I was a huge fan of the original Vandal Hearts games on the Playstation 1 so I couldn’t wait to see the prequel Flames of Judgment. It’s quite an enjoyable strategy RPG but for experienced strategy gamers it’s a little too simple and easy, making it more of an appetiser than a sumptuous course of strategy fun. Perversely it also isn’t overly welcoming to newcomers to the genre.
Following a rather predictable story where the main characters are orphaned during the Great War, then find themselves caught up in a plot to defeat an evil General, action starts out very slowly. The first few scenarios attempt to explain to newcomers how best to approach matters but it does all feel a little vague and confusing. Worst of all, it really isn’t very interesting which is sure to put off some players quite early on into the experience. Considering the game only takes, at the absolute most, 8 hours to complete there really is no time to spare for a slow and disappointing start. The focus of the game is on combat which will be immediately familiar to those who have played strategy RPGs previously. Each battle scenario is set on a single grid based map with turns taken in a set order depending on the speed of the characters and NPCs involved. It makes for quite a slow and drawn out process which will put off more adrenaline seeking gamers. However, it does also exacerbate the feeling of strategy and careful thinking which is refreshing to see, especially on the 360 which is sorely lacking a strong strategy RPG.
Notably not all maps have the sole goal of ‘kill all the enemies’. Many of them have sub goals first such as one particularly clever scenario involving a bandit camp. The first goal was to push boulders down so as to destroy the bandit camp’s gate, then to knock the bandit leader from the safety of a tower before finally defeating him. Most of the scenarios have more involved goals such as this which certainly breaks up the potential monotony of the same objective being constantly repeated.
Unlike previous Vandal Hearts games there is no sign of a class based system. Instead improving characters comes via a simpler method: the more you do something the more you improve at that skill. If you regularly use ranged attacks, you’ll find your bow skill increases quickly while the same can be said of healing, melee attacks and so forth. It feels a little simplistic at times but it works well. It also allows for a fair amount of flexibility in terms of selecting what specialisations players wish each character to attain.
Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgment is a refreshing change for the much deprived strategy RPG fan but it is quite a mixed bag. It’s too simplistic to satisfy fans of the genre, however due to its unwieldy and dull beginnings it’s not a very appropriate introduction to newcomers either. At 1200 points, it really is quite an investment and one that I struggle to recommend. It’s just too uneven. While there are a lot worse options, there are also better ones. Even DLC additions for the likes of Dragon Age: Origins, Mass Effect or Fallout 3 will excite the average RPG player more so than this. A game that’s best left to the die hard strategy gamer.
VideogameUK verdict: 6/10
