- Developer: Warhorse Studios
- Publisher: Deep silver
- Genre: RPG
- Release Date: 13/2/18
- Platforms: Xbox PS4 and PC
- Reviewed on: Xbox one X
- Game Supplied by: Xbox
Kingdom come is a immersive medieval story driven RPG that will take you on a emotional journey and challenge everything that makes you a gamer at the same time.
Combining a amazing story with great graphics and gameplay this is not one to miss.
I would like to start by fully admitting that I did not go into Kingdom come with high hopes. Much to my surprise there is much more here than expected.
I expected a bland linear story that we often see in random RPG’s but kingdom come does not in any way follow this trend. There is a real story to be told here, a deep and meaningful story of revenge filled with pain and emotion, Kingdom come holds no bars, it hits hard.
On the note of no holding back, this applies to every aspect of kingdom come, the sheer gore that you will witness is nothing short of horrifying, people hanging by a noose, bodies everywhere, covered in blood in pieces, even witnessing the merciless murder of your parents and every other person in your home town, or being asked to literally dig up a corpse and steal from the grave.
The Developer has no problem expressing the grim reality of the time set, even in simpler terms such as pebble dashing a man’s house with horse feces due to his opinion of the true royalty of the land.
Despite the lack of any kind of character customization commonly used to help form a bond between the player and the character you will undoubtedly connect to henry, you will feel his pain and quite soon into the narrative you find yourself wanting to avenge his parent’s brutal death.
The quality and hard work put into this title is apparent throughout, just to start graphically the whole thing is stunning, one of the most visually impressive games I have seen in a long time. From the almost real looking horses to the amazing vistas spanning across rolling hills and colossal castles, there is no lack of things to look at, the best way I could describe it is, imagine a Witcher 3 setting without the fantasy filters. They have aimed at realism and that’s what they have achieved.
Another very impressive detail is the artwork surrounding the general out of game segments, the intro cutscene and all the maps and HUD are designed in the art style of the time, and it just fits in so well. The Dev team has done such a good job of immersing you into the era you are playing in, the use of both old English and vulgar language makes the dialogue both colourful and era appropriate.
Along with graphics and the use of era appropriate language, the sound helps so much to immerse you into the experience the sound of rain was especially striking as it was just so realistic, coincidentally it was raining outside my window when I was traveling around in game in the rather unsettling weather, I decided to compare and I must say it was impressive just how real the in game sound was, it really made me feeling like I was hearing the rain fall right around me.
Now, let’s dive in to some of the finer mechanics of the game, when it comes to equipment and the perks of using it, this is like any other RPG, your heavier metal based armors will have a higher defense in this sense the game is like any other but there are 2 main mechanics that really add to the experience, the first being the combat system, it’s hard to master at first but once conquered it can be rewarding. For your primary weapon you will be using a sword for the most part and when entering battle you have to aim your swings and stabs by using your right stick to select an area to aim and this will dictate your swing trajectory, if you aim the blows right you will find that even a blocking enemy is but a few swings away from defeat.
The second is what I would call an impression system, so everything about you will have an effect on how people react to you, for example if you approach royalty in dirty and tattered clothes this affects how likely they are to help you and seriously affects your charisma, if you walk up to someone in blood stained clothes this will boost your chances of intimidating them, the same applies to having a sword equipped and or drawn.
This means that not only do you have to consider the clothes you are wearing in every situation but also forces you to take care of them and wash them.
I am honestly amazed by how much i love kingdom come, its story keeps me interested and plucks at my heartstrings at every opportunity, i can wholeheartedly say i have fallen in love with kingdom comes rugged charm. Even the game itself with its hard to master combat and truly challenging missions has me coming back again and again, down to the last detail kingdom come feels almost like a medieval life simulator created to pull you in to complete immersion.
Now despite being seriously amazing game, it is not without fault, there are so many glitches including the usual ones such as snagging and phasing into others characters. The bad ones if anything is just funny, one of the major ones is one that causes you and your mount to float to the top of a tree, the second causing random NPC characters to simply float high in the air. As I said they are nothing more than annoying by no means are they game breaking. However as is usually the case with RPG’s there can be quests that are just downright annoying and take you out of the game. One specific one that comes to mind is spending half an hour trying to find a shovel to bury the protagonist’s parents. It made what was supposed to be an emotional scene in to one that just purely irritated me. Having items in a large area that is very dark and burnt out was like trying to solve a where’s Wally amongst slaughtered villagers and burnt down houses, except Wally was a shovel it’s not like they were buried or covered by anything it was just simply difficult to spot. One other issue is the archery, now it may have just been me, but I found it infuriatingly difficult to do, no aim and shaky cam makes that aspect of combat near impossible to manage. I’m sure that it will become easier with practice, but in a game with so many other mechanics (such as lock picking, which I also find near impossible) it just makes it feel more like a chore than a game mechanic.
SUMMARY
Kingdom come deliverance is a heart breaking tale of loss and revenge, it is one of the most impressive games I have played in the recent years and I think it will be a pleasant surprise for anyone that’s willing to give it a try. Like any game it has flaws, but none of these take away from the beautiful world or the gripping story.
I would recommend anyone that likes their RPG’s to give it a good go.
What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments!