Published , by Ozzie Mejia
Published , by Ozzie Mejia
The original Kingdom Come: Deliverance was a pleasant surprise for those who enjoy consequence-driven medieval adventures. WarHorse Studios had made a fun, if somewhat flawed, debut with its 2018 release. Having learned much since that time, the team is coming back with a sequel that builds on everything from the last game to make something bigger and better. Shacknews got a small taste of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 during our time at PAX West.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 takes players to 15th-century Medieval Europe and continues the story of Henry of Skalitz. He's out to avenge the murder of his parents, even if it means essentially starting from scratch. This is evidenced by the section of the game that I tried out at this year's PAX West. When I picked up the mouse and keyboard on the show floor, Henry hadn't even learned how to properly wield a sword. Fortunately, a helpful German fellow named Menhard was there to try and teach me the ins and outs of combat. Well, he attempted to, anyway.
That's because, as it turns out, teaching swordplay within the city walls of Kuttenberg is outlawed. This started a whole argument between Menhard and the local guild master, which sets the stage for Kingdom Come's consequential dialogue system. This verbal argument can end with several different outcomes. I thought quickly and tried to cite that Menhard was simply defending his honor because I slept with his daughter. The guild master respected this and let everyone go with a warning and a fine.
There are a few things to note about this encounter. For one thing, Menhard actually does have a daughter, so he didn't take kindly to this bit of improv. That meant having to talk him down with a few other dialogue choices, where Henry would point out that they were all in a collective bind and he had to think fast. This seemed to calm Menhard, at least. The Warhorse rep on-hand pointed out that this encounter could have gone much worse, suggesting an outcome that could have resulted in everybody being banished from the village and forcing Henry to have to sneak back in later.
Following this encounter, Henry still needed to learn how to wield a sword, and Menhard suddenly ached to put the guild master in his place. Menhard then got an idea to grab the guild master's sword and display it in the town square, which would act as a symbol for a duel challenge. This meant having to sneak into the guild master's quarters to steal the sword without being seen.
Naturally, there are consequences for failure, but what I didn't quite expect was that they would come for missing even once. As I tried to sneak into the guild master's quarters after hours, I slipped up and was spotted by the cleaning maiden. There are several dialogue choices that pop up, each with its own consequences. This can even include ignoring her outright and simply choosing to leave. Instead, I opted to pay the maiden for this transgression, thinking it would keep her quiet and nobody would be the wiser.
I was successfully able to steal the sword on the second attempt without being seen and hung it up in the middle of the town square. The guild master and his cronies were appalled, especially knowing what would result from this. Sure enough, Menhard strolled through and announced a duel challenge had been laid down with the royal guards ready to enforce this. What I didn't expect was for the guild master to throw out the accusation that I had been spotted attempting to steal the sword. It turned out that faithless maiden wench squealed on me. The guard acknowledged this, which resulted in the duel proceedings moving forward, but with the guild master's side receiving an advantage by being allowed armor.
As one might imagine, this was only a small taste of the Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 systems at work. In my brief time with the game, I never actually did get into actual combat. There's a lot to do in this game and it's not expected to be a short adventure, either. The Warhorse reps noted that this game could run from 60-80 and maybe even north of 100 hours. That's about roughly the length of the original game, but fortunately, knowledge of that first adventure isn't required to dive in. Look for Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 to come to PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S on Tuesday, February 11.
This preview is based on a PC demo playable on the PAX West 2024 show floor. The final product is subject to change.