Kingdom Come: Deliverance

The love that's gone into developing KCD shows through its outer skin of bugs and bloody violence. [Apr 2018, p.66]

Kingdom Come: Deliverance is insanely deep and ambitious, but really not suitable for every casual gamer who has played Skyrim once. Not because there's no fantasy in this historically accurate RPG, but mainly due to old-fashioned gameplay mechanics, bugs and a general contempt for our precious time.

An unflinchingly hardcore RPG that trades promises of "realism" for just another fantasy. [Issue#270, p.49]

Kingdom Come: Deliverance satisfies that itch if you are looking for something a little different than typical western high fantasy or Japanese style RPGs. It's rough around the edges and some narrative & mechanical quirks don't always hit their mark, but it's still an enjoyable experience if you can put up with a little bit of uneveness.

There are incredible things going on in Kingdom Come: Deliverance that it’s a shame I have to score it lower than I would like, due to the issues with bugs and glitches that soil the experience. If those problems eventually get fixed, then look at this score with an additional point, but for the meantime, those problems can cause a loss of progression, which isn’t a good thing.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance is a fantastic and absolutely frustrating experience. I was treated to a memorable lead character whose agency and development was largely wiped away with a twist late in the game and a collection of incredible gameplay mechanics and quests repeatedly stifled by bugs. Despite its downfalls, though, the good parts of the game are so good.

With stunning and immersive graphics, Kingdom Come: Deliverance is an RPG for those who enjoy a deep, pronounced story with a focus on realism.

In the end, however, despite the flaws, there’s enough charm, compelling storytelling, and immersive atmosphere to see it through.

Despite its lack of polish, Kingdom Come: Deliverance is an engaging ride. If players are willing to embrace the beauty of history and the challenge of survival in a world that cares nothing for its inhabitants, role-playing doesn’t come much more satisfying than this.

As realistic, historically accurate, unrelenting, casual-unfriendly, open-word RPG games go, Kingdom Come: Deliverance is probably the best on offer right now. It's only worthy of the bronze medal, though, as it's very far from perfect, and the amount of flaws at hand mean that this is quite the dirty kind of bronze medal.

Had the initial forty-to-fifty hour campaign not delivered the level of bugs and problems present in the current build, you'd easily be looking at potentially one of the year's best all-round experiences in an RPG and an essential for everyone no matter your affiliation with the genre. As it stands, visually, technically and mechanically sound as its foundation is, Kingdom Come: Deliverance's performance is an unruly and occasionally unpredictable beast.

I cherish the medieval authenticity that Kingdom Come strives for. And that Warhorse implements some mechanics that separate it from other roleplaying games. But there are also loads of elements that are not worked out well enough, that are just painful to see unfold or plain buggy that I am really torn. I want to applaud the devs, but sometimes I just hate them.

If you're looking for an open-world RPG that tends to throw you into the deep end, Kingdom Come: Deliverance definitely scratches that itch. The game could still use some patches, and I suspect many people are going to want to dip into mods to smooth down some of the title's rougher edges. There's a fine game under the layers of clunky systems and punishing early mechanics, but Kingdom Come: Deliverance is enjoyed as much as it is endured, and how often that wavers back and forth is perhaps the game's largest shortcoming.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance has the potential to be one of the greatest RPGs of this year, but the sheer abundance of bugs make it almost unplayable. A perfect example of a game that would have benefited from an early access release.

Kingdom Come Deliverance doesn't deliver on its expectations. Although the game looks stunning and the Middle Ages come to life beautifully, it's a technical mess.

It wants us to take its medieval world seriously, but also wants it to be a playground, and it constantly struggles to balance these two sides of its personality. If you can embrace its quirks, it’s easy enough to lose yourself in its luscious and dynamic medieval landscape, but you’re unlikely to emerge with much insight into the historical period that it so faithfully depicts.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance's large open world is packed full of things to do in a setting many can relate to. It's by no means perfect, which is unfortunately down to the sheer scope of the project for such a small team of developers. Still, you're going to get many hours of entertainment from this game. It's available now for around $60.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance is an extremely immersive and ambitious open-world medieval RPG unlike any we’ve ever seen. But its attempts to remain engaging are ruined by a plethora of technical issues and an overall lack of polish.