Kingdom Under Fire 2 Hands-on Impressions - I'm still not sure what a MMOARTS is
I visited the Reichenstein Fortress near Frankfurt am Main to take part in the event accompanying the upcoming premiere of a MMO and RTS hybrid, Kingdom Under Fire 2. This gave me a chance to play and talk to the developers.
At the beginning of November – thanks to courtesy of Gameforge – I had the pleasure of attending the launch-day event for Kingdom Under Fire II, which took place in the Reichenstein castle on the banks of the Rhine. This allowed me to learn a lot more about the title developed by the Korean Studio called Blueside, the European debut of which is impeding (November 14). We were also able to put the game through the paces and see what it feels like. Unfortunately – and despite all this – I still ended up with more questions than answers.
An MMO, is it not?
The developers self-define their game as MMOARTS – Massively Multiplayer Online Action Real-Time Strategy. In essence, we're dealing with a rather exotic hybrid of two genres that don't seem to have much in common: a classic MMO with a spectacular, arcade combat system, an open world, and a host of tasks requiring the destruction of legions of enemies; and a real-time strategy, in which we control a variety of troops and try to outsmart and outmaneuver the enemy.
Our goal (for the next project – ed. note.) was something very big, with great armies. During development, we came to the conclusion that in order to present the huge scale of the project while at the same time enabling players to really become the commander on the battlefield, we'd have to introduce elements of MMORPG action games into the formula of RTS – said David Wang, Business Development Manager at Blueside.
A regular MMO – at first glance.
How practical is it? The problem is that... it is difficult to assess. During the show, we were presented with the beginning of the game, which wasn’t really unusual – merely another MMO form Asia. We travel through the open world, talk to stranger, watch cut-scenes, fight, and follow the locations that we need to visit to complete subsequent quests. By advancing to new levels, we obtain points for which we acquire new skills. We also purchase new equipment, of course.
This combat system is reminiscent of what we know from games like TERA or Black Desert Online (although I was under the impression it was a tad closer to the former). We mangle enemies in real-time using attacks assigned to the left and right mouse buttons (respectively, fast and strong), from time to time using special abilities (under the keys 1-9). We should not forget about the defense, dodging and parrying attacks – otherwise, our demise will be swift and economic.
...aaand, at the second as well.
The devs will give us access to five classes of characters on day one. These will be: Berserk (a persistent and aggressive melee warrior), Gunslinger (a hybrid melee and ranged character), Spellsword (uses magic and melee weapons), Ranger (most effective against single targets, using daggers or bows) and Elementalist (a sorceress using elemental magic, supported by a large battle bear, strongly resembling a creature from the movie Golden Compass). In the future, the set will be enriched by the sixth heroine – Dark Sorceress, that is a witch commanding the magic of darkness and ice, whose distinguishing feature is that it will be effective only on medium to far distance. Interestingly, there's no healers among the available heroes – we regenerate HP with items and individual abilities of the characters.
The game features both PvE and PvP. Characters were designed on the "rock, paper, scissors" principle, which means that their strengths and weaknesses are quite clearly defined.
Siege of Reichenstein Castle
Although the presentation and the game itself left me with a certain feeling of dissatisfaction, the accompanying event was a lot of fun. The organizers have taken care of numerous attractions, such as, in particular, sword-fight shows, magic tricks, fire breathing, and juggling. The mainstay was an extensive outdoor game, during which we visited the castle and performed quests reminiscent of typical RPG tasks ( mostly based on, as one of the organizers joked, backtracking – walking back and forth between different buildings of the castle complex). There also was the mandatory, quasi-medieval feast. So yeah, that was fun, and some cool memories. I will include some photos I took in this article.
Or an RTS...?
Unfortunately, due to the nature of the presentation, getting to know the most unique feature of Kingdom Under Fire II – the elements of real-time strategy – was neigh impossible. I tried my best and managed to get to the point where I was able to manage troops, but I unfortunately did not have time to complete the task. So I could not fully assess the depth and level of intricacy of this aspect of the game. I did, however, learn some key facts through the press conference we've had, and the interview I conducted with the developers.
First, we will not manage troops in the open world – the strategic layer will be limited to selected missions (both in PvE and PvP), which are initially quite rare, but become increasingly important over time. In order to complete the game, we will have to master both elements.
RTS elements don't really belong to the open world, which we call "the field." The game has basically two parts. There's "the field," and there are the missions. We will use troops in the latter. As you get to know the heroes and make progress in the game, you start playing more and more missions. Then, the RTS part becomes more important – Jubo Kim.
Secondly, players will be able to manage only three units (selected from an extensive list) at a time. On the release day, there will be about 80 to choose from, but we do not get immediate access to all types of troops – they will be unlocked gradually, along with the progress. The developers considered a larger number, but concluded that controlling additional units – combined with controlling your own character – could be too much a hassle for players. This is partly because when we command soldiers, we look at the world from a completely different perspective than when we are directly involved in the action. The RTS module uses a top-down camera, while the rest of the game is presented from TPP (we switch between the two modes with a single key). Finding the right balance between these gameplay elements was one of the biggest challenges for the devs:
{quote} Our game consists of three elements: MMO, RTS and action. This game has a long history of development through trail and error. It took us a long time to find the perfect balance between these three elements. This (a similar hybrid – ed. note) hasn't been attempted ever before, so we didn't have a benchmark." – Jubo Kim, Creative Director{/quote}
Scanty armors that expose instead of protect – let's you know just what sort of an MMO this is.
There should be plenty of loot, and those of you keen on collecting stuff should be pleased.
It's also noteworthy that we won't be able to change the troops during battle – we have to do away with whatever we choose before each one. There will be a backdoor here – special points, which we'll be able to spend in exchange for units, but there will never be too many of those. So, you'll have to give some thought to the choice of soldiers, especially since the gameplay was balanced on the "rock, paper, scissors" model – individual troops are specialized and have the so-called "hard counters" in the form of other units.
This is why I have doubts concerning the three-unit limit – if you mess it up, you will stand virtually no chance. Especially since soldiers can be developed as you progress in the game, which will require gathering special materials. The choice may simply be too important, resulting in battles being impossible to win. Bear in mind, though, that these are just my surmises, and it's not based on any hands-on experience.
Years you see
Kingdom Under Fire II is a game that has been in development for many years – the first announcement was made in 2008, and it was originally designed for the PC and consoles of the previous generation. Due to delays, it was decided to drop this idea, and eventually, this game will be a PC exclusive (the developers do not exclude console releases, but it is too early to talk about this in detail).
{cytat} We had a very specific goal that we never abandoned. Regardless of the technology, we want to make players feel like commanders on a battlefield; we wanted to introduce large armies and create a hybrid between the MMORPG and RTS genres. We have never made any compromises here," Jumbo Kim assured.{/quote}
The graphics often fall short.
Unfortunately, despite the assurances of the developers, it's hard not to notice that the prolonged development is clearly visible in the outdated graphic design. The game seemed noticeably worse than on the trailers, oftentimes showing with blurry textures, weak lighting effects and crude animations – you should be able to verify the first two reservations by just looking at the screen. Even compared to the aforementioned, beautiful Black Desert Online, which also isn't cutting-edge anymore – Blueside's game just pales. This can partially be explained by the need to show a large army on the screen, but there are plenty of games that are simply better at doing just that, without compromising so much on the graphics' end (see Total War for example).
In terms of performance, it also wasn't all sunshine and bunnies. On the one hand, I can't say the game had any serious issues with fluency, but on the other, never once did I have the feeling that it was perfectly smooth.
Commander, here are yo... neoui gundae
Out of journalistic duty, I should also mention localization issues – the version we played was riddled with Korean nouns and the dialogues were all over the place. A representative of Gameforge assured me that this was due to the fact that the build presented to us was not the latest version of the game – the developers had to start preparing it much earlier, so they'd worked on the older code. Maybe the current version of Kingdom Under Fire II does not come with these and the other technical issues? Fingers crossed.
Hybrid with potential?
One of the organizers of the event admitted that they'd decided to show the beginning of the game to avoid confusing players by throwing them at the deep end. Sure, Kingdom Under Fire II isn't a game that's easily "sold" during a short press showcase, but was omitting the game's most original element the right choice?
The concept seems original and interesting enough, but the implementation is uncertain in many areas – at times, I felt like there wasn't a single piece of the MMOARTS puzzle that didn't compromise Blueside's original hybrid in one way or another. A good example here would be both the three-units restriction in the RTS module, as well as just five character classes – a number that wouldn't have made much of an impression even back in 2003.
To wrap things up, I should only add that the game will be released in a B2P model, and the developers have assured that we will not find micropayments that affect the balance of the game. Essentially, you will be able to get every item with your own effort in the game – and this also applies to some pre-order bonuses, such as special squads.
I sincerely hope some of my objections to Kingdom Under Fire II will be dispelled after properly spending a few hours with the game. Then, the nature of the event and the time pressure didn't facilitate a thorough evaluation of the product. At the same time, I must admit that I would be more optimistic if we weren't just a few days away from the release.
DISCLAIMER
The cost of the trip to the event was covered by the publisher of the game – much appreciated!