Developer | Warhorse Interactive
Publisher | Plaion Deep Silver
Format | PC, PS5, Xbox Series
Origin | Czechia
Release | February 18
As Freddie Mercury might have put it, given the chance: is this the real life of central Europeans circa 1400, or is this just fantasy? Historical accuracy has been the beating heart of Kingdom Come: Deliverance since its original 2018 release, and although questions were rightly raised about the ethnic composition of that game's population, nobody cast doubt on developer Warhorse's ability to conjure a place from the farthest reaches of time and paint it as vividly as the medium's ever seen.
That remains the most captivating element of this sequel, though it's joined by a raft of refinements. The most surprising of which, given the dour setting, is comedy.
But even setting aside the laughs, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II's storytelling immediately feels different. Playing the first game, you would hardly have guessed that studio head and game director Dan Vávra had previously led development on the Mafia series.
There, some excellent narrative grounding introduced you to protagonist Henry's family, his village and his simple existence before all three were razed to the ground, leading to a Skyrim-like quest structure within its open world.
KCDII, though, shares that sense Mafia and its sequel had of a vast, historically accurate space being used not as real estate for random collectibles and map markers, but as a lavish backdrop for tightly scripted linear sequences.
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KINGMAKERS
Time travel to exotic, distant lands; meet exciting, unusual people and kill them
Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector
Stabiliser was the core of Citizen Sleeper, in both its mechanics and metaphors. It was medication, essentially, the only way to halt your own planned obsolescence. As an android Sleeper, you'd been sold into indentured servitude by your 'original', the person who signed a contract to have their personality copied and emulated inside a robotic frame, as cheap labour. That kind of corporate arrangement is rarely built to last.
Donkey Kong Country Returns HD
Buy the deluxe edition of this HD Wii remake and, alongside the cartridge, you'll receive a little plastic barrel. While the Kong family has been synonymous with such vessels since 1981, a cynic might suggest that underlining the connection might be unwise, lest Nintendo be accused of scraping the bottom of one itself. After all, Tropical Freeze got this same treatment in 2018, courtesy of Nintendo's realisation, in the early days of Switch, that it now had a home for Wii U's more unfairly forgotten releases. The arrival, seven years later, of that game's relatively primitive predecessor can only seem like a final spot of mopping up before the Switch doors are closed for good. It could also, perhaps, be taken as another sign of renewed interest in the character, in light of the addition of a Donkey Kong Country area to the Super Nintendo World park in Japan, and the rumours of a cinematic spinoff that have circled since The Super Mario Bros Movie's enormous success.
The Legend Of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures
Technology has finally caught up with Nintendo's trailblazing co-op adventure – so where is it?
HAREBRAINED SCHEMES
The former Paradox developer charts a course into a future without Shadowrun or BattleTech
COLLECTED WORKS TAKAYA IMAMURA
The creator of Star Fox, Captain Falcon and Tingle on 30 years at Nintendo and restarting as an indie
Create new save point?
The GAMM museum in the heart of Rome shows that preservation is coming of age
THE MAKING 0F...REDACTED
How a quest for the fast and the frenetic transformed survival horror into a comic-book Roguelike
CHANGING DESTINY
Chinese studio Leenzee aims to soar to the heights of its field
BLOOD MONEY
Luca Galante remembers clearly the first time Vampire Survivors was copied. \"It was immediate,\" he says. \"Even before the game got popular.\" At the time, he took it as a compliment.
