Celtic Kings Demo

Games that take a stab at genre-mixing do not always manage to rise to the expectations, since it is quite difficult to integrate mechanics from different gameplay styles. Those which achieve a certain balance, though, are definitely worthy of praise, since they offer a much richer experience than any other type of game.

Celtic Kings went ahead and toyed with the idea of mixing RTS elements with RPG mechanics, by offering a rich and interesting campaign to show off the results. Hence, you get to control heroes as they make their way through a war-ridden world and gain experience by completing a variety of missions. The two available factions are the Romans and the Gauls, with the possibility to choose the side you want to fight for in the beginning of the campaign.

As your champions become more and more powerful, their damage and physical resistance also increase, which in turn makes them harder to kill. The map is riddled with a wide variety of items that can be picked up and used by the heroes, such as healing plants, or various other artifacts to improve the skills of your warriors. Since the main campaign involves druids and powerful gods, you need all the help you can get in order to complete the quests.

On the other hand, you can also choose to play in skirmish games, which are, more or less, classic RTS matches. Hence, even if you have to conquer cities rather build them, the main idea is still the same and you still get to train units to create an army. Once you do that, they can all be selected and you can use them to conquer the numerous settlements and enemy outposts that are available on the map.

Speaking of which, the maps are truly huge, not to mention the fact that they support up to five thousand units at the same time, which makes for some interesting battles. However, the game does not display a minimap on screen at all times, although can glance at it by opening the dedicated section. Naturally, this makes navigation a bit cumbersome, especially since you cannot always be aware of nearby enemies unless you happen to have the map open in front of you.

Celtic Kings may not be a prime example of a very successful genre mixer, but it does come very close. Thus, there's nothing stopping you from engaging in one of the many activities that are available in the game, whether it's RPG-style quests and heroes, or the tactics involved in the skirmish matches.