Why would I want to bother playing Kingdom Under Fire-The Crusaders?

That is the question that I asked myself when Gamecell’s big boss emailed me from his Dark Tower offering (or rather ‘demanding’ that I get off my bum and write something) the title for review. Now then, I am a real fan of fantasy. I have explored a million and one worlds, fought on countless battlefields and plundered a myriad of tombs and dungeons, slaying orcs, dragons and other grotty minions all through my four gaming decades. But despite naturally being impressed by some of the screen shots and previews of the game I did have a few negative thoughts about the whole affair.

In schizophrenic Gollum style my brain went to work…

“Isn’t this just going to be a poor mans Dynasty Warriors?”

“Yessss, but you love Dynasty Warriors and twitchy game play.”

“But it’s trying to be a strategy game with it. That’s just going to ruin the flow. One or the other you know.”

“One of your favourite games of the year was Rome-Total War and that was a strategy fesssst. Besides, you are always wanting games to be more ambitious and varied my love.”

“I know, but it looks so generic and traditionally Tolkien in its setting.”
“Don’t be silly precious, you read Lord of the Rings annually and you just love Orcs and Trolls. You even play Dungeons and Dragons on your own…”

“Alright alright, don’t tell everyone! I’ll review the blooming thing!”

So there it was. The parcel plopped through the letterbox on to my mud-caked door mat and I began to scan through the instructions…
Yep, here we go. Skiddley dee, skiddley dee…. The game takes place in the land of Bersia…. Dum de dum, dum de dum…… some stuff about a First and Second War of Heroes in the distant past….. Bop de bop, fiddley dee….. the Dark Legion is about to rise and threaten the uncertain peace of the last fifty years and a new war will begin etc…

Now all of this hints at not only a bog standard story but a previous game and lineage which I have absolutely no knowledge of. And sure enough, after some research it seems Kingdom Under Fire had previously made an appearance on the PC. I don’t think it made any real impact and due to the timing of its release I am not sure if this completely different Xbox incarnation will do any better in the sales stakes - but it really SHOULD folks…..

The first thing that struck me about KUF-the Crusaders was the style and art direction which I loved because it’s a little bit more thoughtful than you would expect from a fantasy hack ‘n’ slash. For example, though the story introduction is merely text via a loading screen, the screen itself is an interesting mixture of medieval art with a kind of grotesque Bruegel style. Upon actually playing the game this comes further to the fore as the human troops are kitted out in plate armour, ride horses jousting style and behave with a decidedly old-style Christian crusading fervour against the ‘infidel’ monsters of the underwurlde. It’s a very interesting concept and fascinating that the Korean developing team have stylised things in this very historical European manner. I was half expecting bubonic plague and an appearance from the Pope!

Add to this the game engine character intro which features Gerald and his bodyguards chatting with buddy banter as they run through the tall grass on patrol and you get an instant feel that you are in control of actual people in a real world instead of a mere arcade smash up with a selected personality-less avatar.

Nevertheless, the real tasty and enjoyable meat of the game is a Dynasty Warriors-style hack ‘em up where the object is to kill as many of the enemy on the battlefield as possible with as much skill and reflexes as you can muster. You are thrown into battle pretty quickly despite there being an introductory period which nannies you though some of the essential combat controls. These are simple enough and follow the same template as most games of this type with the ‘normal attack’, the ‘heavy attack’, the special characteristic ‘super dooper’ move and of course ‘block’. Naturally there are a few combos to be made but there is also the smart addition of a ‘call to aid’; where you can summon one of your special bodyguards from elsewhere on the battlefield to help you out if you are taking a bit of a beating.

1/ Despite swinging my broadsword around with gusto there just wasn’t much of a connective power there.

2/ The dual joystick troop positioning and camerawork (though fine during close combat) left something to be desired where the troop movement moments were concerned. Because you cannot pull the camera out to any distance or height you simply don’t have a decent tactical feel feel for the battlefield and it’s all rather clumsy and vague.

3/ Erm…. What battlefield? Is everything going to be this small scale? Am I to be playing around a small empty map going from A to B to fight stuttering and limited skirmishes all the time?

These are the sound bites of doom that will assault your head when you first play the game. But you must ignore them, because with a bit of patience Kingdom Under Fire evolves, opens up its legs and shows you what a sexy and ultra packed fun machine it really is. Although maybe only for fantasy geeks…

Now I expected to be able to kit out my character with newer, more powerful weapons and increase his stats with experience points – this sort of thing is par for the course. So it was nice to see that I could also develop my bodyguards in a similar but personal manner. It was even nicer and frankly quite unexpected to see that I could even up the equipment and armour level of my foot soldiers. In fact, why keep them as merely foot soldiers, why not evolve them into superior knights or paladins or perhaps swap them for cavalry or even higher fantasy fare like Storm Rider aerial units!!! The level of customisation is incredibly extensive for a console game, even on a gargantuan hard drive behemoth like the Xbox, and this makes all the difference when you return to the battlefield.

Yes, patience is a virtue, and so is a +10 flaming flamberge sword. Suddenly the thick of the battle becomes intense fun and worth talking about. As your melee ability rises and your weapons improve, you can smash up your enemies with glee. You feel powerful, you make a difference. Blood stains the earth, bodies are littered everywhere and KUF-The Crusaders becomes KUF-The Persuader. I love this! This is superior to Dynasty Warriors now baby, this is combat in all kinds of geography, from rivers to temples, from castle walls to prairies, from deserts to dense forest and on the flat or on a slope. And fighting to near the last man with the torsos of your fallen comrades about you really is something to behold.

But the use of brain power is also welcome once you get used to how to juggle about with the camera and the tactical map. Sending out scouts can be extremely useful for troop positioning and many of the missions require some crafty stealth through forests. The ability to change the density of your troop formation is also an asset because it helps to either move your men quicker or to defend against a hail of arrows better behind tight, crowded shields. It’s these elements that projects Kingdom Under Fire way above similar games in the depth stakes and keeps the war interesting (as well as helping to prevent a blister the size of Birmingham sprouting from your thumb).

Another thing I liked a lot was the fact that when you kill a leader the rest of the enemy troop is automatically defeated. This may sound like a bad thing but it helps the game from becoming long-winded and stagnant by avoiding having to kill everyone to the last man before moving on, and cleverly, the enemy leaders are not always easy to pick out from the crowd, being similarly equipped to everyone else and you will have to battle through plenty of minions before finding the right man or woman (except when they happen to be something like a huge ten foot troll!) Actually, there are some other spectacular fantasy creatures mixed in amongst the regular troops. Creatures like giant scorpions are used as siege weapons and devastating self-destructing ghouls really put a cool fantasy weapon flavour into proceedings. Magical abilities make an appearance here and there too, so it’s not all “whack and bash” with tempered steel.

It’s funny though, because when you play from the Dark viewpoint the Humans are equally reviled, being referred to as “cruel apes,” and it feels bizarre slaughtering your own real life kind. The banter between Dark Elves and other minions is amusing too, being much nastier and less respectful than the human officers, which is a great and very necessary touch. The musical score is pretty decent too because although it’s on the lines of the all too familiar power rock riffs, it’s actually quite nicely structured and well crafted for maximum atmosphere and adrenaline, as opposed to bland guitar thrash.

Another thing that I must not neglect to mention is the sexiness quota - a prime requisite for fantasy games where cleavage is key, and women must be untouchable bondage queens of male desire. Our very own Diddly had already pointed out to me the sleek, armour clad lines of Gerald’s bodyguard Ellen, but the Dark Elf Lucretia is also a saucy minx and the half vampire Morene Strident is almost obscene in her thong. Great stuff!

To be honest, Kingdom Under Fire-The Crusaders is probably a bit too ambitious for its own good, trying to meld great looking arcade gaming with a heavy tactical element. Maybe the technology isn’t quite here to fully do it justice but I can’t help feeling that with just a little bit more work on the camera and controls this would be a classic - because all the core elements are excellent. But as it stands it’s still a superb game for those with a bit of patience and an emotional investment in this genre because it’s choc-a-block with great touches and oodles of game play. I am not going to Crusade for its recognition, just smile smugly that I have played a fine game that will have passed most of the populace by…