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main
character, and it is who the player will directly control. The captains
cannot be controlled, but their services can be called in to aid
the player. There are two captains to assist the player, and all
have special abilities that can be upgraded by allocating experience
points. There may be one that focuses on lightening, which travels
rapidly and heavily damages armored units, or one that is given
a higher melee count so they can be a better brawler. Individual
squads also have captains, but these captains are special in that
their abilities carry over and are what enables the squads to advance
in the unit tree.
Point allocation takes place during story portions that are in-between
battles. Since Kingdom Under Fire is so linear, there isn't
any exploration on the world map. So once a player reaches town,
they can either recruit mercenaries or listen to soldiers at the
pub, go to a briefing, or go to the barracks to distribute points
and train in how to use certain units, all of which is pretty straightforward.
Money is also gained during combat, and it is used to buy equipment
for the captains and troops. Weapons can have attributes like electricity
or fire damage, while armor can have increased protection from explosions
or elemental attacks. There is tons of stuff to buy and never enough
money, so carefully choosing what to get is important.
Careful planning has to be considered when hiring a mercenary from
a pub or when given a new squad during a level, because leveling
up whatever looks interesting isn't always beneficial to the army.
If some cavalry is needed, the captain needs to not only have a
set melee count, but they also need to have the riding ability up
to a certain point, or they can focus on range attacks to create
archers and further build that squad up by allocating more points
to ranged and also to gunpowder to then have a mortar crew. Any
spells that are learned, by both the hero and captains of squads,
can be used pre-confrontation on the battlefield. A unit can launch
a thunderstorm or dark mist on an area before the enemy arrives,
or a squad can back off to heal the units in the fray. There are
a good number of abilities that can be learned, but, unfortunately,
the manual does a horrible job at explaining them - it doesn't even
bother.
Experimentation will lead to a better understanding of what does
what, as well as a few in-game instructions. One that is featured
in a battle, and one of my favorite things to do, is to set fire
using archers and sapper. I prefer using archers, myself. By upgrading
the fire ability, one squad of archers is absolutely deadly. By
setting fire to the rear of an enemy and then the front, much of
their fight will be taken out of them while they burn to a crisp.
Sappers are also a fun unit to use, as they can lay and defuse traps.
Using them in combination, while not always possible due to imposed
required squads and squad limitations, setting fire to an enemy
and watching them run right into a trap, sharpened poles that close
into a square shape, is a blast, with the wavy effect of the fire
giving way to the sight of units being tossed in the air and impaled
by spikes. Other, more minor tactical touches, include archers shooting
poorly when facing the sun, as well as height advantages for archers
and charging advantages for cavalry. These advantages come in the
form of extra skill points.
Skill points are what are used during combat to perform a special
move or use magic. The player's hero has a set of basic combinations
using light and heavy attacks, as well as special attacks that deal
a bit more damage and are used to push away the enemy when they
have already encircled and are going in for the kill. There is also
an offensive block and the option to retreat. Selecting other squads
is done by using a shoulder button, and a mini map can be enlarged
to more easily dictate where the troops should go.
Combat certainly gets hectic. All the squad selecting and troop
movement is made more difficult by a stiff camera and heroes that
lazily sit there when they aren't being controlled. It's also easy
to get confused as to who is going where, when numerous lines are
scattered across the map and circles and triangles are everywhere.
The game does a decent job of keeping track of everything, but the
map isn't always at the optimum size to be as effective as possible.
The fights certainly look spectacular, though, with a nice haze
effect used to make the heavily armored troops glow in the dusk,
as well as character designs - except for Gerald and the half-naked
Dark Elves - that are fantastic. What the game really succeeds at,
though, is giving the player the full combat experience, with booming
bass, the camera going into shaky-cam mode, force feedback used
for explosions and cavalry charges, units flying left and right
and being thrown into the air and over backs, as well as a rocking
soundtrack that manages to make the experience even more chaotic.
There is something inherently good about enveloping a squad of orcs
and annihilating them with all the flair of a Michael Dudikoff film.
The soundtrack is a good indicator as to whether or not this game
is right for you. Instead of melodic tunes that sound like they
were recorded at a renaissance fair, there is a guitar-driven soundtrack
that could've easily been ripped out of a cheesy 80's action movie.
And I can't explain why it works, it just does. But that is part
of the game's charm. While it looks like a traditional fantasy-strategy
title, it's really much more. There is banter between the Dark Legions
with a dark elf constantly calling a half-vampire a bitch, and another
dark elf that is an airhead and always talking about guys. It passes
the point of absurd and gets in a zone that makes one fantasy creature
calling another an orc ass seem almost normal. The story also takes
more serious tones, with treachery and deception in the Dark Legions
and lofty speak of retaking ancient lands in the Human Alliance,
and the tone switches appropriately so the completely random moments
and more solemn moments don't intertwine. Now, if you're thinking
to yourself, "that sounds like the stupidest thing I've ever heard,"
then I would advise you to just skip over this and check out one
of Koei's offerings, but if it only slightly interests you, then
it might hook you too.
To me, one of the more amazing things about the game is that there
is one word that wasn't recorded during the vocal sessions. The
word 'Patriarch' simply does not exist in the game, nor does it
whenever it's used in another form, like Patriarchal. I know it's
used because the game has subtitles, but the word never comes out.
So if someone says, "The Patriarch will be there." what the player
hears is, "The ___ will be there." I cannot recall any other game
where such a thing occurred. The rest of the voices range from decent
to pretty bad, but the dialogue often teeters between cheesy and
random banter, so all kind of works in the game's favor in a weird
Resident Evil 1 sort of way.
Another problem is that the online portion is very laggy. Along
with the infamous missing word, another sign that the game might
have been rushed is an insert in the case saying multiplayer is
a one-on-one experience, despite the manual saying different, but
there are also several indications that more than two people should
be able to play in the menu system - although I think this may be
due to more technical limitations, because armies can get fairly
large. Multiplayer itself is actually really cool. There are a number
of hero slots, and each is given a thousand points to create an
army of four squads, with a few spare, and these can be taken online
and leveled up as they win battles. A shame, then, that any cool
maneuvers and ingenious tactics are hampered by delays. Especially
since this is really the place where all the units and their upgrades
can be used, since the campaigns' story and objectives limit just
how far the player can go with troop advancement. This is especially
true for the aerial support units (including airships and dragons),
which just pop up in single player, but can be vital to success
in multiplayer. For the brief moments of smooth play, it's extremely
fun, and it's enough to keep me hopeful that the experience will
work itself out eventually.
Overall: 7.5/10
Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusaders looks to have all the trappings
of a traditional fantasy title, but it is quite a bit different
from the norm. With an 80's rock soundtrack, catty elves, hectic
battles, and a potentially exceptional multiplayer portion, it's
a difficult title to nail down. While I enjoyed it myself, I can
certainly understand why others wouldn't. The game just carries
itself in a certain way that could be very offsetting to people.
For those who would feel more at ease with a game that takes itself
more seriously, one of Koei's titles should fit the bill, but for
a slightly skewed experience, albeit one with exhilarating combat,
give Kingdom Under Fire a try.
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