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Real-Time Characters
By Ben Barker
What is it with the Real-Time Strategy genre? You bring
up RTS games on consoles, and it sends some folks scurrying to the
hills with their hands over their ears. Yet RTS games like
StarCraft have consistently been some of the most popular
games on PCs for years. Take the original Kingdom Under
Fire, for example—upon its release in 2001, it stood out among
the crowd of PC RTS titles and won the admiration of many PC
gamers, yet it's taken three years to get a version on Xbox.
Finally, the wait is over, and the result is … not really an RTS at
all. Who'd have thunk it?
Will you be good …
… or evil? Here's a tip—evil wears fewer clothes.
KUF 'Em
Kingdom Under
Fire: The Crusaders comes to Xbox (and only Xbox)
from Korean developer Phantagram, who unleashed the impressive
giant robot shooter Phantom Crash on the
system in 2002. More action game than real-time strategy, with a
healthy dose of role playing, Kingdom is also
super-saturated with frantic, furious, and fantastic third-person
action sequences. These flow seamlessly from and into the more
tactical-looking troop command screen, which never slows down the
pace. Along the way, crisp, sharp cut scenes give up the eye candy
along with background on the medieval fantasy story.
Send troops to combat with the
command view …
… then charge into the fight
personally.
You get to choose from several heroes that command legions in a
war that pits the forces of good against the encroaching armies of
darkness, last seen in the original KUF
(Crusaders is set fifty years later). Some are good and
some are evil. Kingdom also offers different levels of
difficulty and very different storylines. These heroes and
anti-heroes will gain experience and new skills as the game
progresses, making Kingdom something like three games in one. How
cool is that?
Ellen provides advice and watches
your back.
The Forces of Good
- Gerald: Most games will probably start
of with Gerald, who's listed as the "easy" hero in the main menu
selection screen. That's a good idea for many reasons, not the
least of which is that it's best to get your feet wet with a
character like Gerald. Gerald leads the forces of the Hironeiden
armies of the human alliance, fights with a traditional one-handed
sword, and has proven himself in battle to both aristocratic
officers and the troops on the field. Gerald is backed on the field
by his noble officers, Rupert and Ellen.
- Rupert: Calm down, Dionne Warwick and
Buffy fans, this Rupert is a beefy, brawny powerhouse who
will come to the defense of Captain Gerald with a mighty war
hammer. He's a close friend of the Captain, and is always ready
with a wry observation when his war hammer would be too much.
- Ellen: As lithe and speedy as Rupert is tough
and slow, Ellen also carries a ranged weapon—a longbow—that can
help Gerald from a distance. She's easy on the eyes, too.
Obviously, she's never met gamers.
The Legions of Evil
- Lucretia: The morally-conflicted leader of the
Dark Elves is also a bit of a hottie, and will be the natural first
choice of red-blooded veteran gamers. She fights hand-to-hand with
a fast-moving rapier and specializes in hitting the enemy fast and
hard before he knows what's happened. You'll get a completely
different take on the Kingdom Under Fire storyline (and
maybe a little more sympathy for the "evil" dark elves) with this
choice. You'll also get Lucretia's somewhat less-than-trustworthy
officers, Cirith and Morene.
- Cirith: No, her last name's not "Ungol," you
geeks. But she does have hair that looks like a scorpion's tail and
enough skill with the long sword to come in handy when her captain
is pinned down by the humans. If only she weren't really a … but
I've said too much already.
- Morene Strident: Can I just say how much I
love these characters' names? Miss Strident is a half-vampire,
all-fine, iron-chain-swinging warrior that's as merciless on the
battlefield as she is planning her enemies' defeat.
That's the low-down on who's doing what in Kingdom Under
Fire: The Crusaders. Good luck out there!
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