Kingdom Under Fire 2 First Impressions: It’s.. Actually a Solid MMORPG.

Man I’ve been waiting a long time for this. I remember back in what, 2012? I think when I was first made aware of Kingdom Under Fire 2.
I saw how good it looked, how good the combat looked and absolutely had to play it. Unfortunately, soon after I’d learned that the game wasn’t available in the West at the time and like all games that never grace our shores, it slowly faded into memory.
Then a few months ago I saw that Gameforge announced their plans of releasing it in the West after all this time – much to my surprise, and to the surprise of many in the community I’m guessing.
We’d finally get to play the game we’ve all been waiting for for all these years, and let me tell you, the game doesn’t disappoint.

Now before we continue, I do want to reveal a little background on the video. Gameforge held a large event over in Germany in preparation for the game launching, a pre-launch event I guess is the correct terminology.
They flew Mrs Stix and I out there, along with tons of other press and streamers to take part in the event. So just a quick FYI – this video is sponsored. But what I have to say about the game comes purely from a fan’s perspective.
If you wanna download the game, all you have to do is follow the link included in the description and pinned comment below!
The event itself was some of the most fun I’ve ever had. They rented out an entire castle – Castle Reichenstein – set up events like archery, alchemy, tests of reflex, and we even got to hold a falcon.

Yes, Mrs Stix got to hold a falcon. An actual falcon. Legit, amazing experience. Met some fantastic people, got to talk to some of the higher ups at Gameforge, and got to play the game before anyone else.
But that was the event. I’m sure you’re wondering about the game itself, yeah? Alright. If you’re interested in additional clips from the event – then we’ll be including them at the end of the video. So make sure you watch all the way through!

Kingdom Under Fire 2 is an MMORTS: A real-time strategy game with MMORPG themes.
You take control of a hero with the ability to both deploy and control troops on the battlefield utilizing an interesting tactical combat mode, with a top-down view that I’m sure everyone that plays RTS games are all too familiar with.
Then you have the other form of combat, which has you in direct control of your character as a whole – mashing your left and right clicks together with several skills you bind to your action bar – like traditional MMOs.
The goal of the game is to offer players something new, something unique that hasn’t really been done in the past and I will be the first to admit – this is a very compelling use of the two contrastingly different combat types.

Kingdom Under Fire 2 offers 5 unique classes:
– The Human male Gunslinger
– The Elven female Spellsword
– The uh.. large, demonic looking Berserker dude
– The Elven female Ranger
– The Elven female ELementalist

Each class is gender-locked, but offers unique customization specific to only that class, allowing for a lot of personality in each of our creations.
Honestly, I was torn between Spellsword and Ranger. They both have assets- I mean, aspects that interest me but ultimately I went Ranger because Mrs Stix wanted the Spellsword.. and I didn’t want the Elementalist.
I’ve had enough of running around as little loli mages. Customization in-game was actually surprisingly good. Gave me a lot of facial-structure altering options – and no, there was no body slider from what I could tell.
I already know you guys are gonna be asking that question. Yes, I know you all well enough by now. I ended up making something really epic though, and couldn’t be happier with my creation.

You start off in a tutorial that explains the basic functions while introducing you to the cast of characters that join you on your journey.
After which you’re thrown out into the world and given the freedom to explore, quest, level and tackle the game like you normally would.
But unlike traditional MMOs that have you go out and complete random fetch and kill quests for NPC after NPC – Kingdom Under Fire 2 has you progress through various areas while following a very linear storyline.
Which isn’t a bad thing – I love story in my games, especially in my MMOs. Two of my favorite MMOs are Final Fantasy XIV and World of Warcraft – and they have tons of lore and story – enough to keep me well entertained.
So I was glad to see that Kingdom Under Fire 2 had plenty of story to sit through – all of which was completely voice acted. And the voice acting wasn’t bad.
I was honestly expecting something akin to Aion or Blade & Soul, but was surprised to see it was better than I’d imagined it would be.
And honestly, “surprise” seems to be the general state I was in throughout my playthrough of the game. Seriously, can you believe that this released into Closed Beta in South Korea all the way back in December 2011? Yeah, doesn’t feel like it.

After making it a little ways through the game I’d finally gotten the freedom to tackle the RTS-side of the game.
I got to participate in the tactical game mode – something I’d been looking forward to trying out all that time. And it didn’t disappoint.
It allows you to deploy various types of troops – like something out of a Total War game, move them across the field, engage other units, use individual unit skills and then toggle between your tactical mode and action-combat mode.
Action mode allowed me to control only my character, running around mashing buttons, chaining skills, and ultimately getting my ass whooped because I chose a class I never play and am therefore mostly unfamiliar with.
But being able to toggle between the two different game modes made for some highly engaging, thought-provoking moments. I’m not used to running into a horde of monsters and having to keep an eye on not only my own HP, but the HP of my units.
At one point I almost lost my archers because I wasn’t aware they were being flanked. Thankfully your hero possesses a basic heal that allows you to restore some of your forces’ HP otherwise I fear I would’ve been screwed.
Yup, micromanaging both yourself in action mode and all your units – of which you can have many, is going to be quite the challenge, but I’m a huge fan of real time strategy games so this is right up my alley.
I just haven’t played any in a couple years so I was a tad rusty.

Nevertheless, this game couldn’t have come at a better time. I know it’s been an arduously long wait for this game to release, but it’s been well worth the wait.
Kingdom Under Fire 2 is an ambitious, epic journey through a game truly unlike any other. I’m a fan of the Kingdom Under Fire games and this was quite a treat for me to get to experience.
The amalgamation of the real time strategy genre with the MMO genre was quite a gamble, but it turned out quite exceptionally. As has been echoed around the MMO community over the last several days.

There’s so much more I want to explore in Kingdom Under Fire 2, and I have every intention of continuing to play through it and release a few follow-up videos over the next month or two.