E3 2016: ‘Kingdom Come: Deliverance’ Aims For Realism In Every Part Of Their Game
Warhorse Studios’ Kingdom Come: Deliverance has always walked the line between historical accuracy and creating a fun video game. The studio, based in Prague, has decided, with Kingdom Come: Deliverance, to tell a story set during real-life events. Taking place in 1403, Kingdom Come finds itself set among real life Medieval Bohemia, which is in the heart of Europe. War is ravaging the land as Sigismund, King of Hungary, deposed his brother, Wenceslas IV, King of Bohemia. You play as Henry, the son of a blacksmith in the silver mining town of Skalitz. Your life is turned upside down when Sigismund’s army attacks Skalitz for the silver it produces, killing your family and ravaging your home. Kingdom Come: Deliverance is a revenge story come to life, and one that will not be easy. You aren’t a hero “chosen” by destiny, rather an unfortunate soul caught up in the affairs of the great.
The sense of historical realism is not just brought into the game through the story. The setting is also modeled after real-life Bohemia, with many of the buildings and settlements you find in game still standing today. Additionally, the combat system — and armor system, by extension — have the realistic treatment.
The attack only counts where you get hit, meaning that an attack to the torso or an attack to the arm would be calculated differently. Tobias gave the example of your character being devoid of armor, except a helmet. If you get hit on the head, your helmet will protect you — you won’t die. However, if the character hits you in the torso, where you’re unprotected, you’ll obviously be worse off.
The idea behind this is to lend some actual thought and strategy into what you decide to go into battle with. You aren’t able to just throw on a piece of armor and “boost a statistic” as you can in other games. The layered armor system used by Kingdom Come: Deliverance will have you planning your garb with the same thought process as knights did during the 15th century. How you choose your weapon will depend heavily on the armor of the opponent you are fighting as well. A sword against a knight in full plate will just glance off the armor. However, a mace will be highly-effective against the armor, as you deal blows directly to the knight himself. Additionally, if you’re not wearing the right layers of armor, such as a gambeson under plate to help absorb impact, you’re not going to fare as well as someone who is wearing the right equipment.
“We are trying to create a game that is as realistic as possible and as historically accurate as possible,” Tobias said. “What we want to bring to the players is real medieval feeling. Dungeons and no dragons, that’s what we always say. We want to show the people what the medieval times really looked like [and] what the people dealt with.
The CRYENGINE-powered title was originally slated to be released this year, however the game has been delayed until 2017. Simply put, the studio needed more time to get the game ready. Kingdom Come: Deliverance will release on PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 at the same time, though no official time period in 2017 has been released. Currently the game is in beta, to which Kickstarter backers currently have access. Interested players can also get into the beta through the Kingdom Come: Deliverance website.
[Images via Warhorse Studios]
