Having played an early build of this game and enjoying what was on offer at the time I couldn’t wait for the release of the full game. Well that time has come as Kingdom Under Fire (KUF) has hit shop shelves stateside. KUF is Korean based Phantagram’s first Xbox outing and is one to please both armchair strategists and combat fans alike.

KUF tells the tale of several characters of opposing forces who are waging a new war against one another. 50 years earlier these two opposing nations fought each other in bloody battles across the lands resulting in much tragedy and death. 50 years of peace have gone by and old wounds have surfaced again causing another conflict. Basically you have two sides, one good and the other evil and it’s up to the player to decide who they are going to support first. Let the battles begin.

KUF is an interesting title as it seamlessly blends real time frantic combat with real time strategy elements. This mixture of styles is very welcome and one that will impress both those who are playing and those who are watching.

Gameplay: To begin players are introduced to a tutorial mission, which outlines the general workings of moving your army across the terrain and combat with basic infantry. As you select the move cursor, your troops will simultaneously traverse the terrain, this is quite a sight as the detailed characters move in unison. Then players get to grips with the games second mode of play whereby once you engage an opposing army the game switches to your character, which is then able to move freely around the battlefield attacking all that get in your way. As a commander you have 2 aides which join you throughout your campaign. These two will offer plenty of banter during the game’s cut scenes but will also provide some devastating team moves when in close combat. Your regular troops will also provide as much help as they can by battling the hoards of enemies that you face. With the on screen characters interacting with each other in battle it becomes quite a mess, with bodies all over the screen crying, shouting and dying.

The character that you take control of has a few simple moves to use during combat which include soft attack, hard attack, defence and special. The latter determined by an on screen bar which fills when you make kills. The actual moves are simple but allow for endless combos especially with Lucretia the elven warrior. Whilst engaging for a while, this style of play can get rather lacklustre very quickly but KUF addresses this issue by teaching the player more depth to combat. We are introduced to a secondary unit of archers this time to control, whilst not actually able to control the leader of the archers directly in close combat we are able to position them to aide the primary army. Players will have to consider archers weaknesses such as sunlight and terrain when positioning them, get it right though and they can make your life much easier when faced with tough opponents. Players can switch between controlling your primary character in combat to another unit at the touch of a button making planning your attacks far easier.

As players progress through the story the game begins to open up more and become even deeper. Not only do players have to think tactically on the battlefield but they have to be great commanders of troops at home as well. When visiting a base on the world map players can choose a wide variety of options such as hiring commanders for other units and changing the job types of units currently under your command. To explain jobs think about simply changing a unit from Infantry to say Calvary and If that wasn’t enough you can also purchase/sell new armour and weapons for your commanders and troops. So there is quite a lot to think about during and between the rounds of combat that players will face, especially as there are a wide variety of unit and job types to experiment with. Getting the right units for the job will take practise or learning to adapt to any on screen happenings that don’t go according to plan. What I did notice was that the deeper you got into the game the more rewarding it became as you developed your units. I also noticed how the harder characters campaigns involved a lot more strategic thinking than the easy and normal characters, rather than combat enemies simply being tougher in health or inflicting more damage.

Graphics:

KUF’s graphics are a mixed bag as on one hand the developers have done a great job with all the character designs and the sheer amount of troops on screen at once. However something has to give somewhere and this is where the cracks start to appear. For a start the animations aren’t as fluid as they could be plus during cut scenes there is no lip synching. Characters sway from side to side in a somewhat dream like state as they discuss what’s next on the battle plan and looks quite strange at times. The terrain itself is not as good looking either and lacks any real definition. However this can be forgiven as the focus will be on the masses of troops on screen at any given time.

Sound:

Sound is another grey area for KUF, the main problem for me is the highly unsuitable rock music more akin to a wrestling or racing title. I found this very off putting due to the nature of the game and felt like turning it off. Maybe those who enjoy strategy and rock music may actually turn it up.

There is a fair amount of dialogue in the game which adds a lot of personality to the characters. There are some excellent lines throughout of which most are delivered quite well. Some may argue that the English voice acting is poor especially as it will have had to be translated from Korean. For those people the option to revert to Korean voices and English subtitles is there if that’s your style.

Other in game sound effects are what you would expect from this title such as horses charging across the land to swords clashing against armour and of course the cries of victory and death. Not bad overall except that damn music which kills the atmosphere in my opinion.

Longevity:

KUF is quite a lengthy game as some missions will take over an hour to complete, especially if you are unfamiliar. With each campaign telling the same story from a different perspective means that players should want to play each one to get the most from the game. Learning all of the nuances that requires one to be successful will take a while to master especially when you go that little bit deeper. What is more, players hooked up to Xbox Live will be able to challenge other players in some online battling

Overall:

KUF is a refreshing take on a tired formula of hack and slash game play. With its mixture of real time combat, strategy and management, KUF has enough to keep most armchair tacticians entertained for quite sometime. Whether the game will prove too deep for some players is to be seen, but with all games a little patience goes a long way. I would suggest renting this game first to see if you can handle the deeper aspects of the game. If you’re looking for a simple hack and slasher then you might just be overwhelmed by the games difficulty later on in the stories. A very good game and well worth a look. Only serious candidates should apply.