Worth: $13.50
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
NA
Intro:
...you’re essentially playing Revolting Peasant Simulator here so proceed accordingly.
After putting a significant amount of time into Kingdom Come: Deliverance one thing has been made painfully clear: being a peasant sucks. Sucks. Powerfully, prolifically and with great alacrity it is just the worst. It probably sucked in every historical period of note over the ages, but it very specifically sucks in the Kingdom of Bohemia, in the year of our Lord 1403. Said location and time period is the setting for Kingdom Come: Deliverance, which thrusts you into the somewhat gormless shoes of Henry, who – within twenty or so minutes of gameplay – has lost his parents, his home, his girlfriend and all hope, thanks to the violent whims of Hungarian king Sigismund, who has sacked the village of his birth.
In an ordinary video game this would be the jumping off point for young Henry to brew up some healing potions, craft himself a big fuck off sword, don some shiny armour and head out into town and get medieval on everyone’s arses. However Kingdom Come is no ordinary video game, for better and for worse.
Funded through a rather excellent kickstarter, Kingdom Come: Deliverance’s mission statement is to give the player as realistic and historically accurate an experience as possible. That means you can easily be killed by any foe, you get hungry and thirsty, you can get sick and die from the ailments if you don’t treat them, and due to your social status things frequently, well, suck.
So before you embark on this game you should be aware that the difficulty level is punishing, saves are limited and extremely rare and the game’s story won’t take you on any wild flights of magical fancy or indulge your desire to feel powerful. It might be played from a first person perspective like Skyrim but this is a very different beast, and about as niche a proposition as can be imagined.
For those of you with a historical bent this may just be just the antidote to the more whimsical, fantastic narratives in The Witcher 3 and the like, however even taking into account the pragmatism of the tale, KC:D has problems. At the time of writing the game is still beset by a galling number of bugs. It’s one thing to be killed in combat due to mismanaging weapons or attack timing, it’s quite another when the game decides your blow didn’t count. Plus floating mid air for no reason or characters morphing into walls, stools and – rather alarming – your own body is a deadset immersion breaker.
That being said, there’s something so fresh and weird about Kingdom Come: Deliverance it’s impossible to dismiss out of hand. In an era where games are often becoming dull, homogenized, beige experiences KC:D stands out as the oddball in the pack. It’s messy and rough around the edges – and good lord it needs some more patching – but there’s an ambition and originality at play here that gives the experience a likable freshness. That said, you’re essentially playing Revolting Peasant Simulator here so proceed accordingly. If rigorous attention to detail isn’t your jam, stay well away. However if a grounded tale sounds like you – then serf’s up, baby!
