Talk about taking the enemy without warning. After a 16-year march, Blueside’s action-RTS hybrid Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusaders stormed Steam’s gates this week. Like long-delayed sequel Kingdom Under Fire 2, the as soon as Xbox-exclusive authentic’s heavy steel battles straddle the road between technique and slashing – executing grand tactical manoeuvres with the identical direct management you’d use to hack off a goblin’s head.
Long earlier than I used to be into this PC gaming lark, my wee brother and I might horde demo disks for the unique Xbox (to not be confused with the Xbox One – thanks, Microsoft). Why shell out 40 quid for a full game anyway, when lower than a tenner a month received you 5 to fifteen bite-sized gems?
Every so typically, our self-cannibalizing trade decides to punch my nostalgia within the intestine by wrenching some obscure nonsense out of that demo pile. Something like that Voodoo Vince’s remaster in 2017 which, so far as I’m involved, has no enterprise present save for me to briefly go “huh, that sure did exist”.
Ahem, anyway. Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusaders was a kind of forgotten demos, however I thoughts it being fairly neat – a novel action-RTS sitting someplace between Dynasty Warriors and Total War. Taking on the mantle of an anime-flavoured medieval normal, you information your ranks of troops round a battlefield from an intimate third-person perspective – positioning for flanks, securing the excessive floor, organising siege weapons.
Once your armoured dude rectangle smashes into enemy traces, the digital camera zooms in for some quaint hacking n’ slashing. You’ll go from chopping up orcs and goblins to taking down giants, ogres and colossal scorpions. Between bouts, you’ll be able to sit back on the citadel to stage up your heroes and armies, or simply pop right down to the pub with the lads.
Blueside’s remaster isn’t intensive, largely simply including assist for widescreen and HD resolutions. They’ve added keyboard and mouse assist however it’s actually a game constructed for gamepads. But on the entire, you’re getting the identical crunchy visuals that graced my large pre-flatscreen telly from 16 years again. Maybe that’s not an issue for you – early 3D stylings are sizzling proper now, in any case.
Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusaders is out now on Steam for £16/€20/$20.
