Review for Kingdom Under Fire II. PC game, the video game came out on 14/11/2019
The MMORPG market lately turns out to be quite stale, with many titles that are all too similar to each other. Differentiating is not easy at all, but the Blueside guys have decided to go beyond the usual patterns typical of MMORPG games, introducing RTS components in real time in their new title. If you still haven't figured it out we are talking about Kingdom Under Fire II, a truly ambitious title that cost the software house a whopping 80 million dollars, as well as a very long development of about 11 years.
It was back in 2008 when we saw the title for the first time at E3 in Los Angeles. Development since then has been very troubled ending up in oblivion, until the publisher Gameforge decided to invest in the Blueside team, restarting work on Kingdom Under Fire II at full capacity. Leaving aside the first beta released - with disastrous results - only in Korea and Russia, finally after 11 long years the servers of the title are now open to the public.
Like any self-respecting MMORPG title, our adventure begins with character creation. The creation editor is really well done and allows you to change the appearance of our hero in all areas: if we do not pay attention, we will risk throwing the first hour of play only in editing the alter ego. We have a total of 5 classes available, which differ in type of attacks, weapons and sex:
- Gunslinger: a human warrior capable of wielding swords and firearms;
- Spellsword: a dark elf capable of wielding single-handed swords and casting powerful spells that can also freeze enemies;
- Berseker: the most fascinating class, it is a tank capable of wiping out entire hordes of enemies with a single swipe of the sword;
- Cleaning: an extremely fast elf able to unleash close attacks using two swords or ranged attacks using the bow;
- Elementalist: a very versatile and powerful sorceress, able to exploit the surrounding nature to launch powerful magical attacks.
The incipit that is the cornerstone of the plot is very simple, but at the same time effective: the continent of Bersia is grappling with a terrible war that is devastating and decimating the population. We, regardless of the class we choose, will take on the role of a general, and our task will be to repel the armies of the enemy monsters. When everything seems to be coming to an end, two shady figures appear, murdering our sovereign, once again throwing the continent of Bersia into oblivion. After an abrupt expiry and the related loss of consciousness, we will wake up in a field just outside a completely destroyed city. Our task will be to restore order and destroy the remaining enemy armies still present.
The gameplay, like that of any MMORPG, is initially quite simple and immediate, to then become more and more complex and articulated as the level progresses. Basically we will have two types of attack available: a light and fast one that can be used by pressing the left mouse button, and a special r stronger but at the same time slower, usable by pressing the right button. At the beginning of the game we will have only two skills available, but as we level up we will unlock others, both active, which will cause powerful damage to enemies or help us during the fight, and passive, to increase the percentage of damage, the possibility to perform critical attacks, and so on. We will have up to 16 slots available to equip the skills that we will unlock with the increase in the level of our hero. The first 8 slots can be recalled using the numbers on the keyboard, while the others can be selected with the mouse cursor. Kingdom Under Fire II, however, is not only this: as mentioned a few lines above, to differentiate the product from the mass, the developers have inserted RTS components in real time, thus giving a little freshness to a genre that now appears to be quite stale. Pwe can switch from third person view to isometric view at any time, just press the appropriate button. Our army will be divided into 7 troops, split between melee and ranged attack. Each troop will have their own experience and will level up as the story progresses. In Kingdom Under Fire II we will be able to control each troop individually and give various orders. We can also make our garrison assume both the attack and defense position: the latter is extremely useful when we will be attacked from a distance or from above by a dragon. Once the orders are given, we can return to the third person view and give a hand to our troops.
A huge problem with Kingdom Under Fire II is the artificial intelligence of the enemies. They will not attack us if not provoked, and when they do they turn out to be quite stupid, attacking us infrequently and with little precision. Each enemy will have its own level and depending on its abilities it will cause us more or less damage. If we are surrounded, despite the artificial intelligence being not the best, we will hardly get out unscathed.
The quests, both primary and secondary, although apparently different from each other, are on balance very similar, forcing us to go from zone A to zone B to free the latter from enemies and then report to the zone of origin. Despite this we will have a very large number of quests available and, thanks to the different classes present, the title offers enough material to glue the player to the screen for a disproportionate number of hours. The dialogues with NPCs, as typical of MMORPGs, are multiple choice. By discussing with a character it is possible to deepen his story, ask for more information relating to the mission he is entrusting us, or simply refuse the quest and then accept it at a later time. However, as we progress through the story, the RTS part becomes stronger and more present, forcing us many times to switch from one mode to another. To move around the vast game map we will have a mount, also customizable. Along the adventure we will also meet blacksmiths and merchants, from whom we can buy armor and swords, or upgrade those already in our possession. Within the game we will also have a shop where we can buy purely aesthetic items; obviously, payment will be made with your credit card and not with the game money.
During our preview we had stressed over and over again how the main problem of Kingdom Under Fire II was the technical sector which remained strongly anchored in 2008. Although the level design is really excellent, with very varied and inspired settings, the final impact however appears to be something obsolete and not well cared for.. The textures are of low quality and the environments are poor in detail, often resulting bare. The polygonal models of the characters are nothing special: the protagonists are slightly more detailed, while the NPCs that will surround the environments are all too similar to each other, without presenting a good variety. Particle effects, such as animations, are also poorly maintained. Despite this, the title manages to be enjoyable, and is able to run on any machine ensuring a very high frame rate. With an nvidia RTX 2080Ti we had no problem playing in 4K with a frame rate higher than 140 fps. Another aspect not to be underestimated is the fact that it supports resolutions with aspect ratios of 21: 9, 32: 9 and multi monitor ones. If during our test in Frankfurt we had complained about the practically absent audio, except for the dialogue and some effects, in the final version don't worry because every sound is where it needs to be. The audio is of good quality and is able to immerse the player more in the game environment.
Kingdom User Fire II adopts the Buy to Play formula, that is, you will pay for the game once and you will be able to play forever. There will be no monthly subscription plans. Gameforge will make three game packs available:
- Hero Package: 29,99 €;
- Emperor Package: 49,99 €;
- War God Package: 99,99 €.
Each pack will have different in-game content, such as skins and weapons to be used within the world created by the Blueside team.
Kingdom Under Fire II tries to rejuvenate a little the formula of the now antiquated MMORPG, introducing real-time strategy techniques typical of RTS titles. The formula proposed by BlueSide is well done and fun even if the repetitiveness of the quests for a long time can tire. Unfortunately, the title lacks in several respects as regards the technical sector. The overall quality of the game, as mentioned during the preview, has remained anchored to the now distant 2008, the year in which Kingdom Under Fire II was announced for the first time. The sound is present this time and is of good quality. The Buy to Play formula is really interesting and does not force players to subscribe to monthly subscriptions, which is typical of MMORPGs and which is becoming increasingly popular in other forms of entertainment as well. Overall, the title has been able to entertain us in both its ways.
Kingdom Under Fire II is already available for PC and you can buy it directly on the official website.
► Kingdom Under Fire II is an RTS-Strategy-MMORPG game developed by Blueside Phantagram and published by Gameforge for PC, the video game was released on 14/11/2019
