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Published
by JoWooD Productions
Developed by Fluent Entertainment
Release Date: 25th February 2005
Price: £19.99
It's
fair to say that if you're going to create a chess program
that's going to stand out then you're going to have to be
fairly creative. There are already a large number of quality
chess titles out there for serious chess players, from companies
such as Chessbase, that play a game of chess as well as
it can be played and they are worthy opponents even for
Kasparov himself. Casual chess players also have titles
such as Chessmaster which provide a multitude of virtual
opponents (although quite a lot of the lower level players
often blunder quite badly) and a wonderful collection of
elaborate boards and pieces. What's Majestic Chess got to
offer then? Let's find out.
Instead
of simply having volumes of different Chess sets and hundreds
of virtual opponents Fluent Entertainment have instead focused
their game on taking a chess beginner from the very basics
to the level of an accomplished player. To make this often
tedious route more entertaining they've wrapped the whole
thing up in an adventure that breaks the lessons up into
manageable chunks. The game includes Single player, Multiplayer
and Adventure modes. Single player allows you to play against
any one of 24 opponents or take part in tutorials or a variety
of puzzles. Several historical chess games can be viewed
too. The Multiplayer game allows you to go online and play
against your friends (and it works without fuss too requiring
you to quickly set up a user name and password). I was pleased
to see around 20 people available to play against which
is a lot better than certain chess games out there although
it's not as many as you'll find on the Play Chess servers
that the Chessbase games support.
The
heart of Majestic Chess, and what makes the game so unique,
is the Adventure mode. The Adventure mode plays out over
eight chapters and sees you controlling a hero on horse
back who is attempting to free the land that is under the
grip of the evil Sargon. The Adventure mode plays out in
a similar fashion to a turn based strategy game such as
Heroes of Might & Magic III. You'll point and click
your hero character from one location to another in order
to receive tutorials and challenges. To begin with much
of the landscape will be shrouded in mist but as you complete
an objective the mist will disappear to reveal new locations.
Each chapter will require you to defeat a villain such as
the Faceless Knight in Chapter 1. You'll begin each chapter
with just the King and completing your objectives will earn
you other pieces, gold and artefacts. The gold will allow
you to buy either additional pieces or artefacts. Artefacts
allow you additional abilities. Potions, for example, enable
you to take back your last move and pan pipes allow you
to confuse your enemy into making a bad move.
The
Adventure mode does not throw you in at the deep end and
you only receive the knowledge you need to overcome puzzles
within the current chapter. Don't worry if you're a complete
beginner though as the game shoe horns you into the game
very nicely. The tutorials are concise and keep things as
interesting as possible. In fact to start off with you don't
even play with a full chess set as it's all kept simple
and clean by only giving you a few pieces to play with.
The second chapter moves on to basic end game techniques
such as checkmating with two rooks and such like but again
you'll be drilled on how to play out the puzzles with a
small tutorial before hand. As you can imagine the game
becomes more challenging from this point on but with that
in mind it must be made clear that Majestic Chess is not
for those whose chess skills are already well established.
It's only beginners and intermediate players who are going
to benefit from what Majestic Chess has to offer.
There's
only so much you can do with the graphics in a game that
is focused on chess. That said Fluent have done a great
job in keeping everything looking good and have included
2D, 3D and fixed perspective chess sets. Personally I preferred
the fixed perspective sets as they are more detailed than
the 3D ones on offer (which don't really compare to the
3D sets in Chessmaster 10th Edition and Fritz 8). If you're
the kind of gamer who doesn't like the 3D or fixed perspective
sets though you can switch to the more basic 2D sets. If
you prefer the look of the 2D sets you'll be pleased to
know that you can switch to them in the Adventure mode if
you want to.
Chess
games usually cause deaf gamers no problems at all and I'm
pleased to say that Majestic Chess is no exception to this.
All of the information in Majestic Chess is in text so you'll
have no problems at all in enjoying the game in its entirety.
There aren't any captions but to be honest it's a game where
none are really necessary. The game manual weighs in at
around 40+ pages and it explains all you need to know about
the game.
Majestic
Chess isn't the most comprehensive chess game you can buy
but for those who want to learn the chess fundamentals properly
and would rather be taught in a more subtle fashion it's
a product well worth purchasing. Those chess players who
are looking for software to take them to an advanced level
really shouldn't be looking at Majestic Chess though and
instead should look at the Chessbase titles such as Fritz
8 and Hiarcs 9 etc. If you are complete beginner or intermediate
player though Majestic Chess is definitely worth the asking
price of £19.99. My only gripe with it is that it's
all to easy to forget to save in Adventure Mode as you're
not warned about losing your progress if you happen to try
and quit the game without saving. As an introduction to
chess it's certainly a unique and enjoyable product that
serves its purpose in getting those with a passing interest
in the grand old game more interested and better educated
about chess.
Overall
Game Rating: 8.0/10
Those looking for a game to introduce them to the delights
of chess would do well to pick up a copy of Majestic Chess.
Whilst it's not a game that will challenge advanced chess
players it's great for teaching the chess fundamentals to
those who would find the more traditional methods of learning
chess rather boring.
Deaf
Gamers Classification:
(Click
the letter or here
for details)
All information within the game
is in text and whilst there aren't visual clues etc., none
are really necessary.
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