The RTS genre hasn’t quite gotten the play it deserves
on consoles. While the genre has been tearing it up on PCs for many years, Real
Time Strategy games have been few and far between on home systems. Developer
Phantagram is looking to change this with their new action-RTS game, Kingdom
Under Fire: The Crusaders. The game provides a medieval storyline with some
fantasy elements interjected, with warring tribes like Orcs, Humans and Dark
Elves facing off against each other. The gameplay is a mix of strategy, hack
and slash action and some RPG elements. However, some of the sections are more
successful than others, and the action elements kind of fall into button-mashing
hack and slash. However, the strategy elements are deep and complex and
ultimately carry the game, making it a very solid entry to the lonely console
RTS genre.
The storyline in Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusaders
follows its predecessor, Kingdom Under Fire: A War of Heroes, which was a modest
RTS game that came out on the PC a few years ago. The human world and the Dark
Legion, an alliance comprised of Dark Elves, Orcs and other races, are in a
period of ongoing strife, complicated by the destruction of a human village.
The humans retaliate, attacking the Dark Elves and leaving no survivors.
However, it soon becomes apparent that the Dark Elves were not responsible for
the destroyed village, and matters become much more complicated…
Kingdom Under Fire starts out very simply, with an
expanded tutorial taking you through the first couple of missions. At first,
the game seems a tad on the simplistic side, as these first few stages focus
primarily on the action elements. You start out by moving your brigade of
infantry soldiers to a location on the map with enemies or a spot to interact
with. When you engage or attack a group of enemies, the action switches from
control of your unit to control of your individual character as you partake in
some Dynasty Warriors style beat-downs. These portions offer little more than
button mashing, requiring you to swing wildly and knock around as many enemies
as you can. You can perform some very effortless combos, but nothing fancy or
elaborate. Most of the battles can be settled quickly by seeking out the leader
of the current group (they’re the ones with the red bars underneath them as
opposed to the green one that’s under your character) and killing them off,
effectively removing the head of your enemy. The action elements therefore can
be relatively quick and have little depth to them.
However, as you progress through the campaign, the RTS
elements begin to stand out and provide the game with most of its meat. There
are two different ways to command your troops. You can cycle through your
available squads by pressing the shoulder buttons and cycling through them, or
you can micro-manage them a lot more effectively by using the map and assigning
objectives to your squads. Whereas a lot of the RTS elements are simply “run
here and kill this group”, some of them have a lot of really cool teamwork and
pre-planned strategy aspects, giving them a surprising amount of depth in a
console RTS.
The game also has some great customization factors. As
you complete missions, you can increase your main character’s stats and learn
new abilities and combos. You can also hire mercenaries to join your group and
help you in the campaign, buy upgrades for your units, and many other great
things to help you through the game.
The graphics in Kingdom Under Fire look great. The
character models have a very cool look to them, with a great amount of detail to
them and a unique aesthetic. The game also has some great looking environments,
with details like individual blades of grass and detailed castles throughout.
The game also features some awesome visual effects, like glimmering armor and
rain dripping down the camera lens.
The sound effects leave a lot to be desired. The
English voice acting is very campy, although the Korean language track is pretty
good. The music feels out of place, with chugging metal power chords dictating
the onscreen action. While this music sounds alright, it just doesn’t seem like
it should be in a fantasy themed medieval strategy game.
Kingdom Under Fire has a few problems, like undeveloped
hack-and-slash action and a poor sound presentation, but the strategy elements
are deep and fun, making for a title that any strategy fan with an Xbox happy to
try out.
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Gameplay: 8.5
Kingdom Under
Fire starts out rather simplistically, with some rather brainless hack and slash
action elements. However, the strategy components are very deep and complex for
a console game and the RPG elements allow for a great level of customization,
making for a deep RTS experience.
Graphics: 9.0
The graphics are
great, with detailed character models and nice backgrounds. The graphics have a
ton of polish with some cool special effects like rain drizzling off of the
screen and sunlight reflecting off of armor.
Sound: 7.0
The sound is a
bit problematic, with an out-of-place metal soundtrack and some poor English
voice acting.
Difficulty: Medium/Hard
Concept: 8.5
While some of the
action elements weren’t exactly fully realized, the RTS elements run deep and
provide the game with its depth.
Multiplayer: 8.5
Kingdom Under
Fire features some nice multiplayer elements, with XBox Live support for
two-players to amass their troops and settle their differences with a good
clobberin’.
Overall: 8.5
Kingdom
Under Fire is a good game with some cool strategy features. While the action
portions aren’t as good as they could be and are little more than mindless hack
and slash, the RTS elements are a lot more fleshed out and add a lot of depth to
the game.
