King’s Bounty 2 (PC) Review

King's Bounty, at least the old one, played a lot like the old Heroes of Might and Magic; going around, getting better units to field in tactical combat against a myriad of fantasy trope enemies. Despite the general simple nature of these games, ranging from modest graphics, and simple gameplay loop, it inspired loyal fans and even to this day it's possible to see clones of these pop up every now and then. So, the continuation of this series would seem to herald a great new chapter - unfortunately the developer took a page out of some different game, and what is left behind is a mess.

This is played in a very straight campaign style. There are no random maps - simply pick your guy, start the story and that is it. The gameplay, to cut straight to it, is like a western-RPG like any BioWare clone, mixed with a walking simulator. You guide your slow, bumbling character around towns and woods, talking to characters along the way, and occasionally getting into some fights. It feels like an exact mix of various WRPGs like Dragon Age, Knights of the Old Republic and so on. Why is this bad? Well, it was never this type of game, and it is an insult to its core audience, as well as not being good enough of a WRPG to even recommend across genres.

Starting from the beginning of choosing the warrior guy, players are plunged into a jail and tasked with walking out. It starts off in a type of third-person camera, and this reviewer was very confused and alarmed why a 'strategy' game was setting up like some sort of medieval Resident Evil experience. After sincerely hoping that view would switch to a top down or isometric one after getting out of the jail, it was clear that even after leaving the town that this was the way this was, not some sort of cinematic intro.

Here is where the problems come in. Some of this part was actually kind of interesting, if forced, listening to side characters talk about issues in the world gave it some colour. The vast majority however is a drag, plagued by an absolutely atrocious camera (with one of the worst up/down sensitivities that, ironically, is almost wholly unneeded to even begin with). The character "runs" at a walk speed, and there really isn't much to do, walk from spot to spot, talk sometimes, fight sometimes… and mostly just walk.

There are some interesting things in here, such as four different skill branches based on a type of morality, but it really is such a minor part of the game. Because despite how it might be argued, this has strategy trappings, and these sections are easily stomped by anyone with a little bit of skill, because of how small the battles are. Even 'hard' battles often are easily won by baiting the AI into walking into range and swarming them one at a time.

It is hard to understate how wrong of a genre this game belongs to. Its roots are wholly in the genre-defining turn-based strategy realm, and to have the sequel as some weird, half-baked WRPG feels like a travesty. The walking sections are so bad and so slow - they alone could kill the game, and when mixed in with the general lack of structure or redeeming parts elsewhere, it becomes impossible to recommend. Despite what the pictures may look like, this is a complete let down from a strategy gamer's point of view.