Kingdom Heroes takes you to China during the "Three Kingdoms" period. Been there, done that, so why should you bother downloading this game? This is no ordinary "Three Kingdoms" game, or at least that's what the developers want us to believe. With special features like controllable soldiers, conquest of cities, mounted combat, battle ships, and heavy siege weapons, Aeria games has awakened the interest of many RPG players.
The game however starts off with a minor disappointment, right as you create your first character. After a quick search for a suitable name, you choose between four basic classes: Warrior, Fencer, Tactician, and Conjurer. You add 5 skill points to 6 attributes and that's pretty much half way to being finished. With only four different body types, a handful of faces, hair types, and voices, the character customization possibilities are very limited. Not quite what should be expected from a game that would "save the entire genre."
But the initial disappointment soon disappears as the obligatory tutorial begins. Not an extensive, boring one like with most RPG's. No, this tutorial is quick and to the point. After learning the basics in a small village, you have to fight your way through a burning canyon to earn the right to move on to the real Kingdom Heroes world. You'll make your choice between three factions (Wei, Wu, Shu) and as a bonus, you'll receive your first soldier. Soldiers will be discussed later.
Entering
the real world, you have your typical RPG game play. Do a couple of quests, kill some mobs, and gather some experience to reach the next level. And with each level, you'll get some skill points which can be invested in the six attributes: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Willpower, Intelligence and Charisma. The last one bringing me back to the soldiers, as Charisma is needed to command your troops.
Depending on your class you can control between 2 and 6 soldiers. These player controllable NPC characters play an important role in the game and are one of the best features in Kingdom Heroes. Not only upgradeable and customizable, you can decide their formation, and more importantly their behaviour. They can serve as a guard, as offensive forces, or go on Seek & Destroy missions. In S&D mode, the soldiers will actively go out to search and attack enemies while you go grab a drink and watch TV. This AFK mode really makes up for the grinding. But soldiers can also play an important role while you're playing. Party quests can now be done solo, since you always have a party at hand, and should you decide to go boss hunting, you can party up and let the NPC troops join forces, creating a small army. And since they are customizable, you can let your troops compensate for your weaker points. The possibilities are nearly endless, and the tactical aspect that this adds to the game is an awesome move. If you must find something negative about the troops feature, it would be loyalty. Soldiers have an additional attribute, loyalty, which decreases as they take hits. Once loyalty reaches 0, they won't help you fight anymore. And leveling your soldiers from level 1 all over again isn't really an option when you've reached a reasonable level. There are items that can restore loyalty, but they are extremely rare drops, or available in the Item Mall. In the auction house, you can find these Item Mall items, but they unfortunately cost a small fortune.
As the game progresses and you have gathered a small army along with a reasonable level; you feel it's time for something else. Lucky you, because Kingdom Heroes offers you a unique concept called Kingdom War. Every Wednesday and Saturday night, the three factions pick up their weapons for an all-on war. Players join guilds, guilds join unions, and unions fight alongside each other against factions. Like real warfare, these KW's are quite tactical, and there are lots of players involved. The additional troops really give the feel of a massive battlefield. The main goal of these Kingdom Wars is to conquer cities, where you can implement taxes if people buy from your shops, thus earning you money. With siege weapons to attack and defend your cities, mounted soldiers, attack pets on the battlefield, and attack boats sneaking up on the harbours, it is one alarm bell after another. With a dozen battle fronts across the maps, you have to place your troops exactly right so at KW day, the entire country is discussing tactics. But you'll always end up being surprised somewhere.
While the PvE quests may not pose a big challenge, these Kingdom Wars definitely can, and they are another key feature that makes this game unique. So is there nothing negative about this game? Surely, there is. Being in open beta though, I can live with bad English translations and occasional errors. The graphics may not be of super quality, but the massive slaughter battles definitely make up for it. All in all, this is a very entertaining game.
Kingdom Heroes' Gradebook
Gameplay : 9 / 10
Graphics : 6 / 10
Sound : 7 / 10
07-18-2010, 09:34 AM
07-19-2010, 11:36 AM
07-21-2010, 12:26 PM
07-21-2010, 04:35 PM
07-21-2010, 05:42 PM
The game looks cool 
08-16-2010, 08:22 AM
