Kingdom Come: Deliverance

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Kingdom Come: Deliverance
Logo Kingdom Come Deliverance black.svg
Studio Czech RepublicCzech Republic Warhorse Studios
Publisher GermanyGermany Deep Silver ,
Warhorse Studios (Steam)
Senior Developer Daniel Vávra
Erstveröffent-
lichung
February 13, 2018
platform Microsoft Windows ,
PlayStation 4 ,
Xbox One
Game engine CryEngine
genre role playing game
Subject middle Ages
Game mode Single player
control Keyboard , controller
medium Download , Blu-Ray
language English , German
Current version 1.9.5 (February 11, 2020)
Age rating
USK approved from 16
PEGI from 18

Kingdom Come: Deliverance (German about: Kingdom of Heaven: Salvation ) is a first-person - role-playing game , which by the Czech Warhorse Studios develops and on 13 February 2018 Microsoft Windows , PlayStation 4 and Xbox One was released. The game is based on historical events in Europe in the early 15th century . The setting is medieval Bohemia . One of the main features of the game is that it strives to be true to the history of the epoch. This relates to the people of that time, their living conditions, as well as weapons, armor and battles (which is why no fantasy elements were used), but also the realistic, geographical location with regions and towns that still exist today.

action

history

1403 : After the death of Emperor and King Charles IV , his son Wenzel proves to be an extremely weak and incompetent successor. His power-conscious brother Sigismund allies himself with a faction of the high nobility that sees this as an opportunity for social advancement, kidnaps the king and marches into the defenseless country with his own army. The contracting groups of the aristocracy face each other.

As a player, you slip into the role of the blacksmith's son Heinrich, who initially leads a carefree life in the village of Skalitz and finally helps his father to complete a masterful sword. Then an invading army of Sigismund appears , supported by recruited Cumans , who devastate the place and cause a massacre among the population. Heinrich's parents are killed in this attack. With great difficulty he manages to escape to the nearby Talmberg Castle himself . His liege lord Radzig Kobyla also had to give up his castle in Skalitz, flee and flee to Rattay . The invasion army also threatens Talmberg Castle, but since Diwisch, master of the place and castle, can convince Mr. Markwart von Aulitz, the German army leader, that Radzig is not there, the army moves on. Radzig instructs Diwisch to keep an eye on Heinrich.

Heinrich recovers on Talmberg, but secretly returns to Skalitz in order to be able to properly bury his parents instead of simply leaving their corpses to the dogs and wolves. There he meets a band of robbers, led by "Wicht". An ironic name, because it is a giant as a bear. Wicht asks Heinrich the master sword that Heinrich carries with him as a souvenir. Heinrich refuses, but as a layman he has nothing to oppose to Wicht. Theresa, a young woman from Skalitz, distracts the robbers until Diwisch's troops, led by Captain Robard, appear and drive the bandits apart. Wicht manages to escape, but with Heinrich's sword.

Rattay , one of the central locations (here photo from 2012)

Theresa takes Heinrich to her uncle's mill, where he heals. Heinrich is nevertheless keen to avenge the death of his parents and to get his father's sword back. For this purpose he puts himself in the service of Radzig in order to prove himself a reliable and good subject. Radzig now holds his protective hand over Heinrich. Hanusch rules Rattay as the administrator until his nephew, Hans Capon, has reached the age of majority. The young, attractive Hans turns out to be an arrogant nobleman who is above all interested in his own pleasure, especially women and alcohol. A hunting excursion by Hans and Heinrich suggested by Hanusch establishes mutual trust and friendship, since Heinrich saves Hans from Kumans.

Heinrich is charged with investigating a gruesome attack on the stud in the village of Neuhof. Traces ultimately lead to the abandoned village of Pribyslawitz, where there is now a robber camp. After the scouting, the attack takes place on this camp, where not only robbers but also Cumans are located. Heinrich finally catches and kills Wicht, but he does not learn any further information from him, for example about their goals, backers or the whereabouts of the sword.

Groschen stolen in the camp turn out to be forgeries. Heinrich is supposed to find out where these fake coins come from. With the help of the German knight Ulrich from Passau , who was also commissioned to investigate the counterfeiting, Heinrich's clues lead to the silver mines near Skalitz, but the trail is initially lost here.

Heinrich hears that shady pressers are recruiting men for Sasau. He succeeds in establishing contact, but to prove his loyalty he is supposed to kill a renegade member who is now hiding in the monastery in Sasau. He sneaks into the monastery as a monk and tracks down the culprit. However, this one broke with his past. Heinrich either kills him or reveals his intentions to him, which leads to both satisfaction and the monk's flight.

The monastery in Sasau (here photo from 2014)

The actual or alleged murder of the traitor gives Heinrich access to the mercenary and robber camp in Wranik, a previously abandoned fortress. There Heinrich is supposed to prove himself to the leader Erik, but also meets the Hungarian nobleman Istvan Toth, who he had already noticed as an accompanist of Radzig. By taking Sigismund's side, Toth hopes to gain influence in Bohemia after Sigismund's coronation as Holy Roman Emperor. Heinrich is exposed as a spy. With the help of the Skalitzer Brischek, who joined the mercenaries with wrong ideas, he managed to escape from Wranik. Radzig then reveals to him that he is his true father. The blacksmith Martin only accepted him because Radzig initially refused to recognize paternity.

Portrait of Kronrad Kyesers from the 15th century

Radzig, Diwisch and Hanusch now mobilize their men to destroy the Wranik mercenary camp. This succeeds with apparently little resistance. However, Toth used the attack to take Talmberg Castle, which was little guarded at the same time, and to take Stephanie, Diwisch's wife, and Radzig as hostages. A nightly attempt to free the hostages fails. That is why a long siege now follows, with the help of a tribok , designed by Konrad Kyeser , a real gunsmith from the 14th and 15th centuries.

The castle storms, but Toth holed up with the hostages in the keep . He only promises to release them against a promise of safe conduct. To the indignation of Heinrich and Hans, Toth managed to withdraw freely, because Hanusch and Diwisch gave their word of honor and their word of honor as nobles was paramount to them. When he leaves, Toth mocks Heinrich with the possession of the noble sword.

This is followed by the end credits of the game, in which Heinrich's parents appear in a dream.

After the end credits, there is a playable epilogue in which the characters discuss the political situation, under the advice of Jobst of Moravia . The Bohemians realize that Wenceslaus is not the “saint” they thought he was, but a good-for-nothing. Also that Sigismund is not a villain, but above all the betrayal of Wenceslas justified his actions. For lack of money, he hired Cumanian mercenaries and then conquered Skalitz in order to gain access to its silver mines.

Wenceslas is still in captivity in Vienna, while Sigismund has problems defending his influence in Hungary and Bohemia. The game ends with Hans Capon and Heinrich being sent as ambassadors to Otto von Bergow in Trosky Castle to discuss the further political situation. Heinrich still longs for revenge and his father's sword.

Location

Kingdom Come: Deliverance is set in the Kingdom of Bohemia in 1403 during a time marked by conflicts over the Bohemian-Hungarian throne dispute. The setting is the region along the Sasau , a right tributary of the Vltava , around 40 kilometers southeast of Prague . The places (from the point of view of the game world from north to south) Przibislawitz , Silber Skalitz , Auschitz (in the game Uschitze ), Rowna , Talmberg , Merhojed , Samopesch , Ledetschko , the city of Sasau with the monastery of St. Prokop , Neuhof are reproduced in the game , Vranik and Rattay .

Gameplay

Kingdom Come: Deliverance offers an open game world in which the player can move freely outside of the plot. The world covers approx. 16 km² with a large city, forests, castles and dozens of villages and hamlets, some of which were devastated by the war, which were designed according to historical plans. In addition, there are underground places such as mines, secret passages and catacombs. The behavior and actions of the player directly influence the main and secondary quest , as well as the further development of the main character himself. There are no class system restrictions on character development.

In addition to basic role-playing game elements, Kingdom Come: Deliverance also offers a number of technical innovations in the field of computer role-playing games that focus on a believable gaming experience. The game has a complex clothing system with which the character of the game can be dressed in multiple layers. This in turn has realistic consequences for the interaction with NPCs, such as B. in sword fighting, in which the effectiveness of the armor cannot be traced back to fixed values, but is dynamically calculated during the collision of the weapon and armor depending on the clothes worn. The combat mechanics itself is based on a complex system, in which the player has to combine the position of his character, the position of his opponents, block and attack direction, but also types of weapons, in order to survive a fight successfully.

In addition to the technical aspects, various game mechanisms also contribute to the credibility of the game. For example, the game character needs food and sleep, while armor and weapons lose quality over time and with increasing use and have to be repaired. Quests also have an open course and an as open end as possible, which are influenced by the decisions of the player. Depending on the player's actions and reputation, the behavior of non-player characters towards the game character changes, and every NPC has its daily routines that the player can influence.

In order to save the game score, a so-called "rescue schnapps" is required, which can be made or bought in the game. A “rescue schnapps” can only be used once to save it.

development

According to those responsible, the Kingdom Come: Deliverance project met with little approval in the game industry and so Daniel Vávra , who originally developed the idea and the overall concept for the game, could not find a major game developer or publisher who wanted to finance the project. So he left his former position at 2K Czech and founded his own development studio, Warhorse Studios, together with other well-known developers from the computer game industry.

Funding for the project began through Kickstarter , where donations from private donors raised over £ 1 million . After the Kickstarter campaign ended, donations continued to be accepted through the game's official website, bringing the total to over $ 2 million . Supporters of the project were given access to the alpha version of the game on October 22, 2014, and to the beta version on March 3, 2016 . In September 2016 it was announced that the retail PC version and game console version of the game would be released in collaboration with Deep Silver .

Extensions

Warhorse Studios announced three free and four paid expansions and updates in May 2018 . So far, patches have not only corrected graphic and content- related bugs , but also revised the sometimes criticized storage system and simplified game mechanics, such as lock-picking, and brought more diverse hairstyles and beards for the character Heinrich. The free expansions are a "hardcore" mode, a tournament mode and modding support. The chargeable action extensions are:

  • From the Ashes (released July 2018)
  • The Amorous Adventures of Bold Sir Hans Capon (released October 2018)
  • Band of Bastards (released February 2019)
  • A Woman's Lot (released May 2019)

When in July 2018 published "From the Ashes" Henry is given responsibility over the abandoned camp robber Pribyslawitz, where he as bailiff has to take care of administration, reconstruction, justice and development. The first three expansions can be tackled both during the main game and after it has ended.

synchronization

The German dubbing, in which well-known speakers such as Leonhard Mahlich , Bernd Rumpf or Gundi Eberhard participated, was praised on the one hand for its quality and professionalism, on the other hand the lack of lip synchronicity and volume fluctuations were criticized. The recordings took place in the GlobaLoc recording studios in Berlin.

Role name Voice actor
Heinrich Leonhard Mahlich
Istvan Toth Charles Rettinghaus
Heinrich's mother Gundi Eberhard
Heinrich's father Uwe Büschken
Captain Bernard Bernd Rumpf
Radzig Kobyla Alexander Brem
Hanush from Leipa Daniel Welbat
Divish from Talmberg Dieter B. Gerlach

reception

The game received mostly restrained to good reviews from the gaming press. Negative criticism mainly related to technical deficiencies, such as frequently occurring graphical and content-related bugs , reloading textures , pop-ups , and occasional game crashes. Jörg Luibl from 4Players even spoke of a " beta version ". A 25 GB patch was released on the date of publication , which was followed by further patches. Developer Warhorse said they were aware of the criticism. As producer Martin Klima said: “I openly admit that I would have liked more time to round off the game before the release. A triple A game actually deserves more fine-tuning. "

The lively, organic-looking game world, the varied quest design, the creative combat mechanics, which can be hectic with several opponents, as well as the plot, however, gave rise to positive criticism.

Reviews

reviews
publication Rating
PS4 Windows Xbox One
GamePro 76/100 k. A. 76/100
GameStar k. A. 85/100 k. A.
IGN k. A. 8.0 / 10 k. A.
PC Gamer UK k. A. 84/100 k. A.
Meta-ratings
Metacritic 68/100 76/100 68/100

"Technically," Kingdom Come: Deliverance "is sometimes an impertinence. The loading times before calls are just as annoying as the storage system; the good voice output is sometimes barely audible and the standard PS4 simply jerks too often. (...) If I close one and a half eyes, I see a great atmosphere, mostly believable characters and a stylistically wonderful game world that serves as a stage for a well-told story in "Kingdom Come". (...) With its peculiarities, a fresh setting and the charming narrative style, "Kingdom Come" triggers goodwill in me - but I can't recommend the game without hesitation due to the many bugs. (...) "

- Denis Kuckmann : Criticism in the M! Games

“In the test, Kingdom Come: Deliverance creates one of the most atmospheric open worlds we have ever experienced. In order to enjoy the great strengths of the medieval role-playing game, you have to forgive the medieval role-playing game for many things. "

- Dimitry Halley : GameStar

“Ambitious medieval role-playing game full of loving details, but also bulky mechanics and audiovisual quirks. Seldom have I been so divided on a test as with "Kingdom Come: Deliverance". On the one hand, I cannot praise the meticulousness and attention to detail that the developers have put into their game. (...) At the same time, however, many things get on my feet. The storage system annoys me as much as the cumbersome menu, the sluggish «fast» travel function and the bitchy archery. (...) And I don't even count the numerous graphics and sound bugs. "

- Tobias Kujawa : Criticism in the M! Games

Extensions

The first paid extension “From the Ashes” caused mixed reactions from the specialist press. The Metascore is 54 out of 100 possible points. Felix Schütz from PC Games regrets the wasted potential of the expansion. The basic idea of ​​becoming the client of his own city is appealing, but the implementation is becoming a test of patience. Instead of being able to express their creativity freely, the players are forced to generate large amounts of in-game currency in order to be able to afford the construction work at all.

controversy

Based on US publications such as the websites Polygon and Vice , as before against The Witcher 3 , accusations of racism against Kingdom Come: Deliverance were raised , which were ignited by the fact that the game does not show any non-white characters. This criticism was also occasionally taken up by German-language blogs. The developers pointed out that there was simply no relevant proportion of the population of non-whites in medieval Bohemia and referred to the desired realistic representation of this epoch, based on a dozen advisory historians. Parts of this criticism also targeted Daniel Vavra, who was accused of racist and sexist views, for example because he showed himself to be wearing a Burzum shirt at Gamescom 2017 and expressed understanding for critics of the Gamergate movement. Vavra himself indignantly denied such allegations. Producer Martin Klima also defended the decision to only portray white characters. The game deals with a small part of medieval Europe for which no non-whites were detectable at the time. In addition, different peoples and ethnic groups would be dealt with within the plot, in addition to Czechs, Germans, Hungarians and Cumans. The game magazine M asked whether it was correct that the game did not represent non-white characters . Games the Historical Institute of the RWTH Aachen , which referred to the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz . There they replied that there were at best members of Turkic peoples, such as Cumans (who also appear in the game), but otherwise the existence of non-whites was "questionable". At Game Two , Winfried Eberhard , Professor of East Central European History at the University of Leipzig and former Director of the GWZO , said the probability that there were colored people in medieval Bohemia was "relatively low".

Awards

  • gamescom Award 2017 Best PC Game Kingdom Come: Deliverance, Koch Media

Sales figures

According to Martin Frývaldský-Betinský, CEO of Warhorse Studios, Kingdom Come: Deliverance has sold more than a million copies just two weeks after its release. Steam accounted for half of the sales . He called these sales figures "pleasing, but not entirely unexpected".

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Patch Notes - Bugs. In: Steam. February 11, 2020, accessed on June 14, 2020 .
  2. Kingdom Come: Deliverance Kickstarter . Retrieved May 22, 2014.
  3. Kingdom Come: Deliverance - Kickstarter Update # 25 . Retrieved May 22, 2014.
  4. Kingdom Come: Deliverance Wiki Guide . Retrieved May 22, 2014.
  5. Video about the historically correct simulation of weapons and combat in the game (official YouTube channel). Retrieved January 27, 2017 (English).
  6. Video about the realistic reproduction of the geographic location of the game (official YouTube channel). Retrieved January 27, 2017 (English).
  7. a b Kingdom Come RPG. Retrieved May 22, 2014 .
  8. Brief summary of the game's plot (Official website). Retrieved January 27, 2017 .
  9. ^ Mapa (cs-CZ) . In: Kingdom Come: Deliverance , September 1, 2014. Retrieved February 5, 2018. 
  10. Description of the role-playing game dynamics in the quest process of the game (official website). Retrieved January 27, 2017 .
  11. Description of the dynamic artificial intelligence in the game (official website). Retrieved January 27, 2017 .
  12. Video about the in-game clothing system (Official YouTube Channel). Retrieved January 27, 2017 (English).
  13. Video about the dynamic function of armor in the game (official YouTube channel). Retrieved January 27, 2017 (English).
  14. Video about the combat system in the game (Official YouTube Channel). Retrieved January 27, 2017 (English).
  15. Kingdom Come: Deliverance Video Update # 2 . Retrieved May 22, 2014
  16. Video about dynamic role-playing game elements and gameplay (official YouTube channel). Retrieved January 27, 2017 (English).
  17. Video about the development of the project (official YouTube channel). Retrieved January 28, 2017 (English).
  18. Brief introduction to Warhorse Studios (official website). Retrieved January 28, 2017 (English).
  19. Official Kickstarter site for the game. Retrieved January 28, 2017 .
  20. Video of $ 2 million donation milestone (Official YouTube Channel). Retrieved January 28, 2017 (English).
  21. Trailer for the alpha version of the game (official YouTube channel). Retrieved January 28, 2017 (English).
  22. Trailer for the beta version of the game (Official YouTube Channel). Retrieved January 28, 2017 (English).
  23. ^ Announcement of the collaboration with Deep Silver (official website). Retrieved January 28, 2017 (English).
  24. https://www.gamestar.de/artikel/kingdom-come-deliverance-dlc-roadmap- shows- 4-story-dlcs-hardcore-mode-und-mehr, 3330020.html
  25. http://www.4players.de/4players.php/spielinfonews/Allgemein/35377/2175239/Kingdom_Come_Deliverance-Vier_Story-Erweiterungen_und_kostenlose_Inhaltsupdates_angekuendigt.html
  26. http://www.4players.de/4players.php/spielinfonews/Allgemein/39837/2176219/Kingdom_Come_Deliverance_-_From_the_Ashes-Erste_Erweiterung_veroeffentlicht_Heinrich_als_Landvogt.html
  27. M! Games , issue 299, August 2018, page 76
  28. Epilogue: Why does Kingdom Come: Deliverance disappoint? on YouTube , accessed March 4, 2018
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  31. Dimitry Halley: Kingdom Come: Deliverance in the test - The Czech Gothic. In: GameStar . February 13, 2018, accessed May 2, 2018 .
  32. Kingdom Come: Deliverance Review. In: IGN . February 16, 2018, accessed February 18, 2018 .
  33. Kingdom Come: Deliverance, PC. In: Metacritic . Retrieved April 1, 2018 .
  34. Kingdom Come: Deliverance, PS4. In: Metacritic . Retrieved April 1, 2018 .
  35. Kingdom Come: Deliverance, Xbox One. In: Metacritic . Retrieved April 1, 2018 .
  36. a b Elena Schulz: Kingdom Come: Deliverance in the test - Split Kingdom. In: GamePro . February 13, 2018, accessed March 1, 2018 .
  37. ^ Kingdom Come: Deliverance review. In: PC Gamer UK. February 14, 2018, accessed March 1, 2018 .
  38. M! Games, issue 294, March 2018, page 52
  39. http://www.gamestar.de/artikel/kingdom-come-deliverance-das-tschechische-gothic,3325978.html
  40. M! Games, issue 294, March 2018, page 50
  41. Meta-evaluation “Kingdom Come: Deliverance - From the Ashes” (Windows version). In: Metacritic . CBS Corporation , accessed September 3, 2018 .
  42. Felix Schütz: Kingdom Come: Deliverance - From the Ashes in the DLC test. In: PC Games . July 18, 2018, accessed September 3, 2018 .
  43. a b M! Games , issue 294, March 2018, page 51
  44. http://www.gamestar.de/artikel/kingdom-come-deliverance-die-reaktion-auf-die-rassismus-vorwuefe,3324854.html
  45. Dějiny obyvatelstva českých zemí; Fialová, Ludmila; Horská, Pavla; Kučera, Milan; Maur, Eduard; Musil, Jiří; Stloukal, Milan; Prague 1996, pages 55-73.
  46. Why VICE will not cover Kingdom Come: Deliverance on YouTube , accessed March 4, 2018
  47. Game Two # 59: Kingdom Come: Deliverance, Fe, Controversy: Games Journalism Under Criticism on YouTube , accessed on March 4, 2018
  48. http://www.gamescom.de/gamescom/Presse/Presseinformationen/index.php?aktion=pfach&p1id=kmpresse_gamescom_d&format=html&base=&tp=k3content&search=&pmid=kmeigen.kmpresse_1502963414&start=0&anzahl=10&channel=kmeigen&language=d  ( page no longer retrievable , search in web archivesInfo: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.gamescom.de  
  49. http://www.pcgameshardware.de/Kingdom-Come-Deliverance-Spiel-16151/News/Verkaufszahlen-PC-Playstation-4-Xbox-One-1250768/