Previews// TGS: Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom

It’s not often you attend a game demonstration and most of the company’s top brass turn up to greet you. Usually you meet some public relations or marketing person, possibly the designer or producer behind the game, and you drink fine wine under the twilight (that last bit I might have made up). When I went to visit Blueside’s hotel suite opposite the Tokyo Game Show halls to see Kingdom of Fire: Circle of Doom, I was acquainted with director Henry Lee, head of Blueside production, Dee Lee, and senior vice president for the company, SD Kim. Blimey!

Blueside appears to be quite a relaxed developer, as the crew were cracking jokes and making me feel right at home from the start of the meeting. All well and good – maybe they deserve from relaxation, they certainly seem to feel that they have a winner on their hands with this, the latest title in the Kingdom Under Fire series.

For those not clued up on the game, Kingdom Under Fire is a Real Time Strategy (RTS) game that first found its way on the PC by Phantagram – the same chaps behind the most recent N3: Ninety Nine Nights on Xbox 360. There have been a few sequels but its charm has always been in its medieval and Lord of the Rings-esque game design.

The thing that makes Circle of Doom stand out from the rest is largely the fact that the RTS elements have been dropped for the most part. The game now resembles more of a real-time action RPG. Now you choose a beefcake and start your quest to restore the land from its current state of civil unrest to one of peace, rainbows and dancing rabbits. Because it’s such a break from the norm, Blueside has told us that they have tried to make the adventure as simplistic, yet expansive as possible – ‘simplicity with depth’, as is what the developer calls it.

It basically means the developers have created a game that can be approached by any level of gamer, and still be entertaining. For instance, every character has a set of stats like HP (Hit Points), Attack Power and so forth, which are raised whenever you level up as normal. To add to this, levelling up gives you Attribute Points, which you can use to tinker with your statistics, providing balance as the game goes on.

Other advanced features that dwell on the ‘depth’ that Blueside speaks of are in various special events. I was shown the Pause Menu, which had an image of the moon in particular phases – certain elements of the game are dependent on its orbit; your Luck stats will rise whenever it is a full moon for example.