Kingdom Come: Deliverance's Hard Medieval Living

Buckle up for some heavy-duty combat, literally.

By Dan Stapleton

With no magic, no elves, and not even a King Arthur, Kingdom Come: Deliverance is aiming for a grounded and realistic approach to open-world medieval roleplaying games. Oddly enough, that makes this February 2018 RPG feel distinctive next to the likes of The Elder Scrolls or The Witcher.

Developer Warhorse Studios says that aside from the personal story of your character, Harry, the events of a civil war in the Kingdom of Bohemia in the year 1403 are historically accurate. As you set out to avenge the death of your parents, who were killed in a raid on a village that actually happened, you join the service of a lord and play a role in the outcome of the war - which is, of course, fixed.

Kingdom Come’s complex combat system is no joke.

Warhorse says a big focus is on allowing you to find alternate ways through a situation if you fail the first big skill check. The early example I got to play was being sent by Harry’s blacksmith father to buy some charcoal. That simple job takes you to confront the town drunk for payment for tools your father made for him in order to pay for the charcoal; if you have high enough speech stats and reputation you’ll be able to convince him to pay, but if you don’t you’ll have to think of another way to get the cash.

I tried to beat him up and take it, but that didn’t go so well. Kingdom Come’s complex combat system is no joke: there are six different angles of attack and defense, and an interesting stamina bar that acts as both energy for attacks and blocks and as a shield for your health. That’ll take some time to master.

It’s definitely like no other game I’ve played.

Instead, you can win the money gambling in a dice game or go running back to your father for help, but I tried to steal the tools back… but I was spotted by the town guards and chased down and thrown in jail. I never even got to the point where you throw poop at a guy’s house (yes, this can happen).

So I spent my last few minutes playing with the combat training scenarios, which let you get the hang of swordplay with light or heavy armor against single or multiple opponents in a big brawl. And Deliverance has such a heavy focus on realism that equipping heavy armor means you’re a walking tank, but you can barely see a thing.

It’s definitely tough to get a handle on how a big RPG like this will play from the first handful of minutes, but it’s definitely like no other game I’ve played.

Dan Stapleton is IGN's Executive Editor of Reviews. Trade Simpsons quotes with him on Twitter at @DanStapleton. 

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