Kingdom Under Fire 2 is an incredible blend of real-time-strategy (RPS) and role-playing-game (RPG) genres. Not even the few glitches here and there are enough to ruin the thrilling MMO package this game brings.

One remarkable thing about Kingdom Under Fire 2 is the freedom it gives you to create a variety of characters with special character traits. The characters in each class are gender-locked, so you get to play as a particular character gender. While not a big issue, some players prefer to play in a specific gender than the other.

One of the very first things to do is to choose a class. Each class has unique traits and skills. The combo option offers a seamless switch of characters. You’ll discover a plethora of combos you can choose from in the higher levels of the game.

You are the hero, with a troop that follows you around. The goal is to train and hone your skills for the final showdown on the battlefields of Bersian. That’s the crescendo of the storyline you’ve entered. 

Launched into an open scenery, there’s not so much to do initially than basically run around just like other MMORPGs. If you’re used to RPGs, this won’t be so much a problem compared to those who have more flair for RTS. The first ten levels didn’t come with so much thrill and pulses, but the game picks up just from there.

In the open world, questing is your task. There are people to talk to, and things to kill, of course. Whatever you kill can return and attempt to kill you. With enemies behaving like cats with nine lives, you must be prepared for anything. While their reappearance can be frustrating, killing them is pretty easy.

The stage is set for bloodshed, for the ultimate aim of taking control of the grand land of Bersian. Your troops are right behind you, slaying the forces as they come. 

When you get to the Accolade level, usually at level 10, two guilds are waiting to receive you. You either go with The Revolution Coalition or the Protection Alliance. Interestingly, both are at loggerheads – this battle is about who takes charge. 

However, whatever guild you join is only a temporary decision. What fascinates me more is how easy it is to move from one alliance to another. There are exceptions to this though, such as the differences in the population of alliances. For one reason or the other, one camp might attract more players than the other. Not being able to join a particular group when there’s an imbalance means one camp won’t be unreasonably stronger than the next one.

The beginning of the game is a close replica of the typical MMORPG that transits to a more RTS as the game progresses. You get a game with fully-integrated RTS, and not just a sprinkle of it. With this comes a shrink in size of the game, with no identifiable city or scenery.

You are assigned missions with targets to hit. What I particularly like about Kingdom Under Fire 2 is that there are a lot of exploring to do. The burning missions might cut down on how much time you spend wandering around. I found out that my rewards at the end of the missions were affected by the time I spent on an assignment. Despite the RTS and consequent smallness of the game, there are still plenty areas to explore and activities to immerse yourself in.

The storyline is set in such a way that the quality of combat improves as you climb higher. The implication of that is that the enemies also increase in size and strength. Players gain more troops along the way, though, allowing them to make terrific combos. Building a strong team as the leader of the pack is critical to the eventual battlefield conquest. 

It’s amazing how players can instruct their troop members how they should fight. You can put your troop’s behavior on auto mode, or control them manually. I incurred some damages while manually controlling during the game because I left my character standing in an AoE.

You can gather experiences and knowledge to enable you to progress the troops. When you use troops in a mission, they also get the chance to learn and improve their experience. When the troop’s rank is increased, they get more ability, skills, and features.

To better equip your troops, you can purchase items with any of the three currencies – Gold, Cubic, and Diamond.

The topmost one is the Diamond, while others are earned throughout the game. The Diamond currency – the basic cash of the game – gets you mounts and armor sets, but nothing else.

Gold is used to improve your troops’ ranking, as well as repairing equipment gear. If you want to increase your rank exponentially, you have to invest in the in-game Gold.

On the other hand, Cubic gives you items that will boost your efficiency and make the gameplay less tacky. Since the currency can only be earned in the game, the only other option is to buy the KUF2.

Kingdom Under Fire 2 is indeed an entertaining game to play. Combining the RPS and RTC aspects, the game sets you on a journey of pulsating exhilaration. While the gender-locked classes and small RTS aspects are quite disappointing, the thrill of leading your troop on quests does incontrovertibly cover for it.