Kingdom Under Fire. To most people this name sounds more like a Hollywood blockbuster set in the Middle-East than a game series. But to a very rabid fanbase, this name brings to mind characters like Regnier, the immortal lord of Hextor, or Leinhart, the half-vampire prince. To these people (myself included) the news of any Kingdom Under Fire game tends to get us a bit, well, giddy with excitement.

However for some, this intense devotion has been tested with the third (fourth if you count the obscure PC game) and very different game in the series.



Before I begin this rather long post, I think I should quickly explain just what the Kingdom Under Fire series is about. For the most part it's a Dynasty Warriors hack-n-slash for people who don't care for the continuing soap opera of the Three Kingdoms. Developed originally by Phantagram, creators of the cult hit Ninety-Nine Nights, the series combined elements of Dynasty Warriors with RTS features such as troop management and on-the-fly switching to your various battalions whenever their unique expertise was needed. This, along with the gruff sounds of metal music, helped give the game a very different feel from it's Oriental cousin.





Yet as good as the two Xbox KUF titles were, they weren't exactly major sellers. I don't really know the sales numbers myself, but I'm pretty sure they weren't that high. So for most fans, it seemed like the series was doomed. But as a fan of games, I've noticed that sometimes even cult series can continue despite lackluster sales (like Koudelka which got THREE sequels with the Shadow Hearts franchise).

Sure enough Blueside, who had co-developed the KUF games with Phantagram, decided to bring out another game set after the events of Kingdom Under Fire: Crusaders, which was the first one brought out on Xbox. But instead of the tradition style of gameplay employed in the previous titles, Blueside decided to go with....a dungeon crawler.

That's right folks. A Diablo-style dungeon crawler with hack-n-slash gameplay mechanics. So quite a bit different from the norm for this franchise, as well as something quite different from all of the quality (and not so quality) shooters on the 360. Despite this, I'm sure some of you out there could give two shits about this game. I hope perhaps I can inform you enough so that you'll give this game a try =).

The basis for the game is simple: 6 heroes from the 'Age of Light' have been trapped within the Dark Dimension by the dark god Encablossa following the events of Crusaders. Now let me assure you non-KUF fans that knowledge of the previous games isn't entirely necessary to enjoy this game. While it certainly helps if you are familiar with the characters, most of the story is understandable without knowing each character's full history.



Anyways each of the heroes is drawn to this place for differing reasons, be it for power, love, or even to preserve their valor. With each of these characters also comes various play styles, from slow yet destructive powerhouses like Regnier and Kendal to speed freaks like Leinhart and Celine. There's even Duane, who is perfect for the more 'sit and shoot' type of player. Sadly I haven't really had a chance to play with Curian (the sixth and 'hidden' character unlocked through Celine's quest chain), though I see he plays out in a more balanced style with his wrist-mounted crossbow and partisans from observing those that have unlocked him ^_^.

Yet as unique as each of these characters are, if you just had to use them by their lonesome this game would be quite boring. In fact on the surface this game looks to be a generic 'kill everything that moves' style of game, simply mashing the X button to achieve victory. I won't lie to you either; a good portion of the game IS like this. But beneath the surface lies some very complex and obsession-creating game mechanics that could give some numbers freaks (you know who you are) the fits for months for come.

Come back tomorrow when I'll go into details about the game's synthesis system, the different abilities at your disposal, and why the demo for this game is pure and utter shit that does more to hurt this game than help it. See you then folks! I'm going to get some fucking sleep...