Software -- Castles, Siege & Conquest

CASTLES, SIEGE & CONQUEST MacPlay (714) 553-3530 Macintosh $35

Can 20th century technology bring the 14th century back to life?

"Castles, Siege & Conquest" tries to do so by putting you in the role of a 14th century nobleman clawing your way to the throne after the death of Charles of Clossau, King of the land of Bretagne, which looks an awful lot like France.

The game is a combination of strategy and action, and you can win the crown through victory on the battlefield, administrative power or through politics. It can be frustrating because of all the things that can happen to an aspiring noble of the 14th century. The Pope is always dunning you for gold, the peasantry is always on the verge of revolt and other nobles are constantly mounting attacks against your lands.

You can go from a holder of many domains to a victim of the executioner's axe in no time and with seemingly little say about it. Your strategy to become king has to be flawless. One mistake multiplies into many, and those multiply as well, and there seems to be no way to recover except to restart the game.

Play takes place for most of the game on a strategy map of the 36 territories in the kingdom. That can get a little old. Administrative, military and political activities are controlled by "Task Bars" that need to be kept active all the time to build your economy, spy on your neighbors or send diplomats to win their favor. That can get a little old, too.

When you attack another territory, the game takes you to the battle scene where you can deploy your army and issue orders. Once the battle starts you don't have any control over your troops. That's a realistic situation not unique to military commanders of the 14th century, but if you're hooked on action games in the realm of 20th century computers, you'll probably wish the game could put you in the fighting to strike a few blows for your cause.

The game gives you several options on the level of difficulty, what role you play, how you build your castles to keep your conquered people in line and defend your territories. Charles Deenen, who is credited with the music, does something almost impossible: creates a haunting music line that plays over and over without making you want to turn off the sound after the fourth time you've heard it.

Installation took a chunk of time and memory to load all seven disks, but we followed the instructions in the book and had no problems.

If you have a special interest in medieval Europe or in knights and castles, you'll enjoy this game. If straight military strategy is your game, stick to the 20th century and Three-Sixty's V for Victory. If you're an action-hungry, space-bar pounder, stick to the arcade.