Must admit that I’d never paid much attention to the Hundred Years War in school or the many skirmishes between the monarchies of England and France during the 14th and 15th centuries. So it was kind of refreshing when HISTORY Great Battles Medieval flopped onto my desk – a pleasant distraction from the raft of FPS titles that normally dominate my every gaming hour.

It’s a rare thing indeed that an RTS game finds its way onto the PS3 or Xbox 360 – the genre typically confined to the realms of the humble PC. But UK-based publisher Slitherine Software has done just that, putting you in direct control of huge armies and over 40 unique units. There are some 70 Medieval battles to get your teeth into, including 26 historically-accurate encounters that took place from 1337-1453.

After a brief tutorial, you can opt to ease yourself in with the slightly easier English missions – fighting under the Black Prince, Henry V and others from history – or try your hand at the tougher French campaign where you battle for Joan of Arc and the King. You’d be forgiven for initially comparing the game to the award-winning Total War series – and in many ways it is similar... but this is far more digestible. Besides the substantial campaign, there are skirmish maps and a two-player online multiplayer mode. There are three main screens to help you on your quest: the Map, Army Camp and the Battlefield itself. It’s the opening map screen from which you pick your fights, before you’re transported to the battlefield where your armies are waiting with baited breath for your orders.

Great Battles is far easier to dive into than the aforementioned Total War – with far more forgiving controls and simpler strategies. As such, it’s perfectly suited to a console-playing audience. Win a battle and you’re rewarded with coin, weaponry, more advanced units or XP, which can be used to strengthen your armies via the Army Camp screen. You’ll need to cycle through your armies and upgrade the units individually, which can prove a little time consuming, and there are plenty of statistics to take on board like any true RPG - but it does at least let you gain an understanding as to the various strengths and weaknesses of your archers, cavalry and infantry. The game is turn-based, requiring you to prep and position your armies before sending them off to war. It is a little stop-start perhaps but this aspect by no means reduces the pace of the game – your carefully planned orders can be instantly undone by the opposing AI, forcing you to quickly re-evaluate and redeploy your troops.

Sending your souped-up, highly-trained units ahead to cut down some peasants armed only with clubs may seem like a great idea at the time… only for them to be set upon by enemy archers and spear-wielding soldiers! Suffer too many casualties and your well-laid plans will fail. Fatigued units with low morale may rout and flee from the battlefield, an enemy flanking your position will decimate your ranks, and woe betide you let your general fall.

Missions vary considerably in length and difficulty, from fighting a crowd of unsavoury peasants to reaching a money-laden wagon or facing huge armies. To help you on your way, Battlecards can be earned and deployed to give selected units a temporary boost during battle. The various missions are punctuated with clips from the History Channel TV archive – a nice touch albeit a little grainy and low res given that this is the age of high definition visuals.
 There are other frustrations too. Moving a lot of units can be an arduous process as each has to be given separate orders to move from A to B or attack. Another bugbear is their inability to pass through one another to get to a location on the map – annoying as a unit will therefore have to take a lengthy walk around all their compatriots to get where they want to go. This can prove hugely irritating, for example, when the enemy cavalry are bearing down on you and you can’t get to the frontlines to repel them!

Invest some time in Great Battles and it’s a very rewarding release that oozes authenticity – thanks largely to its HISTORY Channel links. The controls are simple to learn and the strategies easy to grasp – but it will take a while to master. With plenty of missions on offer and various units to upgrade and customize, longevity is assured… The PC version even includes options to create new campaigns, build maps and edit the units, adding plenty of replay value.

This certainly isn’t your typical 360 or PS3 game – and therein lies its charm. Nevertheless, at full price, some may feel there’s not be enough gloss on the visuals or enough variety in the gameplay to warrant a purchase.

For me, it was enjoyable fare and a nice change to the usual slew of shooters that have been emerging of late. Recommend trying before you buy.