Crusading Forth
By Billy Travers
When the War of Heroes ended peacefully some 50 years
past, no one could have known that the forces of the Dark Legion
would someday ride once more—but they have. At the conclusion
of Phantagram's original game for the PC game Kingdom
Under Fire, everything seemed peaceful, but these things never
last … especially when there’s a sequel to be had …
With Kingdom
Under Fire: The Crusaders, Phantagram has really
outdone itself, delivering a game that gives the satisfaction and
sense of control that comes from making decisions that drive entire
armies and change the course of battles. At the same time, you're
always personally involved in the action, swinging a sword, casting
spells, or launching arrows right alongside your followers.
Human troops consist of a wide variety of types, including
infantry, bowmen, spearmen, cavalry, trebuchets, catapults,
ballista, and even sappers, who can dig traps for your enemies, set
fires, and perform other specialized tasks.
Human infantrymen on the
march.
The orcish forces have their own orc infantry, heavy armor
infantry, throwing axemen, wolf riders, and the fearsome captive
giant scorpions and swamp mammoths that they push before
them.
If the orcs aren't doing it for you, feast your eyes on the
amazingly beautiful (but unquestionably deadly) dark elf amazons
with their superior bow skills and even mounted archers that can
fire while on the move. The elf women make passable infantry,
making up for their lack of strength with a higher attack speed and
also fielding light cavalry with one-handed swords for offense. The
dark elves can even get a dirigible into the field, which has the
ability to drop rocks or oil on opposing forces. They can acquire
the Black Wyvern forces later, as well as eventually acquiring
Ghouls as a new form of infantry. (These are orcs that have been
converted by the foul magic of a Lich.)
Sure, there are a lot of units, you say, but what good does that do
me, since I can only have a few? Well, you can have more than a
few. How many more? How about 1000?
Are 1000 units enough? Yeah, I kinda thought so.
Ogres make formidable
skirmishers.
And, these aren't just pixels on your huge map either. The
battles are portrayed at ground level, with you taking the personal
role of one of the leaders of the forces involved in the war. Every
one of the guys on the field with you is rendered with 3000 to
10000 polygons.
But, the game just keeps going in an effort to really show what the
Xbox can do. As you wade through the carnage of the field of
battle, there will be artillery fire from your enemies, including
magical mortar fire.
Order your troops into
battle.
The world itself can also be your enemy or ally. The lay of the
land will affect your success in a battle, with height being an
important factor in who manages to take the upper hand. The game
also considers such esoteric factors as the direction of the sun,
the looseness of the soil, light conditions (day/night), and the
level of training you've given your troops.
As you progress, you can gain new abilities, but you can't win the
war all by yourself. You have to see to the training and
improvement of your forces as well. You can do this at the various
castles you'll come across, in the course of your travels across
the continent. New battlefields appear as the game goes on, urging
you deeper into the conflict.
And, even after you win the war, there will be new downloadable
missions available to keep the game fresh. And, of course, there’s
still the ultimate challenge: head-to-head competition against
other players over Xbox Live! Use your strategies and
skills against your fellow Xbox Live players, and see your
place in the rankings for the single-player game as well.
Let's see where you stack up against other fantasy generals.
Your orcs might want to reconsider their employment contract …
