Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusaders

Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusaders Description

Phantagram's Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusaders is a truly unique Xbox game - blending strategic RTS type strategising with real-time 3D arcade battling. It's an ambitious premise, and rather surprisingly, it works very well. Rather than throwing the two genres together in a viscous hotch-potch of confusing tasks, we have been presented with a well-formed product that seemingly exists in a genre all of its very own. It takes its lead from the PC prequel, Kingdom Under Fire, which as a more straightforward strategy game in a near-saturated market, failed to make much of an impression when it was released in 2001. As such it places you in charge of a human army, with up to 1000 units, doing battle against the forces of darkness. There's a variety of assorted military types with which to compose your army, all presented with the same decent, if slightly unremarkable, graphical style. There's the standard infantry, archers, spearmen, cavalry, scouts, sappers, trebuchets, catapults and ballista. Once these chaps are assembled on the battlefield, the player will then wage war against various Orc troops: heavy-infantry, axe-throwers, wolf-riders, giant scorpions and swamp mammoths; as well as fantastically leggy and buxom Dark Elf Amazons - who amongst their archers and mounted archers can summon the assistance of Wyverns and ghouls later on in the game. Before the scrapping commences, the player has to organise the appropriate forces. Flirting with RPG type elements, you can visit the barracks to upgrade troops and warrior leaders, you can train in the fundamentals of warmongering, you can visit the briefing room, you can even eavesdrop on the common-soldier's prevalent concerns by visiting the local pub. After that, it's time to venture forth into the open plains, contemplating a suitable strategy from a god-like cartographic perspective. The single player mission slowly opens up, offering more and more pitched battle sites, and to gain ground you'll have to nip on over and indulge in some epic carnage. This is where the Kingdom Under Fire experience really kicks in: when the camera zooms in and ushers in some unprecedentedly complex hacking and slashing. The nature of the real-time battles will invite immediate comparisons to Koei's Dynasty Warriors series. You can take command of a single, specific commander and get stuck in, as the loyal soldiers that surround you help to fight off the hordes of on-screen enemies. Impressively, there is almost no slowdown, which significantly adds to the intense atmosphere of these epic battles. When you're actually in charge of the commander, the controls are fairly simplistic. You have a couple of different sword swipes and a special move. If this was all there was to the game, it wouldn't get much praise. However, you are consistently thankful that it isn't made any more complex. Because all the while this button mashing is going on, you'll have to keep a close eye on the entirety of your force and your wider, long-term strategies. As you pile into a crowd of orcs, dealing death like the macho warrior you represent, you'll still be wondering where those archers have got to. Suddenly, you zoom out to discover you're archer unit being smacked up by some angry elves. You'll have to quickly re-organise and engineer their escape, maybe bringing in reinforcements or altering your troop formations. Effectively, you're asked to play an arcade slash 'em up and a deeper strategy game?at the same time. It's multi-tasking at its trickiest, much like patting your head and rubbing your stomach simultaneously. That might all sound rather complicated, and frankly it is. The learning curve is unusually steep, which might be enough to intimidate most average gamers. Even the opening missions will have most people jibbering in a panic-stricken state. The general in charge is shouting orders at you; you're still trying to work out how to send your troops 'over there' and suddenly you get attacked by a bunch of green-skinned hooligans, and a full-on close-up slash-athon ensues. But although this may be a daunting premise, it guarantees depth and a genuine long-lasting challenge to even the most hardened strategists. On top of all that, there's also a full buffet of Live features. At time of going to press (before the game's release) we're in no position to judge these extras, but assuming that they all work smoothly, they will contribute to make KUF an even better value package than it already is. There's head-to-head online battling, there's a scoreboard for the central single player quest and there's even supplementary downloadable missions.

Experience Chaotic Medieval Battle on Epic Scale!

Up to 1,000 units on the battlefield at any one time, with up to 150 on screen at any one time, each one beautifully rendered with 2,000 to 3,000 polygons.

On the players command, hundreds of units attack the enemies, sacrificing their lives for victory. You will be a hero- the first to strike and the last one standing.

Over thirty types of units to choose from, from ordinary infantry to hideously transformed monsters and extraordinary aerial creatures.

Players can create an almost unlimited combination of troops for maximum tactical strategy.

Realistic physics show units using tools and equipment, such as fire from an entrenched mortar and stone-throwers. The harder players train their units, the more efficiently they carry out the commands.

Various Elements for players to build their strategy on.

Customized, upgradeable characteristics and skills for troops and generals.

Upgradeable armour and weaponry.

Natural elements, such as ground height, direction of sunlight, soil resistance, real-time day & night cycles and weather patterns.

Other factors including density of troops, level of training, timing, experience points and weaponry.

Powerful Hero System

All heroes come with their own sets of special moves and abilities, and can call upon the magical abilities of sub-heroes.

RPG element allows heroes and their soldiers to gain experience as they progress, earning gold for upgraded weapons and armour.

An individual hero is powerful enough to turn the tide of battle, but not enough to win the war single-handedly. It is crucial to train and prepare troops for imminent battles.

Unit Upgrade System

Main character and soldiers can gain experience and level up as they progress through the game.

Between each mission, players can visit a castle to upgrade soldiers by equipping them with new weapons and armours, tweak their ability points, assign a new leader or radically change the troops before the next battle.

Different Perspectives

At the beginning of the game, a player can choose one main character from four distinct races; two from the Human side and two from the Dark side. Each selection will determine the player's perspective and influence the destiny of the character.

Aside from clear mission differences, a few important events will take place from different viewpoints with varying motives and goals.

Realistic Sound Effects

In the heat of combat, soldiers shout out battle information and threat warnings in real-time. No more dull text system messages on the screen. Soldiers express cries of pain, victory and defeat.

Dynamic Camera Work

Dynamic camera work as only seen on mega-budget film, capturing the essence of true epic battle.

• www.kuftc.com