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Players choose one of seven heroes in Kingdom Under Fire: A War
of Heroes, then begin an adventure in a land that's torn by the
War of the Xok Knights or the War of the Heroes. You can choose
the Light side and play as Curian the orphan warrior, Keither the
famous knight, or Moonlight the legendary magician. Or you can
play as a hero of the Dark side. Rick Blood leads this group by
virtue of his skill at arms. Likuku the ogre, Amaruak the lich,
and Richter Rosenheim, an ancient vampire, all chafe under
Blood's rule and plot against him, each other, and the Light
side.
The story will be familiar to fantasy fans: the continent of
Bersiah is gripped by epic struggles between the peoples of Light
and the vile creatures of Darkness. There are 20 missions for
each race, plus seven story missions for each hero. As the
missions unfold, players learn truths about the last war and
relationships between heroes. The game combines the best elements
that are found in role-playing games like Diablo and Baldur's
Gate, and real-time strategy games like WarCraft and Warlords.
Each mission contains RPG-type action and dialogue events. After
victorious battles, your character's experience will allow you to
increase abilities and powers.
Visually, there are six sets of background schemes (those of
dungeons have modulation effects) and 120,000 frames of character
animation. The game contains 70 units, three types of resources,
and hundreds of items. Up to eight players will be able to play
simultaneously in ladder-mode and league-mode multiplayer games
over the Internet.
Review
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Hybrid strategy/role-playing games have been around for many,
many years, but real-time strategy and role-playing games are
fairly new combinations. These two genres, when combined, fuse
the frantic tension of RTS gaming with the character attachment
and story development you get from role-playing games. Korean
developer Phantagram is the latest to test the waters in this
area with its hybrid game Kingdom Under Fire, where a rich,
hero-driven storyline meets frantic real-time strategy. SSG's
Warlords: Battlecry tested these waters earlier this year, and if
you take that game and add a pinch of Diablo II and Baldur's
Gate, you might get something approaching Kingdom Under Fire.
Kingdom Under Fire takes place on the continent of Bersiah and
chronicles the struggle between the elves and humans of the Race
of Light and the orcs and ogres of the Race of Darkness. There
are seven major heroes: three from the Race of Light and four
from the Race of Darkness. Curian, Keithr, and Moonlight form the
Light contingent. Curian is an orphan who became a renowned
warrior, while Keithr is a legendary knight who founded the
nation of Azillia and has returned to protect Bersiah from the
terror of Darkness. Moonlight is one of history's most famous and
powerful magicians. Together, these three comrades will form the
back of the Race of Light's resistance to the dark hordes.
The Race of Darkness is led by Rick Blood, a ruthless conqueror
who commands several heroes by virtue of having vanquished them
in battle. One of these is Likuku the Ogre, who desires to rule
the continent of Bersiah according to a "survival of the fittest"
doctrine (with himself undoubtedly being the fittest). Amaruak is
a lich who is counted among Rick Blood's favorites, while Richter
Rosenheim is an ancient vampire lord who distrusts Amaruak and
despises Likuku. The motivations of each of the heroes influence
the direction of the campaign, and there are places in the
various scenarios where these competing desires and ambitions
play out to tell the story of Bersiah and the war between the
races. Thanks to the competition between the main characters, the
story is bound to take twists when you least expect it. In
addition, Kingdom Under Fire has a cast of subheroes to out
the story and provide contrast to the main characters.
In keeping with the conventions of the real-time strategy genre,
Kingdom Under Fire is based on gathering resources, building
structures, and using them to produce units. These resources are
gold, iron, mana, and food, and the traditional peasant units
harvest them. All the familiar RTS devices form the basis of the
game, and you'll be able to build extensive bases, upgrade
structures, and train units. Most of the units produced have
special abilities, such as the lich's black plague spell or the
ability of vampires to cloak themselves. Because the heroes play
such an important role, there is the additional consideration of
items like armor, weapons, and potions and other magic artifacts.
Only heroes can wield these, but their use can turn the tide of
battle. The RPG portion of Kingdom Under Fire contains hints of
such popular games as Diablo II and Baldur's Gate. This part of
the game can include up to three characters and is an integral
part of the progress of the various campaigns. In between various
missions, the story will be told through RPG segments where the
focus will shift from RTS battles to the exploits of the
heroes who are at the heart of Kingdom Under Fire.
One RPG scenario begins with Curian, Keithr, and Moonlight
entering Castle Kenderlief. They've been sent on a mission by
King Gernot to enlist the help of Lord Demetrich in the war
against the orcs. The entrance to the castle is scripted, and
once inside, the party is quickly led to the throne room where
Demetrich awaits his guests. It quickly becomes clear that
Demetrich isn't interested in this particular war, and when news
arrives that Lord Gernot's troops are actually marching on the
castle itself, Lord Demetrich gives the orders to kill the
emissaries. At this point, the game turns from scripted plot to
wide-open play, as Lord Demetrich's guards bar the way to prevent
escape and then proceed to attack.
From this point on, gameplay becomes a question of survival and
proceeds very much like in Diablo II: Click on your target and
attack until dead. The game mechanics are actually closer to
Baldur's Gate in this regard, since once you give the order to
attack a target, your character will continue to do so until the
target is destroyed. There are other parallels to Diablo II. Each
character has a bar and a mana bar, and these can be
replenished with red and blue potions just as in Diablo 2. These
can be found in various rooms of the castle after you conquer
particularly dangerous monsters. Castle guards and monsters of
uncertain origin will pop up to bar the way, and the adventure
turns into a regular old-fashioned dungeon crawl. The graphics
are very similar to those in Diablo II in their 2D appearance and
general manner of presentation, and the hallways, doors, and
floors combine to create an effect that resembles Blizzard's game
quite closely.
While in the RPG setting, the heroes have the same special
abilities as they have in the single-player campaign scenarios.
These are crucial to success in the RPG segment, as some of the
monsters can be very tough. The whole manner of play is quite
reminiscent of the Black Isle role-playing games because you have
different types of characters working together in a real-time
environment with unique skills. Just as in other role-playing
games, the weaker members need to be protected in hand-to-hand
combat, and you'll find yourself leading with your fighters and
using your magician to support from the rear. As you explore the
environments in the RPG missions, you'll have to find ways to
proceed past locked doors and eventually emerge from the
labyrinth into which you've been cast.
The role-playing interludes aren't just for the sake of varying
the gameplay, either. If you're successful in your quest, your
heroes will find items they can carry through to subsequent
missions in the main campaign game, and this will increase your
capabilities in that area considerably. In this way, the RPG
segments are really a continuation of the larger struggle on a
more personal level.
Kingdom Under Fire clearly intends to use this mixture of
role-playing and strategy to carry the campaign story along, and
elements of the RPG segment are integrated into the single-player
missions. For example, in one scenario, Rick Blood is about to
complete the altar of destruction, which will endow the Race of
Darkness with unstoppable power. While Rick oversees the building
of the temple, it's up to Richter to line up a defense and fight
a holding action. This is initially the objective of the
scenario. However, after repulsing the initial assault, you'll
suddenly find that your objective has changed from a defensive
mission to an offensive one: Deep in the midst of the enemy camp,
Amaruak is trapped. All of a sudden, your mission has changed.
Instead of defending against an all-out assault, you're now in
charge of leading one, and it's up to Richter and Likuku to cross
most of the , invade the enemy's stronghold, and rescue their
stranded comrade. This uncertainty requires that you have an
open-ended, flexible play style, as concentration on a static
defense (or too much offense) can quickly lead to defeat when
you're asked to shift gears to meet unforeseen mission
objectives.
Kingdom Under Fire frequently incorporates scripted events
directly into the campaign missions so that the beginning or
middle of a scenario might involve units performing actions
before you take control of them. One scenario has Curian and a
companion en route to a town when the town is suddenly set upon
by orcs. The orcs get a head start until a passing knight alerts
Curian to the danger. This can also happen in the middle of a
mission in response to some trigger, and toward the end of the
campaigns, the game's storylines will play out to a large extent
through such in-game animations. The graphics in Kingdom Under
Fire are entirely 2D and have a hand-drawn look similar to that
found in Disciple: Sacred Lands.
Gameplay in Kingdom Under Fire is veryfast, and with the large
numbers of units and large s, it can become downright crazy.
If you enjoy a nonstop game pace that places a premium on fast
reaction times, then you will like Kingdom Under Fire. The beta
build we previewed was rather jerky at times, but when this is
corrected, for the final release, the game should move along at
lightning speed. The need to protect heroes from sudden
counterattacks while still using them on the attack to press your
advantage makes Kingdom Under Fire a tremendous challenge. One
interesting feature is the ability to designate leader units,
which can use formation orders to deploy the units under their
command. Interface control will be a key point in getting the
most out of your units in this game.
Kingdom Under Fire will incorporate a skirmish mode as well as
the campaign, and in addition, the game will be playable on
Wargate, Phantagram's exclusive Kingdom Under Fire server, and
via LAN. Kingdom Under Fire should be out within the next month,
so if you're in the mood for a mix of RTS and role-playing, this
is a game you should keep your eyes on.Kingdom Under Fire clearly
intends to use this mixture of role-playing and strategy to carry
the campaign story along, and elements of the RPG segment are
integrated into the single-player missions. For example, in one
scenario, Rick Blood is about to complete the altar of
destruction, which will endow the Race of Darkness with
unstoppable power. While Rick oversees the building of the
temple, it's up to Richter to line up a defense and fight a
holding action. This is initially the objective of the scenario.
However, after repulsing the initial assault, you'll suddenly
find that your objective has changed from a defensive mission to
an offensive one: Deep in the midst of the enemy camp, Amaruak is
trapped. All of a sudden, your mission has changed. Instead of
defending against an all-out assault, you're now in charge of
leading one, and it's up to Richter and Likuku to cross most of
the , invade the enemy's stronghold, and rescue their stranded
comrade. This uncertainty requires that you have an open-ended,
flexible play style, as concentration on a static defense (or too
much offense) can quickly lead to defeat when you're asked to
shift gears to meet unforeseen mission objectives.
Kingdom Under Fire frequently incorporates scripted events
directly into the campaign missions so that the beginning or
middle of a scenario might involve units performing actions
before you take control of them. One scenario has Curian and a
companion en route to a town when the town is suddenly set upon
by orcs. The orcs get a head start until a passing knight alerts
Curian to the danger. This can also happen in the middle of a
mission in response to some trigger, and toward the end of the
campaigns, the game's storylines will play out to a large extent
through such in-game animations. The graphics in Kingdom Under
Fire are entirely 2D and have a hand-drawn look similar to that
found in Disciple: Sacred Lands.
Gameplay in Kingdom Under Fire is veryfast, and with the large
numbers of units and large s, it can become downright crazy.
If you enjoy a nonstop game pace that places a premium on fast
reaction times, then you will like Kingdom Under Fire. The beta
build we previewed was rather jerky at times, but when this is
corrected, for the final release, the game should move along at
lightning speed. The need to protect heroes from sudden
counterattacks while still using them on the attack to press your
advantage makes Kingdom Under Fire a tremendous challenge. One
interesting feature is the ability to designate leader units,
which can use formation orders to deploy the units under their
command. Interface control will be a key point in getting the
most out of your units in this game.
Kingdom Under Fire will incorporate a skirmish mode as well as
the campaign, and in addition, the game will be playable on
Wargate, Phantagram's exclusive Kingdom Under Fire server, and
via LAN. Kingdom Under Fire should be out within the next month,
so if you're in the mood for a mix of RTS and role-playing, this
is a game you should keep your eyes on.--Bruce Geryk--Copyright ©
2000 GameSpot Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or
in part in any form or medium without express written permission
of GameSpot is prohibited. -- GameSpot Review
