Lioinheart is set in an alternative world where, as result of some dark arts coming about towards the end of the Crusades, a great evil was released in the world. Although the rift was eventually closed, it was too late to prevent the release of magic and was open long enough to enable some evil minions to set up camp. Advance history a bit and warp it to reflect these changes and what you have is a playing world that is both familiar while also being different. As you explore this world you will get to meet some famous names and factions of history such as Leonardo, Gallilao, the Inquisition and the Knights Templar. They now however play out their lives in a society that has magic as a reality (but seen by some as an evil), demons and goblins abound as well as a society mired in suspicion and religious dogma. It is a great story and one that allows the creators to present many different and varied quests for players.

Players have the option of 4 starting races. There is the pure blood humans; Demonkin who are a sort of human demon cross; a Feralkin which is a race with prominent animal traits and then there is the Sylvants who are elemental in nature. There are some pre-rolled kits that you can choose from that roughly equate to fighters, thieves and magic users however the Custom Character option is where you get your first hint of the depth that can be found in the game.

You have the ability to readily adjust the physical attributes of your chosen character (strength, agility, charisma etc.) as well as choose a specific racial trait and also distribute your skill points. Depending on your race and some of your traits (another set of choices) you are granted skill points that you can apply to various fighting, magic and thieving skills. Every level you gain you gain further points that you can choose to increase skills or apply to new ones. Every few levels you also get a perk that is a special skill (such as a thieving perk that adds points to your thieving abilities). Completing some quests also can result in the granting of a perk.

Before you start the adventure you also have to choose a spirit kind that is a being that acts as a guide and will determine some of your starting magic abilities. As you can see there are many possible variations of character types that you can develop. You can even have a character that specializes in evasion and sneaking that can avoid most combat if that is your style.

Once you have sorted out your character you are thrown right into the game. Without spoiling too much of the plot you escape the Inquisition who are trying to expose you as a possessed creature while there is some other group trying to assassinate you. Once you escape you find yourself at the gates of the city of Barcelona where the adventure starts proper. This is where it gets good. You have to make choices on what faction you join and this in turn will determine what quests you need to complete to progress. These differing story lines give the game great replayability. You could choose the path of the Knights Templar and follow a path of all things good and right (cough) or that of the Inquisitor where you go forth and teach the ungodly the error of their ways with your weapon of choice. On the other side of the coin there are the thieves, the beggars and some of Salidins mob that you can team up with. These lesser factions are rounded off with the Wielders who are the mysterious magic using faction.

The playing area is a 2D isometric view much in the mode of Diablo however the graphics and backgrounds in places are stunning. At the start you will find yourself just wandering around Barcelona just checking out all the great sites and neat graphical touches. The dungeons and wilderness areas are just as detailed with some nice water effects in places. Where the graphics do however fall down is in the character animation. Movement sometimes feels almost puppet like and some of the character stances seem quite unnatural. It is almost as if insufficient animations have been created for each of the characters. Although it does not really detract from the game, we expected a lot better.

Combat is much in the mode of Diablo where you point and click to hit and click again to put a further boot in. Once you have mastered it, it makes for quick battles and a pretty intuitive system. It is certainly a lot more immediate than Diablo, with enemies charging quickly into attack and missiles flying in all directions. Some battles can be quite torrid and often you find yourself beating the feet to get a breather and heal up for another go. Rather than pure hack and slash you are often forced to apply some degree of tactics (such as sneak and scoot) and combat can be quite challenging.

There is a wide variety of monsters to fight in Lionheart and they display a degree of intelligence in both how they are initially set up and how they move. Missile troops are usually positioned behind protective grunts with some of these also following a pre-determined patrol route. Rashly charging in can get you killed very quickly. On the up side you do pick up an occasional companion and while some of these later in the game can be useful the early ones don't last and are little more than a target. It's disappointing that you can't interact with them to any great degree or issue them orders. Consequently they blindly follow you and act as a target.

As you progress you come across some varied and interesting treasure. There is the usual weapons and armor while there is also some cool jewelry and miscellaneous quest items. Magical benefits can include increased skills and attributes while some also having detrimental side effects. We learned that plate armour is an ideal conductor for lightning spells.

So up to this point the game sounds pretty cool, however the big kicker is that about the last third of the game seems to lose its way. It degenerates into a series of disjointed battles and a story that seems to peter out towards the end. It is suspected that because of either a looming delivery deadline or lack of funds the last parts of the game were slapped together just to get it out the door and the money rolling in. You are left feeling a bit cheated and thinking on what could have been. They did manage to get in a multiplayer option that allows up to 4 players to play co-operatively - an option that we would like to see more of in the RPG genre.