Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusaders (Xbox, 2004)

This strategy game is overall an enjoyable challenge. The graphics, options, level-ups, characters and storyline are well situated and sufficiently developed. Most of the action controlls are intuitive, yrt best studied for optimum results. The in-game graphics engine appears to be similar to that of the video cut scenes. Not that the graphic detail is stellar, which it is acceptable, but more that you feel connected to the game at all times.

The real limitations focus on dialog. At times it is weak, and character development does not make favorable use of the dialog. As such, you will view a scene where a character's dialog is present but the bodylanguage and mouth movement does not coincide. A minor detail to ignore as in-game action is all third person and mouth movement irrelevant.

The big deal here is the strategy, making proper use of various troop types. If chosen and employed effectively, you will have the pride of victory. If not, frustration may build quickly.

KUF has a good combination of action & strategy elements, that make it unique in game-play.
You will get to command such troops as cavalries, spearmen, knights, archers, as well as orcs, ghouls, & even a giant scorpion, & wyverns...& many others.

This game does have a steep learning curve however, & some may be put off by it's difficulty, but with patience & perserverance, then you'll find which tactics & troops to use against certain enemies, & the game will become easier.

The story is just OK, & nothing memerable, but it's nice that it has one.
The voice overs are a bit cheesy at times, but they fit their characters well.

KUF:Crusaders simply has a nice mix of action & strategy, & also has sort of a Fantasy like feel to it.

KUF is not a game for everyone, but it is definitely a unique game, that has to be played to be appreciated.

I played this game way back in high school thanks to a friend who had an xbox back then. At first I didn't think it was all that great but playing it for myself for the first time I was blow away at how much fun it was.

The only quirks I really have with this game is how the troops move. They never go where you really want them to thanks to obstacles or screwy AI. While you may tell a troop to attack another troop they might instead of taking a direct path to them, they'll run aorund an entire section of forest and then attack all the while they're being pummled with arrows.

Other than that, this game is amazing, each character's story is a good one. Humans trying to eliminate the darks, darks following orders to take over the humans. And a plot device that brings them all together in one place at one point.

I would reccomend this to anyone who loves a good story mixed with decent real time strategy and hack and slash.

This game is top notch if you like to play extremely Super Hard to NIGHTMARE style level repetitively... It's one of the hardest yet most interesting games series I've ever seen. Again hard and requires lots of time to understand the game system and I recommend reading strategies for this game. The game has a completly different world of life and people and has great potential in the future if they program this game better. Tends to glitch a lot and the game play experience will never ever be the same.

Good Luck to playing such an awesome game.

I love this game. It does a great job of mixing rts with being a single character. The graphics are very good and the battles are very intense. This game is a very fun game to play and makes the campaigns hard but not impossible making them a lot of fun. Also you can totally customize your troops and buy accesories. Good game and worth the money.