bit-tech Shopping: Microsoft Kingdom Under Fire: Heroes

Rating: 6

Time with product: 15

Strengths: Interesting Action/Strategy battle system

Weaknesses: Camera system and the learning curve is a little steep

Summary: I went into this game expecting something like Dynasty Warriors. However, it wasn't like it at all. Although I was very disappointed and couldn't get into the game, I could tell this was a decent title anyways. If you want a game that has more strategy than Dynasty Warriors and a bit less of hack n' slash, then this is the game for you.

Rating: 8

Time with product: 8 Months

Strengths: Action/strategy hybrid; great multiplayer mode; multiple campaigns; customize options

Weaknesses: Quirky cameras; horrible translations

Summary: Kingdom Under Fire: Heroes is much like the first game in this young series. It consists of intense action/strategy gameplay set in the Medieval era. You can play with up to 6 people on Xbox Live and with 6 campaigns to choose from, you'll have plenty of fun with this game. You can even make your own army and customize your soldiers. The camera tends to lose its mind at times which can get annoying. One suggestion would be to just switch the game voice to Korean. It sounds way better even if you don't understand it because the English translation is absolutely horrible.

Rating: 8

Time with product: 6 Months

Strengths: xbox live

Weaknesses: hard

Summary: Kingdom Under Fire: Heroes is a sequel to KUF:Crusades. The game adds new heroes and over 50 new campaign missions. Kingdom Under Fire combines RPG, fighting, and RTS games rolled into one. It has a good storyline, graphics and sound. If you enjoy RTS games you should enjoy playing this game.

Rating: 6

Time with product: 4 Months

Strengths: Combines action/strategy well

Weaknesses: Not a good starting point for this type of game

Summary: I haven't played the first Kingdom Under Fire for xbox, so Heroes was a bit of a trial by fire. The first couple missions are not too difficult, but by the 4th mission, you soon realize that simply hacking/slashing is not going to carry the day. Since there is little in the way of tutorial, this difficulty in learning how to best play the game can be frustrating. It can also be daunting levelling up units without knowing exactly which units will best serve you in the coming mission(s). The camera can be loopy, but with some practice you get the hang of playing with it. If you are not familiar with this game genre, I would recommend the Dynasty Warriors series to start with.

Rating: 8

Time with product:

Strengths: Variety of different characters and leading characters, replay value

Weaknesses: Some parts of the story, some of the acting

Summary: Kingdom Under Fire: Heroes is an action packed fantasy war sim. In the game you start off with two different leading characters to choose from. There are seven all together, five are locked though until you beat the game with the other characters.Game PlayEach leading character commands a force of different troops like infantry, knights, calvary, and archers. As you play through the game you gain new troops, or you can hire them. You also earn points to upgrade troops. In game you switch back and forth in the game play from commanding all the different troops to controlling the leading character in melee combat. Once you get used to the controls it is easy to do. It takes about one or two missions to get used to the controls. Each players campaign has a bunch of missions on a variety of different maps. The campaign missions for each leading character are also different, so it's almost like seven different games. At first I didn't know all the characters had different campaigns, it's pretty cool, adds a lot to the replay value of the game.GraphicsThe characters and environments are detailed and colorful, especially the special moves some of the characters and troops have. The only dislike I had visually was that sometimes enemy troops and your own will be in similar armor making it difficult to tell them apart in melee combat. Everything else though is pretty cool.Story and ActingSo far I have played through Ellen's campaign. The story wasn't too bad except for the last part of the campaign. You end up fighting the enemy leader for about a minute, then he just disappears and the game ends. It was a little disappointing, the last mission was really cool getting to storm the enemy castle, all kinds of troops everywhere.Most of the voice actors were good, a few though made it hard to listen to the story. It sounded like they were saying lines randomly with little emotional involvement. Especially the Ellen character. It would have been great to hear a strong passionate voice playing her character.OverallThe game was a lot of fun to play. Once you get used to the controls it is very entertaining. I have only played through one campaign so far, and it feels like I still have six more games to play.