoys adventure games with a historical base.

Minimum System Requirements:

PC

Windows 95/98
Pentium II -300 MHz
64 Mb RAM
8X CD-ROM
8 Mb 3D Accelerator Card
Direct X-7