Customizing your character isn't
limited to your hero and their immediate infantry, in the bases you are able to
hire new characters and back them with all kinds of cool armies. There are archers and mortars that help you
from long distances, sappers to set traps, and even people on horseback looking
for a quick fight. The great thing about
these different types of armies is that it always seems like there was a lot of
attention put on balancing them out.
Before long you'll see how
pitting the right group of warriors against the right group of baddies will
make the fight a lot easier, adding a lot of strategy to the action.
Not only are these different armies useful in battle, but
they also tend to have some useful special abilities exclusive to their
group. For example, if you're a human
archer you will be able to set fire to objects (and enemies) thanks to the
special flame arrows you can select and send flying. Depending on the character you play as (and
whether they are human or part of the dark legion) your armies will change,
this also changes some of the abilities they have. Using the archers again as an example, if you
were to select the dark elf archers you would be able to add Elemental Boost to
your arrow instead of the traditional flame.
Both sides have interesting characters you'll want to experiment with
and customize to perfection.
In game the control feels pretty smooth, even when you're
controlling multiple armies at the same time.
The game is pretty user friendly once you get used to it; you can control
multiple armies at the same time with no more than a push of one button, as
well as switching between the different groups using your L and R triggers so
you can command them separately. When
you're actually in a battle the game turns into a full-on hack and slash action
experience, one that has you rushing around a large area looking for people to
try out your multi-hit combos on. At
first it will be just a few armies in the melee with you, but as you advance
through the story you'll quickly discover that there are some truly epic
battles, the likes of which you only see in movies like the Lord of the Rings
and Alexander. Although the characters
have a lot of moves they are often kind of hard to pull off and not all that
effect when you do, so much of the action is nothing more than repeatedly
pushing one of the two attack buttons until everything is dead. This does feel a little repetitive after awhile, but
thankfully there's more to do than just button mash each battle.
When you're in these action sequences the game tends to feel
like Koei's Dynasty Warriors series, only with more of a medieval theme in
place. But even if you've completely
burned out on the Dynasty Warriors gameplay, there is still enough in Kingdom
Under Fire: Heroes to keep you interested.
A great deal of the excitement comes not from the button mashing you do
in battle, but rather making sure you have the right troops battling the right
enemies and people around to keep the magic flowing. I won't say the game play holds up all the
way through the game (it does get tiring doing the same moves over and over),
but there's enough excitement going on around you to keep you from even
noticing these minor problems.
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