
<MAP NAME="boxmap-p8"><AREA SHAPE="RECT" COORDS="14, 200, 103, 207" HREF="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm/privacy-policy.html?o=1" ><AREA COORDS="0,0,10000,10000" HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect-home/thearmchairem-20" ></MAP><img src="http://rcm-images.amazon.com/images/G/01/rcm/120x240.gif" width="120" height="240" border="0" usemap="#boxmap-p8" alt="Shop at Amazon.com">	Platform PC Genre RTS Publisher GOD Games Developer Phantagram ESRB T (Teen) Released Q1 2001

- Technically sufficient

- Same ol' RTS gameplay - Same ol' RTS visuals - Same ol' RTS sounds

Review: Disciples II: Dark Prophecy (PC) Review: The War Engine (PC) Review: WarCraft III: Reign of Chaos (PC)
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Kingdom Under Fire

Score: 5.5 / 10

This whole real-time strategy thing really, really needs a good, thorough facelift. There are just way to many of these games that play entirely too similarly, adopting the WarCraft/Command and Conquer approach. While we’re seeing some advances being made in the genre with games like Home World, titles like Kingdom Under Fire only add to the stagnation. This is another RTS filled to the rim with resource management and rushes, leaving tactics and innovation on the sidelines. That’s not to say the game is a total waste, as it does perform the traditional RTS role extremely well. If you’re looking for something new though, don’t expect it here.

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Presentation-wise Kingdom Under Fire is very similar to its RTS brethren. There’s the sprite based, fantasy-esque characters, the fog of war, and the good and just look of the humans and their allies, and the dark and decaying look of the orcish hordes. There really isn’t anything to look at that will have players fawning over it save for the occasional spiffy spell effect. Audio is of the typical rousing boisterous sort. Nothing that will get you

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humming a couple of lines in the office, but it serves its purpose. There’s even some voice acting, but the game would have been better off without it. While there are a couple of very good actors most are atrocious.

The gameplay is where you’ll almost instantly start thinking, "Now where have I seen this before?" It’s the same old thing we’ve seen in an RTS since way back in the WarCraft days with such teeny tiny differences between this title and the other RTS games littering store shelves from the standpoint of presentation and gameplay. The innovation just isn’t here. Resource management and rushes are the order of the day, with a new story carrying the game, all be it not all that well.

This game feels like it came straight out of the cookie cutter. We’ve seen these RTS games for five years now and there have been very few changes. We’ve also been bitching about the lack of improvements to these types of games, now if only people listened.

- Mr. Nash


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