Robin Hood is a real-time tactical strategy game that offers dynamic gameplay which combines stealth and action. The game will immerse you in a spectacular and realistic medieval environment, from the depths of Sherwood Forest to the ramparts of Nottingham castle. The story includes all the main elements of the Legend, starting with Robin's return from the Crusades and ending with his duel with the Sheriff of Nottingham, and also all the most famous characters from the Robin Hood legend: Maid Marian, Little John, Friar Tuck, Guy of Gisborne, etc.

Robin Hood resembles and plays very much like Commandos and the earlier Spellbound developed Desperados, but adds a few twists to the squad-based puzzle strategy genre. During the game, you get to chose from different players to fight or trick guards and knights. There are 6 heroes and 5 types of Merry Men, all with their own characteristics - Robin Hood is unquestionably the best archer in the game, but he is equally skilled at sword and staff fighting, as well as hand-to-hand combat, Little John fights only with a staff, though his great strength doubles its power, Friar Tuck is the company's resident glutton, but he is also in charge of transporting the company's beer, which he uses to get enemy soldiers drunk, Maid Marian is a skilled archer and swords-woman and is also well versed in the healing powers of plants, Will Scarlet carries a large shield which he can use to protect himself and another member of the company from enemy arrows and his prowess with the catapult enables him to strike enemies from a distance, and finally Stuteley is an expert at setting traps and ambushes and nobody can match his ability to capture net-loads of enemy soldiers. Overall, all the Merry Men are skilled at archery and hand to hand combat. Over the course of the game, their abilities evolve in keeping with the training.

Robin Hood features over 40 different non-linear missions to complete. Basically there are three different types of missions - Robbery and Infiltration (here you must find your way into enemy castles in order to seize riches amassed by the Normans on the backs of the poor, free hostages, attend secret meetings, or prevent the marriage of Marian to the despicable Guy of Gisborne), Castle Attack (here you must help the Saxons conquer an enemy-occupied castle), and Ambush (small missions in Sherwood in which you must stop the tax collector's convoy by trapping and attacking its escort).

I personally enjoyed this game, the new added features such as resource management and the non-linear mission path is definitely great improvement in the genre. However there is no real replay value, once you know the story that's the end of the game. There are no other modes or map editor. Anyway, buy this game if you like this genre, especially if you liked Desperados. You can also try this playable demo (82MB).

Minimum system requirements: 233 MHz Intel Pentium II (500 MHz Pentium III recommended), 64 MB RAM (128MB recommended), CD/DVD-ROM speed: 4x, 1GB available HDD space, Video: 4 MB RAM (8MB recommended), DirectX compatible sound device.