- Title: Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom
- Platform:Xbox 360
- Publisher: Microsoft
- Developer: Blueside
- ESRB Rating: “M” for Mature
- Genre: Action RPG
- Pros: Co-Op play
- Cons: Tedious gameplay; disconnected story; inconsistent graphics
- Achievements: Easy, but VERY time consuming.
Features
Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom is an action RPG where you play through as one of six characters to unlock a few tasty bits of story. Unfortunately, the story is really only going to appeal to hardcore fans of the previous couple of games. For anyone else, it seems like a disjointed mess. The story is also hindered by the fact that you only see any story bits if you “sleep” at special shrines and enter a dreamworld. You have to enter the dreamworld to open up new abilities, but it is possible to play through the game without talking to story important characters. Even if you do try to follow the story, it never really has any relation to what you are supposed to be doing. Story isn’t always the most important aspect of a game, but a good story can make a mediocre game seem better. Or, a bad or confusing story can make a mediocre game seem worse. Which, sadly, is the case with Circle of Doom.
Gameplay
One thing that makes the game quite a bit more fun is playing co-op. It is only available online and not via splitscreen, which is a bummer, but it definitely makes the game more enjoyable to add in some friends alongside you to the tired hack n’ slash formula.
Graphics and Sound
Graphically, Circle of Doom is pretty inconsistent. At times, it can be gorgeous like in the lush and well lit forest level. At other times, it can be bland and kind of ugly like in the desert second level. And at other times, it can look nice and have tons of detail like in the Hall of Arrogance level, but is too narrow and crowded for the camera to function properly in. The game runs pretty smoothly most of the time, though, and the characters and enemies always look pretty good.The sound is pretty good all around. The clash of swords and cries of fallen enemies sounds good. And some of the enemies, like the flesh men, sound really creepy and will freak you out the first time you come across them.
Bottom Line
