PC
Image: Warhorse Studios
It’s tough being a simple man in medieval Europe. Around every corner, there’s a guard barking up your backside, or a man challenging you to a duel. That’s not to mention all the xenophobes, and the corruption, and the general malaise of the land. Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 attempts to capture all this in stride, for an experience that prioritises historical accuracy in a tale inspired by real events, and real places.
It’s refreshing, to be a confronted by a tale so grounded, and seemingly containing such layers. Thanks to Plaion ANZ, the GamesHub team was able to jump into an early preview of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, entering its world via a side quest which was far more complex than it first appeared.
It began with Henry, the game’s protagonist, confronting a mysterious German visitor with a political bone to pick. As an outsider, this visitor is treated with suspicion and disregard – and moments into a friendly jousting session, a horde of goons descends on the scene, with the intention to kick out the interloper. Henry is a given a choice: to stay silent and leave the drama to fester and grow, to the point where the visitor is booted from town, or to speak out in his defence.
The quest reshapes itself around this pivotal decision. If you choose to remain silent, the visitor is forced to leave for the outskirts of town. But should you speak up, you’re enthralled in a wonderfully vicious plot to instigate a brawl between the visitor and the petty, xenophobic gang that seeks to rule the town streets.
A typical video game would send you on a dashing, rooftop-jumping stealth quest to pinch the sword of the ruffians, and issue a public challenge for a sword fight – but Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 forces a moderate, more realistic approach.
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Everything you do has consequences here. You are but a humble man, attempting your best in the wake of vast conspiracies. You must steal a sword. You must also accept your limitations, and work around them to the best of abilities.
There’s no leaping through the air and past roaming guards. There’s no jumping your way up walls in defiance of physics. If you attempt a lockpick and there’s another person in sight, of course they’re going to call the guards on you. Everyone is a snitch. What I assumed to be a simple smash and grab job turned out to be a tense half-hour journey of mistakes, apologies, and paying ransoms.
First, I cased the place I was meant to be robbing, It was guarded largely on all sides, and while there were doors that would allow easy entry, there were peasants nearby who watched my wandering hands with narrowed eyes. I found an entryway that would get me close, but a passing peasant told me I wasn’t supposed to be there, and I should probably leave if I didn’t want the guards called.
Eventually, I worked my way around to the single open door of this fine establishment, and trudged my way inside, only to find I’d miscalculated my entry timing. A man stood there, hands on hips, and told me to leave. Thinking I could be clever and run to my goal, I did just that. Suddenly, I had a guard on my tail. The man followed too, harassing me as I ran up and down stairs. When I was attacked with a sword, I was forced to surrender and pay a fine. Then I scurried out, tail between my legs.
I was forced to wait between attempts, of course. You don’t let a strange man wander in your house, and then immediately abandon your post. So I bided my time. On the second attempt, I tried to lockpick the case I assumed the swords were in, and not only did it contain a random assortment of items, I also got caught by a maid – and was forced to pay a ransom, again.
I was successful on the third attempt, after adjusting my strategy – I waited until the folks inside the building had completed their rounds, and followed behind, up the stairs, to the awaiting swords. When I grabbed one off the wall, I was immediately spotted by the maid, and forced to pay a ransom – but she let me keep the sword anyway.
So, I ran off with my prize in tow, gleeful in the knowledge that my quest had been completed. What I didn’t realise is that Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 remembers. It knows what you’ve done. It sees all. I had the sword, but of course, the maid had spotted me, and she’d seen my face. I was branded a thief, and while I was able to place the sword and kick off the second half of the quest, the character’s reactions made it very clear they knew my part in the conflict.
As Tobias Stolz-Zwilling, Global PR Manager for Warhorse Studios told GamesHub, the reaction of each character in the game is determined exactly by your actions. There are multiple iterations of this particular quest, and dialogue is shifted based on how you obtained the sword, and whether you were spotted.
Notably, this also impacts the setting of the quest’s tournament. If you grabbed the sword without being spotted, the tournament is held fair and square. If you’re branded a thief, not only will you need to wait out the heat, you’ll also find your opponents wearing armour as recompense.
While the portion of the game GamesHub was able to check out was only small, it revealed these consequences very well. Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 won’t make it easy for you, in any fashion. There aren’t any simple ways to tackle the game’s many quests, and you can’t try to “break” the game for your own ends. Anything you do is recorded, noted, and remembered – and consequences are heavily felt. Building a positive reputation is essential, and your actions will speak to your character.
It was this that was most exciting about our preview, and about Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 as a whole. This is a game that won’t take shortcuts with its depiction of life in Medieval Europe. It encourages you to be prepared – to think through your actions, and your strengths, and to find a strategic path forward based on your own morals and intuition. It’s a rare game that breaks with tradition, and houses itself so firmly in a satisfying, wonderful realism.
We’re certainly keen to see what’s next in this adventure, and to dive deeper into how the game’s questing and consequences system allows for an immersive, realistic tale where everything matters.
Those similarly awaiting the game can expect it to launch for PC and Xbox Series X/S on 4 February 2025. Stay tuned to GamesHub closer to launch for more.
Leah J. Williams is a gaming and entertainment journalist who’s spent years writing about the games industry, her love for The Sims 2 on Nintendo DS and every piece of weird history she knows. You can find her tweeting @legenette most days.
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