Metascore
57

Mixed or average reviews - based on 20 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 20
  2. Negative: 5 out of 20
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  1. A patch away from gaming excellence. Recommended for "Baldur’s Gate" and "Neverwinter Nights" fans, after a good patch, this title will have all the goods.
  2. Game Informer
    85
    Playing Lionheart could easily be a completely different experience every time. [Oct 2003, p.141]
  3. An excellent game for about 20 hours, with open-ended gameplay, a good balance between combat and quests, and an opportunity for real role-playing. But then the next 20 hours feature a long linear march of boring, repetitive and slow combat, culminating in one of the worst endings I've ever seen.
  4. Lacks the gameplay that would take it over the top and make it an incredible experience. This game is good, it is not great.
  5. It does let itself down in certain respects - the multiplayer is fairly buggy, and the graphics are not particularly amazing.
  6. 68
    The problem of deciding what kind of game it really wants to be, RPG or Diablo clone, is probably the most serious problem its got.
  7. It could've been way better, bearing in mind that the developers took the time to create a good story and brilliant setting for an RPG title (on top of using the Fallout SPECIAL system). Regrettably, the game suffers from several balancing issues.
  8. 65
    Is it a deep role-playing game with a plot-twisting storyline ... or is it a Diablo hack-and-slash clone? Ultimately, it tries to be both, but doesn't succeed at being either.
  9. It's primarily a hack-and-slash game, but the combat tends to be unsatisfying, the production values seem dated, the difficulty is uneven and sometimes excessive, and the original alternate-history setting isn't enough to compensate.
  10. Many games fail to deliver a coherent story, but shine in the gameplay department. Lionheart gets it in reverse. Reflexive delivers a concrete, polished story that serves as little more than a platform to bash, crack, wallop, belt, cripple and maim everything in sight.
  11. PC Gamer
    61
    I wouldn't strongly recommend this game to vets, but I might give a half-hearted recommendation to first-timers. [Nov 2003, p.132]
  12. A mixed bag: a complex, intriguing story that progresses by means of an uninspired quest system.
  13. Provides a decent PC role-playing experience, but it is simply not as refined as the Fallout games that it is derived from.
  14. 60
    It has the makings of a role-playing classic, but it runs out of steam half-way through. The rest of the game is playable and occasionally fun, but it never comes close to the greatness of the first act.
  15. Lionheart is to RPGs what "Serious Sam" is to first-person shooters: It's a strict genre game that's stripped down to its essence and is pleasantly devoid of the all too common overarching that happens when too many disparate parts are crammed into the same code base for the sake of widening the target audience.
  16. GMR Magazine
    40
    So the pretty cool quests and diplomacy are sacked by sad combat that makes you frustrated and impatient. [Nov 2003, p.80]
  17. Computer Games Magazine
    40
    Quite possibly the most unpalatable role-playing game concocted in recent memory...A gooey mess of reflex-driven combat, muddled interface, cliched dungeon designs, and useless player decisions. [Nov 2003, p.95]
  18. Computer Gaming World
    30
    Unbalanced, tedious, buggy, and lacking in imagination - and those are its good points. [Nov 2003, p.134]
  19. A big disappointment. Though it uses a decent RPG system, its poor balance, repetitive action and somewhat lame stab at rewriting history leads to a game no one should invest time or money in.
  20. GameNow
    16
    The longer you play, the worse this RPG gets... After a few hours, the hate sets in. [Nov 2003, p.64]
User Score
7.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 68 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 42 out of 68
  2. Negative: 5 out of 68
  1. Bjarki
    Apr 20, 2005
    10
    Great game.
  2. JIMF.
    Sep 7, 2003
    10
    Good game, very much like Arcanum and Fallout, good game for fans of Icewind, neverwinters and Divine Divinity.
  3. Nov 10, 2020
    10
    The main problem of the game is its VERY hard for beginners. Its because of lack info about enemies, items, perks etc. Thats why beginnersThe main problem of the game is its VERY hard for beginners. Its because of lack info about enemies, items, perks etc. Thats why beginners tend to create totally useless characters. You have to read a guides about builds or complete the game at least once to create playable build.
    Those who still think that pure mage is useless should search video walkthrough "Red witch build". Proper mage have NO mana problems. Mages are the best tanks in game no matter how strange it sounds. They do a lot of damage per cast with AoE spells.
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