Kingdom Come: Deliverance, Digital Art of the Dark Ages
In case you've been sleeping KCD is the beautiful new game from the Prauge based WarHorse Studios. Set in 16th Century Bohemia, (modern day Czech Republic) it follows the adventurous, dismal, violent & tragic life of a common serf Henry. Beginning in a humble village & growing to encapsulate the entire region, KCD gives us a glimpse into the European world pre renaissance, pre industrial revolution, before firearms and even a simple bicycle.
Riding from villages across the hills on horseback, hunting rabbits, buck & bear in the forest, or fist fights in the tavern are all available for our protagonist to develop his skills in standard RPG form. But you can also track down a scribe and actually learn to read, (you are a man after all) and become something of an alchemist brewing potions.
KCD plays quite easily as a normal, open world RPG in the styles of Elder Scrolls or others. I picked it up quite quickly but found WarHorse brings several new elements including a unique combat scheme for melee (the majority of fights). Sword combat is heavy in the game (and tied to the story) and although 1 wrong move probably won't cost you the fight, 2 or 3 wrong moves will. A stamina gauge means timing and placing your sword attacks, not just swinging madly away. Defense, counters & strategy become crucial if you don't want to start bleeding everywhere. Oh yeah, you can bleed all over your clothes and that affects your interactions & conversations with everyone. The same goes for all that mud on your hose trousers & sweat stains on your shirt. Your apperance and well being affects all areas of interactions with NPCs, including sales. When its time to talk about the price of your new helmet though, you can always choose to haggle with the merchant, fun and rewarding.
Overall I think this is quite a beautiful game visually and in play. With this merger of history, digital literature & art (yes video games are art evolved into a new medium) we have a new form of learning & education. I look forward to the day a student of history can don a VR headset & gloves (or full suit, or Matrix- esce plugin) and begin to "live out" the trials & tribulations of the Mideavil ages, or any period for that matter.
Now here is some Manowar to head bang out to
