Kingdom Come: Deliverance is a realistic, sandbox RPG set in medieval Europe that promises an authentic tale of heroism in the Middle Ages.
Announced back in December, Kingdom Come: Deliverance is one of the more intriguing ideas for a game I’ve run into lately. It promises dungeons with no dragons: a first-person open-world RPG with realistic combat mechanics, real-world locations, dense political intrigue and more, but without the magical elements that define most entries in the genre. It’s the “real” Middle Ages, but without the smell or disfiguring diseases. (I’m actually guessing on that last part.)
Anyway, the project went to Kickstarter today and based on the response, an awful lot of people want to get in on the action. It opened with a goal of £300,000 ($497,000) and less than 24 hours in it’s already pushing the halfway mark, with over £135,000 ($224,000) pledged.
You play Kingdom Come: Deliverance as the son of a blacksmith in 1403 whose family is murdered and home destroyed by an invading army. With the King dead, the aristocracy divided and a civil war looming, you’ll become caught up in a whirling milieu of violence, political intrigue and revenge.
“Sick of killing rats in the basement? Or being treated like a messenger, transporting stuff from point A to point B? So are we! That’s why our quests are different,” the Kickstarter states. “Play as a medieval investigator searching for a mass murderer, lay siege to a bandit fort with an army at your back, experience epic battles between armored knights, interrogate, bribe, threaten, love, help, fight… It’s up to you to decide what to do.”
It certainly sounds like the kind of thing I could get behind. A few games have tried a more “realistic” approach to fantasy RPGs over the years – thinking primarily of Darklands and The Witcher – but I don’t know of any that have eschewed the magical elements altogether in favor of straight-up authenticity. I’m not sure it’ll work – the Middle Ages was a pretty awful time to live, as I understand it – but it sure looks like it could.
Once again, a friendly reminder not to throw money at a Kickstarter if you can’t afford to throw it out the window of a moving car, but if you’re a fan of RPGs you might want to give this one a look.
Source: Kickstarter
