Kingdom Under Fire

Zaniel · 10-07-2005, 06:55 AM

I never played the original but picked up the 2nd one, KUF: Heroes. All I can say is holy shit this is a brutally hard game but cool.

It's a combination RTS / combat action game, you guide your squads of troops around the landscape and when your hero's squad comes into contact with the enemy you zoom in for some hand to hand combat (it isn't Tekken but plenty of moves and abilities). You need to duke it out with your hero to quickly earn skill points (like adrenaline/rage) to use your mage powers and officers powers.

1. Ass-rape brutal difficulty, but not to the point that you give up. You can tell that each mission is doable ... IF ... you use the right strategy. The first four missions are pretty easy and then it descends into hell. However, each time you get yourself reamed you work out some new tactics and push further. No mission has been impossible but you have to think about what you're doing, use the right troops for the right job and fight hard and fast.

Some of these missions have taken me like 7-8 tries but you get a satisfactory distance further each try so it doesn't feel frustrating and pretty much 99% of the win is due to your tactics and fighting ability, very little luck so it feels great to finish a mission.

2. Great graphics. Some of the wilderness missions wandering around the forests are bland but the big set piece battles rock. Nothing like watching your archers blast a wyvern out of the sky and watching it crash into the melee smashing troops in all directions. Or thinking you've got it won and seeing 50 orc troops poor out of the forest over your knights.

3. Fun development, buy gear and skill up your troops in a variety of fields.

4. Not much micromanagement, the troops take care of themselves leaving you to swap between power usage, squad positioning and targeting and hero butt-kicking.

5. Nice environmentals. Archers hit harder when they're uphill from their enemy and fire inaccurately when firing into the sun, forests block the force of arrow volleys, troops charging uphill slow down and loose momentum.

6. Good unit types and pretty realistic. Pikemen need to face cavalry but cut them down when they do. Elemental siege units, sappers/trappers, airbourne units, catapults, etc. (The Vampire/DE side has these cool giant scorpions for their catapults that defend themselves when you charge them up close). Different types of magic (4 elements, holy, curses).

I have only gotten so far but it seems as though it's a pretty big game with something like 7 heroes and a campaign for each one.

Advice: You won't be able to afford paladins early on so make sure one of your archer (most likely) or mage teams is trained in Holy so they can stand back out of combat and heal your various squads.

Don't buy if you are susceptible to Repeated Mission Frustration Syndrome. I've heard that the missions I'm on now are cake compared to the end of the campaign and that the unlockable heroes' campaigns are pure evil compared to the opening 3 heroes. So probably not for the delicate.

Lord Thanos · 10-07-2005, 08:00 AM

Am assuming you have this for PC?

I bought the Xbox version of Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusaders, and I shit you not, I played it for ~1 hour and then I never touched it again

It was so cumbersome to move the troops in the game, the annoying camera angles that needed to be adjusted constantly, plus the fighting, while graphicaly impressive, involved nothing but just tapping a couple button over and over

I loved the graphics, and I guess that's why I bought it in the first place, but I figured it would have at least a bit of enjoyable gameplay hours, it just got boring quickly

From your description it almost seems like we played totally different games, yours sounds fun

frott · 10-07-2005, 09:07 AM

Everyone jocked KUF so it was inevitable a sequel would be made. What I'm wondering is if they fixed all the shittiness of the original... can't tell by the first review as, yeah, most of that stuff was in the first one but the interface and chunkiness of the control is what sucked.

Dyscord · 10-07-2005, 09:12 AM

I actually found the controls to be quite easy after you get used to them, although I found myself taking the same stuff into every battle. Every battle it'd be my Heavy Infantry unit, Heavy Cavalry, Archers. Just those over and over and over again.

I found the game really hard the first time I picked it up, but I came back to it a few months later and beat it rather easily (the original, not KuF:Heros). My tips would be to

Heavy Calvary is God. Use waypoints to 'grind' on enemy units. Never keep them still. Never leave them engaged in combat unless its to specifically tie up enemey archers. Just have them run over and over and over certain units, it disrupts their formation and does some decent damage. Holds them and softens them up for your heavy Infantry's arrival.

Never forget to use trees. If the enemy has to many archers, hide in the trees and slaughter their infantry as they come to you. Even better, wait on the other side of the trees so your archers can help you kill as their infantry comes out onto the other side. And trees burn. Gloriously burn. Fire arrows can slaughter any infantry stupid enough to be in the woods alone.

Resistances are the name of the game. Never neglect to equip your soldiers with armor. Keep in mind what they're often going to be facing. Equip infantry with ranged and melee resists. Knights need electric resist help. Try to cover your weak areas. And remember, the armor your leader wears also confers bonuses on the unit. So your primary heavy infantry unit will have TONS of resists thanks to your commander and his 2 lieutenants. This is probably what made the game tons easier for me. By decking out the command squad it turned my normal unit into a nigh invulnerable killing machine.

Its to bad my Xbox is broken or I'd go pick up the new game

Zaniel · 10-07-2005, 05:07 PM

I'm playing the XBox version.

I don't know how it compares to the original having not played it but after a mission or two the controls become pretty obvious. I started out with problems controlling the directional cursor with it roaming all over the landscape but I can control it properly now. Minimap usage is key.

As for combat, Soul Calibur it ain't but I'd say each hero has around 20 different moves/combos. Fighting well with your hero is the difference between having 100 skill points when the bad stuff comes in versus having 1,000 skill points. Effective hero use makes or breaks a prolonged battle.

I guess it's sort of one of those games where you have to really get into it. Very easy to get bored or frustrated at the start, I almost threw my XBox out the window in the first real hard mission until I started thinking about my tactics.

10-07-2005, 06:55 AM	#1 (permalink)
Zaniel Registered User Join Date: Jan 2003 Posts: 684 +0 Internets	Kingdom Under Fire I never played the original but picked up the 2nd one, KUF: Heroes. All I can say is holy shit this is a brutally hard game but cool. It's a combination RTS / combat action game, you guide your squads of troops around the landscape and when your hero's squad comes into contact with the enemy you zoom in for some hand to hand combat (it isn't Tekken but plenty of moves and abilities). You need to duke it out with your hero to quickly earn skill points (like adrenaline/rage) to use your mage powers and officers powers. 1. Ass-rape brutal difficulty, but not to the point that you give up. You can tell that each mission is doable ... IF ... you use the right strategy. The first four missions are pretty easy and then it descends into hell. However, each time you get yourself reamed you work out some new tactics and push further. No mission has been impossible but you have to think about what you're doing, use the right troops for the right job and fight hard and fast. Some of these missions have taken me like 7-8 tries but you get a satisfactory distance further each try so it doesn't feel frustrating and pretty much 99% of the win is due to your tactics and fighting ability, very little luck so it feels great to finish a mission. 2. Great graphics. Some of the wilderness missions wandering around the forests are bland but the big set piece battles rock. Nothing like watching your archers blast a wyvern out of the sky and watching it crash into the melee smashing troops in all directions. Or thinking you've got it won and seeing 50 orc troops poor out of the forest over your knights. 3. Fun development, buy gear and skill up your troops in a variety of fields. 4. Not much micromanagement, the troops take care of themselves leaving you to swap between power usage, squad positioning and targeting and hero butt-kicking. 5. Nice environmentals. Archers hit harder when they're uphill from their enemy and fire inaccurately when firing into the sun, forests block the force of arrow volleys, troops charging uphill slow down and loose momentum. 6. Good unit types and pretty realistic. Pikemen need to face cavalry but cut them down when they do. Elemental siege units, sappers/trappers, airbourne units, catapults, etc. (The Vampire/DE side has these cool giant scorpions for their catapults that defend themselves when you charge them up close). Different types of magic (4 elements, holy, curses). I have only gotten so far but it seems as though it's a pretty big game with something like 7 heroes and a campaign for each one. Advice: You won't be able to afford paladins early on so make sure one of your archer (most likely) or mage teams is trained in Holy so they can stand back out of combat and heal your various squads. Don't buy if you are susceptible to Repeated Mission Frustration Syndrome. I've heard that the missions I'm on now are cake compared to the end of the campaign and that the unlockable heroes' campaigns are pure evil compared to the opening 3 heroes. So probably not for the delicate.

10-07-2005, 08:00 AM	#2 (permalink)
Lord Thanos Paisa y bien picado pa que vea! Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: West New York, NJ Posts: 771 -1 Internets	Am assuming you have this for PC? I bought the Xbox version of Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusaders, and I shit you not, I played it for ~1 hour and then I never touched it again It was so cumbersome to move the troops in the game, the annoying camera angles that needed to be adjusted constantly, plus the fighting, while graphicaly impressive, involved nothing but just tapping a couple button over and over I loved the graphics, and I guess that's why I bought it in the first place, but I figured it would have at least a bit of enjoyable gameplay hours, it just got boring quickly From your description it almost seems like we played totally different games, yours sounds fun __________________

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10-07-2005, 09:07 AM	#3 (permalink)
frott Banned Join Date: Jan 2003 Posts: 3,390 +0 Internets	Everyone jocked KUF so it was inevitable a sequel would be made. What I'm wondering is if they fixed all the shittiness of the original... can't tell by the first review as, yeah, most of that stuff was in the first one but the interface and chunkiness of the control is what sucked.

10-07-2005, 09:12 AM	#4 (permalink)
Dyscord Harvey Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: The Command Carrier Posts: 1,730 +0 Internets	I actually found the controls to be quite easy after you get used to them, although I found myself taking the same stuff into every battle. Every battle it'd be my Heavy Infantry unit, Heavy Cavalry, Archers. Just those over and over and over again. I found the game really hard the first time I picked it up, but I came back to it a few months later and beat it rather easily (the original, not KuF:Heros). My tips would be to Heavy Calvary is God. Use waypoints to 'grind' on enemy units. Never keep them still. Never leave them engaged in combat unless its to specifically tie up enemey archers. Just have them run over and over and over certain units, it disrupts their formation and does some decent damage. Holds them and softens them up for your heavy Infantry's arrival. Never forget to use trees. If the enemy has to many archers, hide in the trees and slaughter their infantry as they come to you. Even better, wait on the other side of the trees so your archers can help you kill as their infantry comes out onto the other side. And trees burn. Gloriously burn. Fire arrows can slaughter any infantry stupid enough to be in the woods alone. Resistances are the name of the game. Never neglect to equip your soldiers with armor. Keep in mind what they're often going to be facing. Equip infantry with ranged and melee resists. Knights need electric resist help. Try to cover your weak areas. And remember, the armor your leader wears also confers bonuses on the unit. So your primary heavy infantry unit will have TONS of resists thanks to your commander and his 2 lieutenants. This is probably what made the game tons easier for me. By decking out the command squad it turned my normal unit into a nigh invulnerable killing machine. Its to bad my Xbox is broken or I'd go pick up the new game

10-07-2005, 05:07 PM	#5 (permalink)
Zaniel Registered User Join Date: Jan 2003 Posts: 684 +0 Internets	I'm playing the XBox version. I don't know how it compares to the original having not played it but after a mission or two the controls become pretty obvious. I started out with problems controlling the directional cursor with it roaming all over the landscape but I can control it properly now. Minimap usage is key. As for combat, Soul Calibur it ain't but I'd say each hero has around 20 different moves/combos. Fighting well with your hero is the difference between having 100 skill points when the bad stuff comes in versus having 1,000 skill points. Effective hero use makes or breaks a prolonged battle. I guess it's sort of one of those games where you have to really get into it. Very easy to get bored or frustrated at the start, I almost threw my XBox out the window in the first real hard mission until I started thinking about my tactics.