Kingdom Come: Deliverance Review (Xbox One)
Welcome to Bohemia, 1403. You are Henry, son of a blacksmith from the the town of Skalitz.
And now thanks to Warhorse Studios you can experience the day to day tribulations of Henry in the medieval life simulator of Kingdom Come: Deliverance. I might be getting older but the pace of Kingdom Come: Deliverance suits me perfectly. It may get close to tedium at times but the fact that even Fast Travel isn’t really that fast is refreshing, and it even gives me time to grab another handle of Mead whilst travelling…
Disclaimer: Now due to the historical accuracy that Warhorse Studios has followed there is bound to be something to offend everyone in this modern Politically Correct world. The lack of racial diversity, the low standing of women, or in my case, the heavy religious over tones in every conversation. I’m over it, it is a game based on the TRUE historical way of life, enjoy it for what it is.
The scenery in the huge Bohemian open world is fantastic, although it is frequently ruined by pop up of assets and textures that have loaded slowly. I’m running this on a Xbox One S and would be interesting to find out if the One X removes these problems. Ignoring these issues, or at least allowing them to happen without bothering you will have you in a well populated and functioning medieval land.
Commoners going about their business, guards patrolling, the well to do enjoying life, and you, Henry, wanting to bug them all. I guess when you are going for realism and accuracy it makes it easier to concentrate on the little things because the overall design is already decided for you. Sunrise and sunset are particularly beautiful, and worth finding a vantage point to take in.
As you start out as a poor peasant your quests, and matching abilities, are very poor. Everything is hard. Lock picking is my pet peeve. Just like real life picking a lock is damn near impossible, even if the lock is classified as ‘very easy’. A patch was released recently and one thing addressed was lock picking. Still struggle so maybe it is just me. But in defence of Kingdom Come: Deliverance, lock picking was and still is a specialist skill so maybe it adds to the realism…
Just like the fact that once you have some armour and a weapon do not expect to carry much else with out becoming encumbered. There is a steep learning curve for almost everything here but once learned and understood the pay off and joy is extremely satisfying. I just went on a rabbit hunt and was super stoked when I came away with five or six rabbits, and a red deer! Considering I couldn’t even hit the archery target the other day.
Character development is completely open with skills and abilities improving with use and by reading books, once you have learnt how to read that is. So no classes and the freedom to grow how you want. Every so often when you level up a skill you will be able to select a perk that is relevant to the skill. These perks are often a choice between two that cancel out each other so choose wisely. Along with managing all you skills you also have to keep an eye on your hunger and energy.
There is food of varying quality every where and places to sleep also vary in the quality of rest you will get. Even being more comfortable when reading a book will be more beneficial to you. And on top of all that you have to keep yourself and your gear clean from dirt and blood. And rightly so. Even today people don’t like interacting with others that are dirty or covered in blood from their latest scrap.
Combat. Well, what can I say, it’s pretty in depth. I seem to be getting by with constant stabs to the face but once a more capable combatant shows up I’m usually quickly out matched. Train when you can, learn different techniques, and maintain your weapon or run and avoid trouble, although that will only get you so far. After all 1403 Bohemia is a brutal time. I guess what I am trying to say is that combat is just as technical as the rest of the game so don’t charge in hacking and slashing, enemies will read your attacks and counter, and you will quickly fatigue.
Closing Comments.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance is a game that grows on you. The initial few hours will no doubt drive some gamers away but persevere and you will be rewarded with a hugely engrossing and deep game. Some have called it Skyrim without dragons. I would say that Kingdom Come: Deliverance is no where near as accessible as Skyrim but has far more role playing depth. As mentioned patches are already coming out and many bugs and issues, like the crazy save system, have been fixed.
I’m digging it, many won’t but if you like your RPG’s at least give it a crack.
