Really, it's the gameplay that immersed me. Stopping cavalry charges with a wall of pikes, protecting siege weapons against Viking axemen, ambushing crossbowmen with assassins, or pulling out my longsword in a pinch, all for riches and renown. It's truly one-of-a-kind.
The strategy is simple at first but gets deeper as the game progresses and more unit types are introduced. And there are a whole lot of units, from all over the Old World, not just Europe. That's not historically accurate, but that's Omega Force's brand of historical fiction, and it adds depth to the strategy. You get to command all these different units, switching between them on the fly in the thick of battle. I actually like how the game forces you to work with your allied units; it's pretty much impossible to win battles on your own, unlike Dynasty Warriors and most other battlefield action games. The AI holds up well enough to facilitate teamwork and keep throwing challenges at you in critical moments. Speaking of teamwork, multiplayer would have been cool but isn't there.
The graphics and presentation are conservative but they get the job done of putting you in the milieu. Also, parents need not worry about kid-unfriendly content. The game is quite clean, despite descriptions of "visceral" fighting and "foul-mouthed" characters.
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