King Arthur: Legion IX looks to be an even steeper challenge than Knight’s Tale | Hands-on preview

King Arthur: Knight’s Tale is a grim and gritty retelling of the Arthurian legend where Arthur is the undead antagonist and you play as Mordred, newly resurrected after killing the Once and Future King and tasked with hunting him down and rebuilding the ancient fortress of Camelot. Its standalone expansion, King Arthur: Legion IX has a similar set up, but switches protagonists to follow Roman officer Gaius Julius Mento, commander of the legendary 9th Legion, who allegedly disappeared to a man while marching through the forests of Scotland.

Quite why developer NeoCore Games chose to abandon Mordred and the Knights of the Round Table is anyone’s guess, but it gives the first two missions I played in the preview build a slightly different look – though the grim, oppressive atmosphere remains the same.

That being said, very little besides the characters themselves feels different in Legion IX. It’s not a sequel, after all, but a standalone add-on that simply tells a different story. Instead of Camelot, you capture and secure the abandoned Roman city of Nova Roma, which you’ll be refitting and upgrading as you progress. We’re even promised the chance to “stand against” Mordred and his knights throughout the campaign.

Since Legion IX makes no sweeping changes, it seems an odd choice to switch to new characters for an expansion instead of waiting for the sequel and giving us more stories from Knight’s Tale, but it’s still an interesting take on what was established. After spending around an hour fighting through the first two missions, I can report that, if anything, King Arthur: Legion IX feels tougher than the previous release.

You’re still exploring linear paths filled with shrines, chests, piles of trash to sift through, and campfires to rest at, in-between battles against other undead soldiers. Knight’s Tale was never shy about outnumbering you in fights and Legion IX follows suit; in the few battles of the preview build, you’re often mobbed by enemies both tough and weak, who will respawn on a seemingly endless cycle.

Each of your characters (there are four to unlock in the preview, including Gaius and one who is just labelled “Praetorian”) has various special attacks. Albina Virgila, for example, can use a flaming sword up close or hurl fire from a distance. Enemies are often ranged, and these can be a real pain if you don’t have a ranged character of your own. Tougher enemies will still drop to their knees when defeated, ready to rise again unless you execute them.

What I couldn’t really get a sense of in the preview were the stakes. Knight’s Tale opens with very clear antagonists and sets up the thrust of its story early. King Arthur: Legion IX, however, starts with you waking in a strange forest and just kind of picking a direction. The voice acting at this point is also nowhere near as good as it was in Knight’s Tale, which really harms the atmosphere. Characters say their lines as though they’re just reading out loud, and it’s quite distracting.

We’re a little while from the launch though, and Neocore didn’t disappoint with King Arthur: Knight’s Tale, so we have faith in them not to drop the ball on the expansion. It maintains the dark, steel-eyed atmosphere of the previous game, but looks to present an even steeper challenge which should certainly appeal to the fans. Thankfully, we don’t have long to wait to find out.

King Arthur Knight’s Tale – Legion IX is coming to PC later this year.