Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom

"An awesome game that is sorely misunderstood"

Introduction
I do not know much about the history of KUF. All I know is that it is a RTS genre game and this game was a deviation from the usual games in the series. I went into looking for a hack and slash game and I couldn't have been more wrong.

Gameplay
Alot of people are having misconceptions about this game. It is not dynasty warriors. Its easy to mistake this game for a H&S clone when you first play through it on Normal.

But the real beef starts only when you complete the game for the first time. Where enemies start to get more immunities, are able to inflict status attacks and damage increases exponentially. Playing it like dynasty warriors is a sure way to get yourself killed on Hard and Extreme modes.

You have to start playing tactically and start synthing items more aggressively. Archers become the most feared and hated enemy in this game easily on Hard and Extreme instead of mere nuisane. Critter type enemies that could be ignored on Normal become insta-death if you do not deal with them swiftly

The real fun in this game is in the synth system where you get more and more powerful by synthing items. It is indeed possible to get to a point where you are invincible but its a long and hard road

Think of this game more of a third person perspective Diablo and suddenly everything makes sense. From dungeoning crawling with 3 other friends to an endless quest for the most powerful items

Story
The presentation of the story is kind of bad in this game. Its just a mess until you play through with all 6 characters and start to make sense of things. The story is rather simple and minor plot twists but still interesting enough for most characters, giving them some sort of driving force to go through their quest. Except for Duane. He serves no purpose. And Kendal, who is more like a zombie in paladin armor

Graphics
Pretty solid graphics but nothing in the "WOW" department. The best part of the graphics is the weapon and armor customisation. Changes in weapons and armor all show up on screen, making you want to find the next tier of equipment just to see what the character looks like. Each character has about 6 different armors and dozens of different weapons

Replayability
With 6 characters to go through, 3 different difficulties offering different experiences and 4 player online co-op, this game has huge replayability. I have already clocked over 100 hours of game time as of writing and the clock is still ticking.

Final Words
If you're a big diablo fan, if you like collecting stuff, if you like dungeon crawlers, this is the game for you. If you are expecting dynasty warriors, go and buy dynasty warriors

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/10/08

Game Release: Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom (JP, 12/13/07)