Kingdom Come: Deliverance brings unprecedented historical simulation to the PlayStation 4 this week, and its split critics right down the middle. While we’re still working through this behemoth buccaneer through the Middle Ages, our first impressions have been largely positive – even though we appreciate this experience is unlikely to suit all tastes. But what are the rest of the media saying? Here are some of the early reviews.
Push Square - Hands On
Our initial feelings towards Kingdom Come: Deliverance err more on the cautiously optimistic side than the outrageously negative. It's an incredibly admirable effort to deliver an engrossing and historically accurate open world RPG that does things a little different to your usual fantasy titles. But that level of ambition does result in occasional jankiness, like badly dubbed dialogue, alien stomach hands, and unforgivable loading times. We're hoping some of that can be patched out later.
Game Revolution - 9/10
If you want a bug-free experience, don't get Kingdom Come. If you want an excellent, open-world RPG that feels like a hardcore version of an Elder Scrolls game, then don't hesitate. The fact that an indie studio was able to release this only four years after their Kickstarter is insane to me, and it's games like this that set the bar higher for AAA developers. Warhorse did a magnificent job crafting Kingdom Come: Deliverance with only a fraction of the funding that an Elder Scrolls game would receive, and I can't wait to see how it supports this game and what its future titles have in store for us.
Hardcore Gamer - 7/10
Had the initial forty-to-fifty hour campaign not have delivered the level of bugs and problems present in the current build, you’d easily be looking at potentially one of the year’s best all-round experiences in an RPG and an essential for everyone no matter your affiliation with the genre.
The Sixth Axis - 4/10
If Kingdom Come: Deliverance has a ton of bug fixing to improve the performance drastically, it could be a hidden gem. It’s clear that the game, despite its grand ambitions, was simply not ready for public consumption. Shimmers of brilliance are there and had it seen more time in the oven, or set its ambitions at a more reasonable level, it could have been brilliant and scored significantly higher as a result. Alas, Kingdom Come: Deliverance is another cautionary tale rather than a trend setter.
Will you be picking up Kingdom Come: Deliverance this week? Are you waiting for a few more reviews before making up your mind? Have a shave and clean up your act in the comments section below.
Comments 28
I'm waiting for a few more reviews before I make my mind up... Mainly yours and euro gamer...
Wow, large variance in scores. Can’t say I’m surprised though. But even the negative remarks are complimentary of the game’s vision and ambition. That’s got to account for something. I’m more curious about this title than I was before, but I’ll be waiting for Push Square’s review to decide if I purchase this now and forego the rest of my backlog for a couple months, or wait for the inevitable price drop and bug fixes later.
after finally downloading the 23gb patch iv finally mangaged to get a couple hours in; if im being completely honest, yes there are a few bugs (no way near the amount people are saying), the save system is a massive pain and its feeling rather a slow pace at the moment....that aside, the characters are great, the combats great (though does need a hell of a lot of getting used to) and you really feel gripped with story even at this early stage
Interesting, been a while since an anticipated game has split opinion to these extremes.
I don't understand the excitement surrounding this game.
Nor do I understand the amount of coverage this game has been getting.
It just looks a bit 'meh' if I'm being honest.
Am I missing something?
@Fight_Teza_Fight I think there's just a real thirst for "hardcore" RPGs these days — it feels like everyone's waiting on the next Witcher 3. Whether Kingdom Come satisfies that thirst is up for debate, but that's how it seems to me.
Im sceptical of these early reviews cos as far as I've heard there were no reviews codes given out and since it includes a hefty day one patch then who knows how things changed.
@Th3solution Work on the backlog and get this when it's cheaper and all patched up, it should be a much smoother and more satisfying experience by then.
This is more or less what I expected. This game has always looked pretty janky.
as much as i'm interested in this, i can see it dropping in price quickly as its a very niche game even for rpg lovers.
@Fight_Teza_Fight some of the same reasons people love monster hunter, heavy rpg elements in thr loot and complexities in the combat, same reason everyone hates destiny 2, they ripped out the RPG. As ShogunRok said, there's a huge hunger for a good RPg, the last big RPG was Andromeda and that was awful.
@adf86 it'll likely run okay on PC after the patch I reckon, console version might be a mess but I'm willing to give it some leeway
This game is very appealing to me. I love history settings in games but I will wait until it's on sale because of my huge backlog.
One day I'll buy and I have no doubt that I'll love it. I don't let most things bother me if the game is good. I also tend to play games years after they're released by which time most bugs have been fixed.
@naruball Even though I couldn't wait and bought it already, waiting at least a few weeks if not months is always the most reasonable course of action with those big open world games.
The loading screens are frickin awful... That's my only complaint in two hours. They are so bad.
@Bad-MuthaAdebisi @ShogunRok That's fair enough. It's not really doing anything for me, but it just seems to popping up everywhere I look haha.
I will wait a few months until they iron out some of the bugs then will jump straight in.
Let's see how politics will influence the reviews of this game, I mean, the gaming media already made their mind with Detroit, but this game will get a free pass because it's also coming to pc.
I'm liking the fact that the levelling system is like the one from the Elder Scrolls games, practice doing stuff to get better. Although I used to cheat by summoning draugr and smacking them with swords and magic. Forget the scores, I'm honestly liking the sound of Kingdom Come: Deliverance.
@PS_Nation True. Gaming media today is PC-centric, they only touch a console if it's an exclusive. Even then it's barely mentioned or covered unless it's a mega hit like Monster Hunter World or Zelda: Breath of the Wild. These sites (IGN, GameSpot, GiantBomb etc.) are becoming less and less relevant for console gamers.
Buying this in april when there's less games releasing.
@Fight_Teza_Fight You're not missing anything. If you have no interest in this game, then count yourself lucky. Because it's awful. What's worse is there is a pretty great game buried underneath all of the grime and muck, but it's too deep down in the dirt and marred by annoying game systems, snail's pace pacing, horrible performance issues, and game that generally doesn't give two **** about your time (Some people like that, I don't though.).
It really needed more time; it's worse off than a lot of Early Access games.
@Bonbonetti Exactly, and that's why i never access these sites as well.
@Bonbonetti Surely though the game content is largely the same on any platform. If the review gives you a good summary of that, then it has its uses.
Game wise, it sounds like another game that has been released too early to me. I like these type of games though, so might get it once the bugs have been largely ironed out. I rarely but a game on initial release for this reason.
You cannot really say "split critics" with three review scores
I do agree that the three do sit on the full scale of scores out of 10 which could give an indication of what is to come from other sites.
@XurAgentofthe9 The content is the same, that is true. My argument is more or less limited to the technical quality of the game, not whether the game is fun/boring and so on.
The technical quality of the game is often different between PC and console. As a consequence, if the PC version is terrible and rightly gets a lower score, this also carries over to the console version, even if that version has none of the problems the PC version has. Likewise, the console version might have problems that won't show up in the reviewed PC version.
If most of our media has then switched to making PC-only reviews, it makes them unreliable for us as console gamers, when it comes to the quality of the game. I sometimes even question whether PS4 Pro reviews are much to go by, as an owner of a regular PS4.
I do think there's such a thing as "PC thinking", where media folk will judge games on console as if they were on PC, or would have been on PC. This line of thinking has its roots in the idea that the PC version is 'the' version to play; you play on console if you have nothing else to play on or can't afford a gaming PC. That is the message I am getting from these major gaming sites. I'm not arguing against PC gaming, that platform has its advantages for sure. However, most people in the media are eager to forget that console gaming has its own set of tangible advantages.
A good game with a lot of bugs? Like a lot of AAA these days. Another reason to not buy anything on launch day. Better wait and buy the finished product, and maybe cheaper.
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