The First KINGDOM COME: DELIVERANCE Reviews Suggest A Fascinating, But Technically Imperfect Game

Kingdom Come will break you down. It will humble you. It will remind you that you’ve got a lot to learn. Whether that means making your fingers do more WASD gymnastics than you’ve ever done in a first-person game, or giving you the down and dirty as to the extended services provided in the bath house. It acknowledges what a thorough hell it is for women living under a complete patriarchy. It’ll also give you a feel for what it was like to walk through the streets of the Late Middle Ages, with its still-primitive technologies and its utter lack of plumbing.

In Kingdom Come: Deliverance you're just a small cog in a reasonably big world, but your actions feel like they have worth and impact. You'll prove yourself to be helpful many a time, but often you'll have to rely on others for assistance, or to even do the job for you. It goes a long way to make the land of Bohemia a living, breathing place rather than just your personal playground, and I admire that. It's by no means free of frustration, but Kingdom Come: Deliverance is a special game. It's a game that isn't afraid of being different - of not holding the player's hand every step of their adventure - and for that, it's an experience to be treasured.

It's almost impossible not to compare Kingdom Come: Deliverance with the Witcher series: there's absolutely no fantasy in the Warhorse production, but it boasts a strong character, an enormous quantity of content, choices that matter, and an adult and mature storyline. You can't expect the same visual quality or a comparable level of polish (pun intended), but the battles are like nothing you've ever seen, and the depth of the simulation really drags the player into a beautiful medieval novel.

This is a special game for a special audience. But I want exactly such special games from the RPG genre, because they have the guts to really try something new.

Technical issues aside Kingdom Come: Deliverance is at best an ambitious game. There are flashes of brilliance in the implementation of Warhorse Studios' unique RPG systems, as it truly does have interestingly deep survival and progression elements. Though when you do take into account the technical issues it becomes a frustrating experience in which the bad completely outweighs the good.

Bohemia – located in the heart of Europe, the region is rich in culture, silver, and sprawling castles. The death of its beloved ruler, Emperor Charles IV, has plunged the kingdom into dark times: war, corruption, and discord are tearing this jewel of the Holy Roman Empire apart. In the midst of this chaos, you're Henry, the son of a blacksmith. Your life is shattered when a mercenary raid, ordered by King Sigismund himself, burns your village to the ground. By bittersweet fortune, you are one of the few survivors of this massacre.  Without a home, family, or future you end up in the service of Lord Radzig Kobyla, who is forming a resistance against the invasion. Fate drags you into this bloody conflict and shoves you into a raging civil war, where you help fight for the future of Bohemia.