by Simplicity Lett

Created on: November 04, 2009   Last Updated: April 27, 2012

Be a King!  Despite the desperately hammy title of this game produced by 300AD, it turned out to be an enjoyable resource strategy game. You take the role of a prince who has decided to better the lot of his people by building better villages, defending citizens and being an all around good guy.

• Gameplay

From the tutorial onward, it's obvious that the game is going to hold your hand and make sure you know what you're doing. You are instructed on how to build houses, farms and defensive buildings to assist your citizenry as they fight off raiders and try to live out their days in peace. As you build, you must manage your resources of wood, gold and stone, as well as heroes and workers, while at the same time making sure the village has a viable defense from raiders. Periodically, events pop up for you to complete if you wish, with the possibility of a positive outcome. The map contains 25 towns to defend in all, progressively getting harder in their goals and also in their demands.

Score: 4/5

• Graphics

Well-drawn caricature-type models for the still shots are appealing and comical, the colors of the game are crisp and vibrant, menus are intuitive and clean, and everything is distinguishable. The only drawback is the mini-citizens and heroes, who are tiny, blocky and very basically animated.

Score: 3/5

• Sound

The music is of average quality, drawing heavily from medieval period films for inspiration and tends to get heavy after a while. The sound effects are effective and distinctive enough to know what they all mean. The voice acting is a little hammy, but workable.

Score: 3/5

• Creativity

Be a King is your standard resource management town building game. It holds no great surprises, and doesn't stretch itself outside the pre-established parameters of the genre.

Score: 2/5

• Innovation

While the game is technically fine, nothing in it declares itself unique or stands out from any other game of its genre. The addition of quest events is nice, but not enough. The game seems to want to be a real-time strategy like the old Warcraft series, but doesn't have the unit management.

Score: 2/5

• Pros: Playable, fun, and the artwork of the caricatures is wonderful. Easy to begin, progressively more challenging.

• Cons: Some typographical errors, some discrepancies between screen text and voice speech such as when the voice states you need 30 of something, and the text says 40. Not enough bang for your buck with features.

If you can forgive bad voice acting, some small but crucial errors and a gut feeling that the game is missing a certain 'something' to make it special, then it's entirely possible to enjoy Be a King for what it is - an inexpensive way to spend a few hours. However, a few hours are all that are needed to complete the game. Priced at $14.95, it may be on the expensive side for hours played.

Overall Score: 3/5

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