When you boot up Joan of Arc for the first time, several things will come to mind during your first round of play. First, you will have the feeling that you just might be playing a game in the Dynasty Warriors series, but then, it will fade to feeling as if you had just bought the genre hybrid Savage that was released late last year. No, it’s neither of these games, and in the end, Joan of Arc sometimes cannot figure out what it truly wishes to be. The product is an admirable effort that not only respects the history it portrays, but one that tries its best to make its customers satisfied. Joan of Arc won’t win any awards for its gameplay or visuals, but it, just like Savage, presents a unique genre hybrid that is worth a sincere look.  

At first glance, Joan of Arc feels like an action game in the same vein as the Dynasty Warriors series, and during the first few missions, that’s quite true. You play Joan of Arc, a brave woman whose mission is to protect France against invaders from England . The story is of course much deeper than that, but unless you already know about her history, its best for you to experience it through the game, because it does a pretty good job of telling her story. You are thrown in the middle of this drama right from the start. The first few missions are clearly intended to prepare you for the much tougher ones you will face later on. The game is played through a third person perspective and you control Joan or one of the other warriors that you may have at your immediate disposal. The missions are dealt out to you through very helpful and concise menus that not only tell you your primary and secondary objectives (which are optional) but give you a background story and provide you with a map of the battlefield. Half of this game is an action game and the other half is a real time strategy portion that can be used for planning and battle when it becomes too difficult to do it through the eyes of one character. Both genres represented in this game are fairly simple to manage. The action portions simply have you roaming the lands as Joan or another warrior, hacking and slashing the hordes of enemies that come charging at you. You simply click the mouse button and she will begin to attack. Depending on your timing and how many enemies you take on at once, you can gain more experience points and deal out more damage. 

Yes, you heard correct, experience points. Joan of Arc uses a very basic but effective skill points system that will allow you to assign points to several areas including strength and leadership. These can have a big effect on gameplay so it is always vital to make sure you are using your points. Aside from the use of a sword, you can fire arrows from your bow. The first person interface for it, is effective, but feels a bit awkward. When you are in a city, you can visit various shops to pick up food (for regaining health), weapons and armor. There really isn’t much to say regarding the real time strategy portion of the game, because basically, if you have played any RTS game before, Joan of Arc will feel very familiar to you. It isn’t the deepest, but certainly not the worst RTS system I have played before. You can rally your troops and control them so that you can effectively take down the enemy army. There will also be a few times when you will be riding on a horse. The controls for the horse navigation feel a bit awkward, but get the job done nonetheless. The enemy AI in Joan of Arc isn’t too bright, but when you are forced to face over fifteen (and sometimes much higher) enemies at a time, you wouldn’t necessarily be a candidate for complaints. The game is of considerable length, but wont last you more than any other typical action game would. The best thing about these types of games though, is that you can always go back and try to complete missions in different ways, which is always an added treat.  

Just as the gameplay proved to be enjoyable, if a bit too familiar, the graphics and sound follow the same route. Visually, the game is fairly standard action game fare, but there a few things that require some special mention. First off, the cities in the game are very well detailed, and represent the time period quite well. Secondly, the character models are of considerable quality as well. The game seems to switch from some really detailed textures, to some, that aren’t really too appealing. The environments are a mixed bag all together, but the effort is certainly present. If the visuals lack anything, it’s the sometimes poor animation that you endure when playing Joan. Her jumping and fighting animations are pretty stilted and can come off as being stiff and unrealistic. Aside from that, the battles are quite entertaining to watch and the game doesn’t require a monster of a computer to run, so it should be smooth sailing for most of you. The sound was a bit of a mixed bag. One the one hand, you have an excellent orchestrated score that really helps bring out the emotion and tension of the times. But on the other hand, you have some pretty poor voice acting. Joan will sometimes make random quips that are completely out of place and over emphasized. Sometimes, there just isn’t enough voice acting at all. You can go from a fully acted scene to a bunch of unspoken text in an instant. Most of the other voices in the game were done quite well (except for the often odd French accents some of the characters used) also, which helped pull the game along. Another honorable mention goes to the sound effects, which although can become repetitive at times, never seemed generic or dull.  

Regardless of how much you know about history, Joan of Arc’s story is one of the most timeless that the time period had to offer. The game adaptation of her story is for the most part, faithful to the source material and in terms of gameplay, it can be quite enjoyable. While the all too familiar gameplay prevents me from making a general recommendation to everyone, it’s one of those titles where the type of genres that interest you, can have the greatest effect on your decision. It has a unique blend of two genres that have certainly needed an injection of life for some time, and this game succeeds in doing so. Joan of Arc is one of the few games in the last few years that present a little something for everyone, and that is definitely a redeeming quality.