Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusaders

"Ever wanted to be a huge barbarian with a flaming sword? I thought so."

Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusaders isn't a very well known game to most Xbox owners. The game combines strategy, hack and slash, and RPG elements. In short, it consisted of everything I wanted to see in a game (at that point in time at least). But then I thought to myself, “A real time strategy on a console? It couldn't possibly be that good could it?” Either way the game came out and showed promising reviews, so at that juncture I purchased the game.

Gameplay (8/10): All right. There are many elements of gameplay, so I'll go over each one at a time. There are four playable characters, but only two are accessible from the start. You can either be the Dark Elves or Humans. You start the game and it'll give you a brief tutorial. Before all battles you get to select troops you want to assist you in battle. Each team gets many similar units and unique ones. For example, the Dark can get scorpions and mammoths in battle, while humans get pyro technicians and mortars (these are just a few examples). All you really should be concerned about are the basics. There are foot soldiers, archers, cavalry, spearman, and sappers (guys who set traps).

Once you're on the battlefield there will be a square map at the top right corner, your squad's health on the top left, and a SP (special attack points) bar at the bottom. The health bar is green, and when your under attack it will gradually dissipate, it will be replaced by a red bar (you have to be wounded to see it). This refers to health much health can be restored by spell. If you get too wounded the red spots will become black, so you can no longer recover that bit of health.
The map system is quite simple, green squares and circles represent your team. Blue represents your allies. Red are your enemies. As for the SP system, well, it will be explained in a minute.

The right thumb stick moves the camera around, and the left moves the direction indicator. Move the direction indicator to a position and press A to move a squad to that location. Press Y to move all squads to a location. The camera can be a nuisance, so use the mini map (explained next). Tap the left and right trigger to change squads. When you see an enemy squad, click over in their direction to attack.

It's much more efficient to call up the mini map to command your troops. Hold the right trigger down to call it up. Use the left thumb stick to move the cursor around the map. Press A to move your current squad to that location. Press Y if you want to move everyone else. Holding the left trigger also calls up the mini map, it works exactly the same, except you can set multiple way points for troops. To attack enemies, move over them with the cursor and press A or Y.

Now the battle system. X is attack, A is a more powerful attack, B is block (and holding it is sometimes a charge up ability depending on the character), and Y is special attack. Only the main hero can be controlled. All squads have a series of enemy troops along with a commander. Kill the commander and the troops die with him. Hitting enemies adds points to the SP meter at the bottom of the screen. These can be used to generate powerful special attacks. Press Y for your character's, or Y & B/X & A for your officers. Your officers can save your life in desperate situations, so don't be afraid to call them. These attacks obvious reduce the SP meter. You can also string together attacks in melee, watch the loading screen to figure out what they are.

When your squads are outside of close combat, press left and right on the d-pad to bring up a special abilities menu. This can be used to set traps, cure your team, move in support troops, or cast spells. You have to select a location for the ability to activate. So use either the mini map or the left joystick to set the location. Press A to activate. Most of these abilities require SP, but not all of them.

After each mission you get experience and money depending on how many enemies you killed. You'll generally go to a city; there will be an option to enter a barracks. Go in and you'll see your troop choices. Select the squad you want, and there you will see many things to do. You can get better weaponry/armor for your soldiers, or can even up their fighting ability. Most squads can also learn new skills, these can be used to call in meteors, freeze enemies, heal your team, etc. Upping or adding new skills can allow you to change or upgrade your squads. For example, upping Light infantry's melee ability to 5 can allow them to become heavy infantry. This will give them better weapons and gear. Archers can get gunpowder ability; this allows them to become motor launchers once their skills meet a certain requirement. There is no shortage of weapons, armor, gear, or job choices.

If you have a lack of soldiers, you can go to a pub and hire them. You can see what abilities they currently have, and which they are allowed to learn. Hire them and set them up the way you see fit.

All this stuff is extremely well done, and very in depth. The game has a very sharp learning curve however, but don't let that discourage you from getting the game. The game is very epic at times. When you see the silhouette of a 200 foot tall enemy in the distance, cool things are bound to happen. There are four campaigns, all of which consist of 10-15 missions. Each character controls totally different, some are slow and powerful, some fast, and others in-between. Anyhow, onto the next section.

Graphics (8/10): One thing you'll notice is that the graphics aren't stellar. This is to be expected since there are hundreds of enemies on the field at once. Considering that, they're really quite good. The main characters are well designed and much more detailed then their infantry counterparts. The graphics can be quite rewarding at times. Things like meteors look sweet, as do things like shooting down a huge dragon from the sky.

Story (10/10): This series has a surprisingly deep storyline and mythology. The basic story is that you are on a quest to reclaim the Holy Ground from the Darks. Sounds pretty basic right? Well, there are many twists in the storyline and all of them are unpredictable. Not only that, but they're very well done. I could talk about it, but it would ruin the storyline for you now wouldn't it?

Then you got the characters, most of which kick some serious ass. You got Gerald, a slightly brash and arrogant commander. Lucretia who sucks so I won't talk about her. Then there's Kendal, the always honorable knight who serves under the Patriarch. And last but not least, Regnier, the villain of the story. He is, well, the biggest badass that every lived, and quite possibly the coolest character ever. There are many other characters that add flavor to the story, all of which are easy to get attached to.

Sound/Music (7/10): The sound effects aren't too particularly amazing. Fire sounds like fire. Swinging a sword sounds like swinging a sword, so on and so forth. The game's music is mostly death metal. It's cool at first, but its repetitiveness can make it get annoying at times, but after awhile you get used to it. The voices chosen for the characters are all suiting, but the actors themselves aren't the greatest.

Challenge (8/10): This game has a steep learning curve. Don't expect to get used to it for awhile. It can be a really fun game, or a very annoying one. Since you can't save in-mission, losing can be extremely frustrating. The missions vary in difficulty, and some are downright evil. But all in all, once you get used to things, nothing should be that big of a deal.

Conclusion: This game excels at most of the things it was trying to accomplish. It's a great in depth game with an awesome fighting system. Some stages are extremely epic, and at the end of it you'll go “Wow, that kicked ass.” If you're looking for a strategy game, then look no further. It is probably my third favorite Xbox game next to Halo 1 and Morrowind. I would recommend it to all gamers that have a liking for strategy. You can no longer find it in stores, so you'll have to search Gamestop or something for it. Final verdict, 8/10. <subliminal message>Buy this game now dammit!</subliminal message>

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 08/01/05