Kingdom Come: Deliverance

I feel like this game should be a bigger deal than it is.

There is a specific type of gamer that longs for realism, accuracy and seriousness in games. In the presence of this gamer, other gamers and game critics roll their eyes at each other, as they point with their thumb and say, “It’s that guy again. Uh, can you believe that guy?”. They then may proceed to lecture why games should not be realistic or serious. It has been like this for as long as computer games have existed.

And now, finally, we have Kingdom Come: Deliverance, a game based in a historical setting with no shiny neon magic effects or strangely proportioned character models. This game has its great moments, but also sadly has its weak moments.

The weak moments, no doubt, have something to do with trying to build a big game with a not-so-big budget and a relatively small team. The graphics aren’t bad, but there is something about the lighting and the textures that strongly reminds me of Elder Scrolls Oblivion from 2006. In the real world, no two buildings look the same on the inside, but that sort of thing is hard to fake in an open world game, and in Kingdom Come many interiors look almost exactly the same. The technical performance can be inconsistent and there are also still a few bugs, though the latter is to be expected of any open-world game. My fps counter was showing around 60 most of the time, but would sometimes drop down to 20. Turning around or moving too quickly could result in sudden frame dips.

The other issue has to do with the developers’ plan for the main character’s story. They want this guy to fall very low during the beginning of the game and they want the player to feel vulnerable in a dangerous medieval world dominated by noblemen, and then they want the main character to rise to power in a specific manner, so they scripted many situations in a way that robs the player of control and this feels counter to the open nature of a sandbox game.

The strong aspects of the game come from the area to which the developers devoted the most attention: a relatively accurate representation of the medieval world in Bohemia.

Now to be clear, the realism is relatively mild. This is still a game. There are health potions (of sorts), stealth is simplified, the locals do not speak Czech (presumably, the Czech market for this game would be too small to justify the investment), and by the end of the game, you will be taking down enemies rather easily because you will have levelled up your character so much, because this is an RPG after all.

However, there are a number of aspects resulting from the game’s approach to realism and seriousness that are extremely refreshing and make this game feel very special:

For one, people look and act like actual people. They have recognizable facial features and they look like they come from the part of the world they are supposed to be from. These characters are clothed in a way that represents their status in the society. They have opinions that are neither good nor evil but believable.

The landscape is pretty and looks natural. The vegetation and human-made objects look appropriate and their placement in the world makes sense. The same goes for the buildings, weather (though the weather can be overly dramatic at times) and lighting.

The combat system is this game’s most distinguishable feature, and though it is not overly complex, it is meant to replicate the real combat of the middle ages and succeeds at doing so. You attack from different directions, looking for weak spots in the enemy’s defence, trying to chain together combo’s, while at the same time, blocking or avoiding the enemy’s blows.

Furthermore, I think the developers have succeeded at creating a realistic and engaging story, even though they sometimes had to sacrifice the flexibility of an open world to do so. Though the main plot is just about revenge, the depth of the characters and the world around them actually makes you feel engaged with what is happening. The main character does not start out as a warrior and does not stand a chance against any armed opponent who has any resemblance of skill. He is also not of the nobility and he is not the chosen one by some prophecy, so he has to work hard to survive and is often subject to luck. He has a temper and, frankly, acts like a peasant. The main story is always framed within the actual historical events of the time in the Kingdom of Bohemia and the Holy Roman Empire. I actually learned something from this game and was encouraged to look up more.

Finally, perhaps the main draw of this game is its rareness. If you wanted another serious medieval fighting sim, the only game that springs to mind is Mount and Blade and that thing is quite old by now. There are a couple of medieval themed survival and multiplayer games out there, but nothing like this. I really hope that this type of game continues to show up, even if it only comes out once every 10 years.

In short, the game fulfils the promise its developers made during their crowdfunding campaign. It is a fully fledged open-world medieval combat sim with an engaging story and good immersion. Sadly, it suffers from a lack of polish.

P.S. For full disclosure I should probably mentioned that I did contribute 5 bucks to this game during the time of production. Worth it. :)