Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusaders (Xbox)

First of all this is actually Lord Of the Rings- it doesn't take a genius to see how many blatant ports there are from that story to this game- Hironeiden is basically Rohan, Ecllesia is the big stone city- Gondor(Minas Tirith or whatever), plus there are bearded dwarves and wise all powerful Elves and even orcs and trolls thrown into the mix- and then there's Eagles that swoop in and big Skeletal dark Birds(Nazgul) plus swamp mammoths- Mumakil with a different name, oh and one of the baddies is a huge firey guy with a flaming sword whom is apparently unstoppable- Balrog anyone.
All that said this is an excellent game, all the soldiers lok the same but remain very highly detailed and the fighting is smart with terrain and even sunlight taken into account, there can be traps laid by the sappers or they can start a huge encircling fire to shield your troops from enemies. Archers are excellent, theres something thrilling about seeing groups of men send a volley in unison at your command, or of a man with a torch walking along the line lighting the nocked arrows before them being launched int a forest- which then catches fire and eliminates whole troops of enemies.
Cavalry are well handled too as they can simply trampl their enemies into the dust, or setting up your spearmen so they annihalate cavarly charges, or perhaps opening floodgates that wash away whole armies. Ther is a lot going for this game, in the battles troops actually do something and archers are really useful, catapults and ballistae are amazing too, it really is a great game.
There arent really any flaws in the gameplay- there are dozens of troop types and weapons, skills etc but there's a little thiness in tactics, there aren't many options, plus flanking troops is the same as taking them head on, and elves and dwarves (soldiers) look exactly the same as humans but there's no point in letting those things bother you
ts the story and characters that are the problem, its not very well explained and as no doubt you will have heard you will inevitably come to despise the characters, you may just want to turn the volume off in the extended dialogue scenes, there were some emotional sappy bits where i almost - well i just stopped living for a minute or two, i wasn't killed or anything i just lost the will to live.
Apart from that the game's great so buy it coz it will last you a while and the gameplay's worth it.


greatness   January 23, 2005
3 out of 24 found this review helpful

this is simply the best ''Lord of the rings game'' EA never made.
On top of that it will last u ages. 5 STAR STUFF


Fantastic fun, if a little repetitive and predictable   November 19, 2004
43 out of 44 found this review helpful

In so many words this game is an awesome RTS game for a console. However, if you're a fan of RTS games on the PC (like myself) you may not find the tactical choices you make all that inspiring. Despite this I found it really enjoyable and spent many hours (60+ easy) getting through the 4 single player campaigns, in considering going through it all again and choosing some units I didn't used much. The general gist of the game is to lead an army into battle and whoop some ass. You get ground units ranging from your average claymore wielding knights (yeah baby!) to mortar teams and griffon riders (for the humans) and dark elf cavalry riders, undead ghouls and bone dragons (for the err bad guys). You can customise your army any way you feel like and through each battle you gain experience which you can use to upgrade your troops' skills up to a point where you can unleash the odd meteor storm, healing field or lightning storm...your average arsenal I'm sure you'll agree.

What sets this apart from other games of it's type (I'm thinking Dynasty Warriors 3 here) is you actually get to control the outcome of the battle with a large set of units instead of running around as 1 guy bashing the bejesus out of anything that isn't wearing your team's colours. Unfortunately you only get to physically control one individual, that being one of 4 generals (2 human, 2 bad guys), but they have a fun set of moves that you'll spend a while getting to grips with and finding out which are the most appropriate for a given situation. However, I found myself using the same sets of moves all the time, simply because they worked at dealing the making amount of damage to whatever poor sucker(s) that gets in the way of my greatsword. I would wish so much that you could command the leader of your other troops because the AI for melee troops isn't all that fantastic and your physical control of the general in battle tends to swing a HUGE number of odds in your favour. I tended to stick with just using my main general's troop for melee and using the rest of my troop slots for ranged/cavalry type units purely because I knew a spare gang of paladins I took into battle wouldn't be able to hold their own in battle unless I constantly healed them with another unit.

Tactically there are quite a few choices in terms of when to use your aerial support units, prioritising the most lethal enemies and taking them down in a hail of gunfire and when/where to unleash a devastating arsenal of spells. Believe me when I say the graphics and spell effects will get the juices flowing from the moment you launch your first meteor storm.

A fantastically fun badguy bashing romp. I would recommend this to anyone who is at least mildly interested in the genre because it will inspire you to seek out similar titles once you get a taste of the classic arcade fun there is to be had in charging head first into 30 orcs and pulverising them stupid all the while with a beautifully animated and functioning posse of troops at your side.

A definate must for any RTS fan and for anybody that's simply curious.


AWESOME!!!   November 8, 2004
Stevey M
19 out of 25 found this review helpful

This is the most awesome game on the xbox to date. You play the role of one of 4 Generals in different armies along the same sort of themes as the Warcraft or Lord of the Rings series.

You have to build up and equip huge armies with different companies of different units, and then complete various missions by fighting HUGE battles where strategy is crucial - particularly in the unlockable campaigns.

If your character's company gets into a fight you get to hack and slash your way through enemy men from an up close view, directly contolling his fighting, or kill their leader to instantly break their company.

With the ability to use magic as well this is the most fun and involving game i have ever played - and the most rewarding. The graphics are unbelievable and i believe it has massive replay value

The only irritation is that you will HATE all the characters in the game. They only really talk between missions though. It is as if the designers have gone out of their way to wind you up with their babbling.

But when you play the game you really won't care trust me its fantastic.


GET THIS GAME   October 31, 2004
14 out of 47 found this review helpful

This game is the best game thats comin out 2004-2005 trust me it bloody brilliant!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!