Bigger, more beautiful, better: While the first “Kingdom Come Deliverance” was still a hobbyist role-playing game, the successor is supposed to join the ranks of the really great ones. In the first look we provide you with all the information about the medieval adventure.
“Kingdom Come Deliverance,” released in February 2018, was an ambitious medieval project by the Czech developer Warhorse. After a racism shitstorm before its release, the team paid the price at the start and had to put out a 25 GB day-one patch right after the release in order to patch up the small and large problems of the mammoth role-playing game.
Advertisement
Reactions were divided at the start: some loved the deep character system and the varied character progression, while critics were bothered by the sometimes complicated operation and the undoubtedly existing program errors. Nevertheless, the adventures of the young blacksmith's son Heinrich were a sales success.
Over six years later, the successor is now in the starting blocks: “Kingdom Come Deliverance 2” will be released in 2024 for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S/X. We were there at the unveiling of the game and summarize the most important information for you. And we can say: big things are coming to us!
The life and suffering of young Heinrich
“Kingdom Come Deliverance 2” follows directly on from the first part. Once again, Warhorse takes you to fifteenth-century Bohemia. You control Heinrich, a young man who has already had to fight his way through many of the turmoil of the time. After the death of his parents at the hands of the invading armies of Sigismund of Hungary, Henry continues to seek revenge.
Assassinating a king is a task best not undertaken alone. And that's why in “Kingdom Come Deliverance 2” Heinrich is given his squire Sir Hans at his side. From the material published so far it can already be seen that Hans is the happier of the two men and is up for some fun. But he loses it when something goes terribly wrong on a mission.
Advertisement
Chief developer Daniel Vavra emphasizes that the dimension of the conflict is much larger compared to its predecessor: “The first part was about the problems of smaller nobles with bandits in their villages. Now it’s about the problems of kings.”
Heinrich will also probably go from warrior to rebel and ultimately demand King Sigismund. The game presents its story in over five hours of elaborately produced cutscenes – compared to just three hours in its predecessor. The game world itself consists of two maps and will be twice as large.
Bohemia is calling
The representation of the game world caused developer Warhorse a lot of headaches. Due to the sheer size, the team had to bring even more variety and, above all, life into “Kingdom Come Deliverance”. And so, in addition to extensive forests and rugged mountain regions, we also find large cities like Kutná Hora in the game.
In the presentation, the developers explain that the Middle Ages are often referred to as a dark era, but in fact they weren't. It is precisely this colorful and lively side of that time that we want to present here and introduce Kutná Hora, a metropolis that enjoys great prosperity due to its silver mines.
Heinrich, on the other hand, is still not one of many. His actions matter in this world. Every action is counted by the game and affects its reputation. So anyone who enters other people's houses and steals their belongings should not be surprised at negative reactions. During the presentation we watched as Henry was branded with a red-hot iron. It is quite possible that this scene was related to a serious crime.
But even the little things make the difference in “Kingdom Come Deliverance 2”. As an example, a strange scene is shown: Heinrich staggers naked through the streets and is observed by passers-by. You now have the choice whether you want to apologize for this circumstance or insult the onlookers. These short dialogue options are intended to make “everyday” communication more dynamic. According to Warhorse, part of the excitement behind Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 is exploring what's possible.
Every fight could be the last…
As already mentioned, Heinrich experienced some adventures and learned skills in the first part. Nevertheless, you will also have a lot of freedom in character development in the sequel. In the presentation, the developers explained that Heinrich can be made into both a charming knight who can talk his way out of situations and a bloodthirsty assassin.
Learning advanced skills will also play a role again: in the gameplay material presented, we observe how Heinrich handles a mortar, leafs through a herb book or even forges an iron.
Fights here traditionally take place from a first-person perspective. As in its predecessor, the second part also wants to consciously challenge you and get you into tricky situations. Every fight is a fight for survival, is the tenor of the presentation. So Heinrich doesn't become a super knight who puts his opponents in their place.
However, Warhorse is expanding the arsenal: this time it includes crossbows that you can also fire from horseback. There are also primitive firearms. Since “Kingdom Come Deliverance” depends massively on its authenticity, we at the shooting men are curious about how to balance reload times, aiming accuracy and damage done.
In terms of staging, “Kingdom Come Deliverance 2” absolutely shows the technological leap of the past six years. Architecture and nature benefit massively from high-resolution textures and modern light and shadow effects. The fights seem more fluid and the immediate hit feedback gives hope for dramatic scenes.
There has so far been no information about advanced specifications, such as how many frames per second the role-playing game will run on PlayStation 5 in various graphics settings. Jan Valta, who already worked in this area for the first part, is once again responsible as the composer for the orchestral soundtrack.
Developer Warhorse follows the motto in “Kingdom Come Deliverance 2”: Bigger, better, more beautiful! The first part of the medieval role-playing game was already very ambitious, but it also had its rough edges. As a result, the adventure did not reach the highest rating regions.
Based on what we've seen of “Kingdom Come Deliverance 2” so far, this could be possible. Warhose greatly inflates the previous successful formula and uses the new resources to generate a massive medieval adventure. Gameplay aspects such as expanded dialogue options, character development and the game world that reacts dynamically to our actions sound more than promising for fans of deep role-playing games.
At the same time, the first game scenes look excellent and have a real medieval flair. However, we won't find out how the whole thing will play out until the end of the year. Hopefully this time there will be a successful launch without any major day-one patch disasters. Then “Kingdom Come Deliverance 2” could be the game that the first part always wanted to be.
Further news about Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2.
Discuss this news in the PlayStation Forum
Links to Amazon, Media Markt, Saturn and some other retailers are usually affiliate links. When you make a purchase, we receive a small commission with which we can finance the free-to-use site. You have no disadvantages.