GamesAction RpgAfter playing four hours of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, I’m sold on this deeply ambitious return to medieval BohemiaWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
GamesAction RpgAfter playing four hours of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, I’m sold on this deeply ambitious return to medieval BohemiaWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Deep Silver)
If Kingdom Come: Deliverance was a coming-of-age story for peasant-turned-knight protagonist Henry of Skalitz, then Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is his mid-life crisis. I recently visited the Czech town of Kutná Hora – formerly known as Kuttenberg, where most of the sequel is set – to play four hours of Henry’s latest adventure, and in that time he loses nearly everything he worked so hard for in the first game. But hey – falling off a cliff, losing your pals, and being showered with the contents of a castle’s communal toilet bucket tends to have that effect.
Bohemian like you
(Image credit: Deep Silver)
Henry’s late(Image credit: Warhorse Studios)Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 delayed to February 2025: “We aimed for the end of the year and almost made it”
Henry’s late
(Image credit: Warhorse Studios)Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 delayed to February 2025: “We aimed for the end of the year and almost made it”
(Image credit: Warhorse Studios)
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 delayed to February 2025: “We aimed for the end of the year and almost made it”
It’s been six years since I played Kingdom Come: Deliverance, which is the excuse I try to keep in mind during a series of very sloppy swordfights. Combat is largely the same – you flick in the direction you want to hit or block, parry and riposte, and occasionally make some distance to give your stamina a chance to regenerate. It’s a system that was quite contentious in the first game, and while I loved it, lots of people found it unwieldy and too challenging in its opening hours. Addressing that, Warhorse spokesperson Tobias Stolz-Zwilling says that although swords will still take practice to use well, weapons like maces and primitive firearms will offer more straightforward approaches to combat – a workaround that I think is quite clever, although my pride would never let me trade in the sword.
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(Image credit: Deep Silver)
Speaking of clever workarounds, Henry’s escape culminates in him falling off a cliff, which hurts him seriously enough to neatly wipe away his stats from the first game. It also prompts key moments from the last game to flash before his eyes, which yes, is a little hammy, but I think that it explains Henry’s backstory well enough for new players to feasibly play Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 without having played its predecessor.
Down but not out
(Image credit: Deep Silver)
“I’ve been craving a first-person RPG with this much depth for years, and Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 looks set to scratch that itch.”
“I’ve been craving a first-person RPG with this much depth for years, and Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 looks set to scratch that itch.”
Things can’t have gone too wrong for Henry though, because when I pick things up with him again in the second half of the preview – set closer to the game’s' halfway point – he’s made it to the picturesque city of Kuttenberg with a full set of shiny armor. For this segment, we’re focused on helping out scorned swordsman Menhard von Frankfurt, who Bohemia’s King Wenceslaz invited to lead the city’s guild of swordsmen. The current guild is unwilling to let him take over, though, and has resorted to bureaucratic bullying to try and drive our new friend from Kuttenberg.
After hanging their sword on the town hall, I come back the following morning to watch as the guild awkwardly accept Menhard’s challenge. Of course, Henry’s work never ends – the tournament is three versus three, so he’s roped into taking part on the side of Menhard and his pal. Here, I’m told that if I had been caught hanging out the sword this morning, we’d have been penalized and our opponents, though too embarrassed to outright decline the duel, would have been allowed to wear plate armor. Our fights go smoothly (at this point I’ve battered enough bandits to remember how Henry’s arms work) and Menbhard, now reinstated, promises to teach Henry some new sword techniques if he comes back in a few days.
As my hands-on comes to an end, I realize just how badly I want to pick a direction and roam. I’ve been craving a first-person RPG with this much depth for years, and Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 looks set to scratch that itch. With that territory comes some clunkiness – there’s a lot of information buried in menus, and combat is still a little awkward – but there’s no denying the massively increased scope in play here. It will be interesting to see how Warhorse handles a story with greater stakes and more moving parts than its predecessor, but I’ve seen more than enough to pique my interest. After watching Henry get beaten, thrown in the stockades, and wearily roped into medieval guild wars, I’m looking forward to jumping back in the saddle – if only to get that poor boy a much-needed bath.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 launches on February 11, 2025 - but while you wait, here are thebest RPGsyou can play right now.
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