Overall: I had the chance to experience KUF:HEROES just recently (over a year after it's release!) when I came upon this brand-new, US$9 offering at eBay. I'd never played the other famous game in the series, KUF:CRUSADERS, but was attracted by it's 'above average', 'dark fantasy' characters. So, hopefully, this review will be really helpful for those gamers that, just like I did, seek a new and fresh gaming genre to hop to now that [the original] XBox games' prices have dropped drastically, thanks in part to the introduction of next-gen consoles competing with Microsoft's 360.
If I had to describe KUF:H in just a couple of words, I'd say it's: "the most creative mixture of gameplay elements in a game in years"... well... at least since KUF:C, but because it's the same type of game, I say since BLACK & WHITE... yep, that's correct. I'll even dare saying that to some extent, it did to the RTS genre what HALF-LIFE did to the FPS genre... Once you get a good feel of the game you'll find it's no wonder why some people call it the 'pioneering' game of the somewhat recent 'massive action RTS' (or something like that) genre.
On the other hand, it's a game far from perfect. It's not even on the way of becoming "a classic", of course.
Now, don't get me wrong here. [Blue Side] The developers did an awesome job, but there are a couple of things that turned my experience from what could've been an "unbelievably astonishing" one to just an "entertainingly cool" one. Gameplay: KUF:H is said to be a hard to learn game for most players mainly because, apparently, there isn't any 'training mission' or 'in-game tutorial' (the manual says it does, but they're nowhere to be found at first sight). Although this may be true, it isn't something frustrating or anything like that. I just had to experiment a little bit with the scarce information provided in the manual and I was already playing.The first campaigns begin with 'introductory kind of missions' which have this 'cinematic-like design' that immerses you in the game immediately. The interface is really intuitive and understanding how to move, attack or retire your troops, officers and hero takes just a couple of tries without them having to die in the attempt. The only somewhat annoying problems have to do with camera control (at times, depending on the terrain being explored) and those hyper-super-ultra lame menu options that help the story progress when visiting the different bases/castles. I haven't tried the XBox Live features, yet. Graphics: The game's graphics look quite good even for a game that's over a year old now.
The developers threw in lots of quality visual details that make this one stand over most XBox titles of the time... I was really pleased when I noticed the characters' breathing turned into "condensed air" when playing under cold & rainy weather conditions. I guess I'm saying everything with that. Sound: I found out many KUF:H reviews over the internet simply "thrashed" the musical aspect of the game just because they didn't have a taste for it, but the truth is that, overall, the 'orchestral' music at the menu screens and the 'metal' music while playing the campaigns serve it's purpose. Dialog and sound FX are OK too. Suggestions: Dear Blue Side,
please forget about those RPG-only KUF games, get past the N3 pseudo-franchise and push your creativity and technology to the limit so the 'action RTS' may live forever!
Made in Canada