Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusaders

 Xbox
User Score
8.4

Generally favorable reviews- based on 43 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 35 out of 43
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 43
  3. Negative: 6 out of 43
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  1. Linchung
    Sep 7, 2004
    4
    I've finished playing as Gerald and what i can say is that this game started out strongly but as play wears on, the controls begin to feel cumbersome. When controlling 2 to 3 armies simultaneously, it is difficult to see exactly what is going on and you feel very helpless. The worse thing is that the Gerald part of the story came to an abrupt halt - right when I'm eyeball toI've finished playing as Gerald and what i can say is that this game started out strongly but as play wears on, the controls begin to feel cumbersome. When controlling 2 to 3 armies simultaneously, it is difficult to see exactly what is going on and you feel very helpless. The worse thing is that the Gerald part of the story came to an abrupt halt - right when I'm eyeball to eyeball with dear ol Reggie ... darn! does the story continue? or do I have to play through ALL the characters to have a final ending??? This game sucks at the end ...… Expand
  2. KayG.
    Oct 15, 2004
    4
    This game had potential. Honestly the graphics are really downgrated. There are plenty of characters on screen taking up the polycount, but the environments are very bland and the texture quality is of PS2. The sound on the other hand is horrible! Heavy metal does not work for this game. Unfortunate for the sound... I would honestly love this game if it where not for the horrible sound.
  3. LordG.
    Sep 8, 2004
    9
    It´s amazing how they have succeded to keep an high frame rate with hundreds of soldiers battling it out on the screen. This is probably the best RTS game I've ever played. If you are a fan of tactics, then you got to try this game. By the way, Gerald is kind of like a training campaign. You have far more options when playing the hard campaigns (Regniers, for instance). You can It´s amazing how they have succeded to keep an high frame rate with hundreds of soldiers battling it out on the screen. This is probably the best RTS game I've ever played. If you are a fan of tactics, then you got to try this game. By the way, Gerald is kind of like a training campaign. You have far more options when playing the hard campaigns (Regniers, for instance). You can hire mercenaries, you very seldom have locked troops, you can change the soldiers duties. Basically, you have more freedom when playing hard campaigns.… Expand
  4. YannisG.
    Jan 10, 2005
    10
    Awesome game, one of a kind buy it definately. I have played about 150 X-box games, this is the first time that an RTS game is so good. No other RTS game for xbox can match it. The cons is the music but you can turn it off. Very good story, long game play. Not easy though but that is the value proposition. Definitely a good buy!!
  5. JohnP.
    Dec 28, 2007
    9
    This is definitely a game worth playing and I personally include it in my top ten favorite games. The Good: real-time strategy meets hack-and-slash with a good dose of RPG elements. It offers four campaigns, each with about 10 missions each with varying difficulty and following a different aspect of the war. That makes for quite a lengthy single-player component. Some of the battles are This is definitely a game worth playing and I personally include it in my top ten favorite games. The Good: real-time strategy meets hack-and-slash with a good dose of RPG elements. It offers four campaigns, each with about 10 missions each with varying difficulty and following a different aspect of the war. That makes for quite a lengthy single-player component. Some of the battles are truly epic, and KUF:TC places you squarely in the middle of each one. Seeing a gigantic swamp mammoth lumber pass your unit is quite a breathtaking, although rare sight. Story is surpisingly decent. The Bad: its a difficult game. English voice acting is passable at best, horrendous in some places. Controls take some getting used to. To be good at this game you may have to interrupt what your character is doing to command troops in the midst of battle. Other male gamers may hate me for saying this, but do the Dark legion females all have fight basically nude? Bottom line: its for gamers who enjoy strategy and can endure the learning curve.… Expand
  6. Snakelegionair
    Nov 5, 2004
    9
    Absolutely brilliant! a real breath of fresh air from all the usual platform, action adventure and fps's going around. the music is ace and really gets u in the mood and all the strategy and hack and slash action comes in spades!! would have been a 10 if the cavalry wernt so sloppy to control but this is one class game that shows both samurai warriors and kessen how its done!!
  7. FilazaferX.
    Oct 21, 2004
    10
    This is by far one of the best games I have ever played and I have been playing for over 20 years. You do have to give it some time because it starts slow and can be hard to manage. But, after a few hours you will be charging with your cavalry at a group of orcs, laying a trap for a giant scorpion with your sappers, casting a heal / bless spell on your king with your paladin, and taking This is by far one of the best games I have ever played and I have been playing for over 20 years. You do have to give it some time because it starts slow and can be hard to manage. But, after a few hours you will be charging with your cavalry at a group of orcs, laying a trap for a giant scorpion with your sappers, casting a heal / bless spell on your king with your paladin, and taking your broad sword to a dark elf while she tries to freeze you with a spell. AND YOU WILL HAVE TO DO THIS ALL AT THE SAME TIME, NO STOPPING THE ACTION. In other words you will never be bored. I also think the graphics are excellent considering you will have a 100 things on the screen moving at once. If you think you might like a game like this, you will like this one, trust me. [Ed: Welcome back, FX]… Expand
  8. MarioB.
    Apr 22, 2007
    10
    Excellent, I like this game specially the relationship between Rithlin and Lucretia.
  9. RavenX301
    Aug 2, 2004
    10
    This game is most likely going to be sweet. I know its pretty stupid that I already gave it a ten HOWEVER I have a stronge feeling that this game is going to rock! (Then again I had a strong feeling that PotC was going the rock only to find out it blows...but that was only becasue of the worst framrate i have seen in a game) Even though I'm giving it a ten well before it hit the This game is most likely going to be sweet. I know its pretty stupid that I already gave it a ten HOWEVER I have a stronge feeling that this game is going to rock! (Then again I had a strong feeling that PotC was going the rock only to find out it blows...but that was only becasue of the worst framrate i have seen in a game) Even though I'm giving it a ten well before it hit the shelves I have a odd feeling this game will only get high 8's or mid 8's...I dont know why..(Unless the reviewers give it 9's becasue of its online play which by the way is the dumbest thing I have heard of....Why the hell would you give a game higher rates becasue of online play? Sure, its great to talk about the online play and its great games have that but for the poeple that dont have online it really sucks when they buy games thinking they will be the greatest and end up being just half-a$$ becasue the other part of the a$$, and the good part, is all online....its just not right!)… Expand
  10. JoseH.
    Jan 4, 2005
    10
    This is the best strategy online ive ever played!!! it has eveything i ever thought in my mind about a war game.
  11. CynS.
    Apr 18, 2005
    9
    great game, not alot a replay so only a 9, can't wait for the sequel to come out (great turnaround time on the sequel, by the way). Oh, and don't give something a 4 just because it's too hard for you, Danwise G.
  12. ChrisM.
    Apr 3, 2006
    10
    i think the game excelent but i think it would be better if you could choose which unit for each battle.
  13. DanwiseG.
    Nov 23, 2004
    4
    The graphics were great, it's amazing how great the graphics are becoming on the xbox recently for some games. The sound however leaves me wondering how a heavy metal soundtrack can go with a fantasy/middle ages game. The voice acting is decent but sometimes lacks any emotion, like characters just reading from a script. The gameplay is where this game excells and implodes. While it The graphics were great, it's amazing how great the graphics are becoming on the xbox recently for some games. The sound however leaves me wondering how a heavy metal soundtrack can go with a fantasy/middle ages game. The voice acting is decent but sometimes lacks any emotion, like characters just reading from a script. The gameplay is where this game excells and implodes. While it blends a RTS game with a hack and slash melee game, it implodes because it makes the missions as you progress in the game way too difficult to complete even for the experienced gamer. The novice or casual player will find this to be annoying, flustrating, and darn near impossible to really get into the increasingly involving story. There also is no way to lower the difficulty in the lucretia campaigns on, which leads one to wonder why I'm still trying to beat mission 9 for the 20th time. Unless you actually purchase this game avoid renting it because it's way too difficult to complete in a week's time. The high difficulty, weak voice acting, and strange soundtrack for a middle ages/fantasy game ruin what could be a really cool and innovative game, 4 out of 10. … Expand
  14. Buried-In-The-Box
    Oct 13, 2004
    10
    This has to be the most fun combat/strategy game I've ever tried. I have always gone more towards combat with guns, but this is just as fun, and maybe a little harder than the more modern Battlefield games. The graphics look kinda like Fable's with the softness of shadows and lighting of Full Spectrum Warrior. Very good indeed. What an XBOX exclusive should look like. Draw This has to be the most fun combat/strategy game I've ever tried. I have always gone more towards combat with guns, but this is just as fun, and maybe a little harder than the more modern Battlefield games. The graphics look kinda like Fable's with the softness of shadows and lighting of Full Spectrum Warrior. Very good indeed. What an XBOX exclusive should look like. Draw distance is forever. Controls aren't too hard, but the RTS elements will take time to get used to along with the sometimes hard-to-control camera. It can be hard to get it turned in the right direction before the enemy attacks sometimes and you can't move your troops into correct position fast enough because of it sometimes. It just makes it harder, not bad controls though. Upgrading your troops seems daunting at first, but is necessary and becomes easier over time. Hundreds of enemies on screen at once with very little slowdown and incredible detail on characters, weapons and particle and lighting effects has to be seen to be believed. Blood, gore and big-time particle effects are everywhere. No console should be able to run all this stuff yet, while keeping the detail up there like in Fable, but it does here. Music is guitar heavy, and voice acting and text lost something in the translation from Korea. Sound effects are what you expect from hundreds of troops screaming all at once and swords hitting metal and bone. Think Dynasty Warriors on steroids mixed with Full Spectrum Warriors RTS elements and FF Tactics upgrading system with a little Romance of the 3 Kingdoms thrown in. There is nothing else like this on XBOX, probably because there is not enough room for another game as great as this one. This game was being worked on for a few years, and you can see why after a couple of battles. There is so much going on during combat. Check it out if you like combat and strategy with swords and the like mixed with magic and upgrading.… Expand
  15. DustinP.
    Oct 14, 2004
    9
    It is very fun and the online features are awesome.
  16. Cyph
    Aug 17, 2004
    5
    Ive played this game a bit, and here are my thoughts: The graphics are ugly, I expected something like this from a bad PS2 game, not an xbox game. The sound seems low quality, and the voice acting sucks, it has totally no feeling to it. The controls seem somewhat non responsive... There are cool options to upgrade your armies and characters, but really, at the end of the day, this doesnt Ive played this game a bit, and here are my thoughts: The graphics are ugly, I expected something like this from a bad PS2 game, not an xbox game. The sound seems low quality, and the voice acting sucks, it has totally no feeling to it. The controls seem somewhat non responsive... There are cool options to upgrade your armies and characters, but really, at the end of the day, this doesnt have that much bearing on the actual outcome or strategies. The fights are pretty chaotic with heaps of men and action on the screen. It can become difficult to realise the actual scale of the battle and whats going on. The camera angle doesnt seem to be optimal considering the magnitude of the battles. All in all, the game has it moments, but it aint anything special. Its very disappointing actually.… Expand
  17. JaseL.
    Sep 13, 2004
    10
    I am playing this game right now and I must say that it is pretty cool. I thought DynastyWarriors was good, but this blows it out of the water. If you think the graphics and sounds are bad (they are not), then you should go back to playing Mario and leave this cool fusion of arcade/strategy and tactics to others. The main problem with this game is that it will appeal to people who hold I am playing this game right now and I must say that it is pretty cool. I thought DynastyWarriors was good, but this blows it out of the water. If you think the graphics and sounds are bad (they are not), then you should go back to playing Mario and leave this cool fusion of arcade/strategy and tactics to others. The main problem with this game is that it will appeal to people who hold more than a casual interest in gaming. A good comparison : A mix of Myth and Dynasty warriors. … Expand
  18. didi1337
    Jan 13, 2015
    10
    there is no game series better then this. i have never ever been so addicted to a game as this game, and im doing my best to get a new xbox original and this game to play it again. ive searched far and wide to find a game that matches this one. in same kind of playing, unit control, upgradeable units whit a bit of fantasy and magic. but ive never found a game even close to this
  19. NightbreakerEX
    Jun 6, 2018
    10
    Love this game one best games ever 10 out 10 anytime i would play this over skyrim or fallout games even over Doom games just love this game so much
  20. Dhregin
    Oct 1, 2019
    8
    I played through this game in it's entirety in 2019, with some dabbling back in 2004.

    The game has an intensely strong marriage between Action RPG and Strategy - think a marriage between Fire Emblem and Dynasty Warriors, but less Anime - and dealing with massive armies and units. Crusaders throws you into one of four campaigns as a leader of the various factions: You have the    I played through this game in it's entirety in 2019, with some dabbling back in 2004.

    The game has an intensely strong marriage between Action RPG and Strategy - think a marriage between Fire Emblem and Dynasty Warriors, but less Anime - and dealing with massive armies and units.

    Crusaders throws you into one of four campaigns as a leader of the various factions: You have the Southern Humans, The Northern Humans, The Dark Elves, and the Orcs/Ogres. The campaigns are split up by difficulty which also serves as a story guide: Gerald of the southern human faction is easy difficulty and eases the player into the world, Lucretia of the dark elves also serves as a good base point on Normal Difficulty - setting up the story which will ultimately unfold in great detail during the Hard campaigns, where you may play from the perspective of the Northern Humans and their General Kendall, or as the Immortal overlord of the Orcs, Regnier (who is quite the badass.)

    The Games World feels fleshed out, believable, and unique - the stories unfold primarily from the perspective of your factions general - where you will try to uncover the mysteries of the other factions, while dealing with acts of betrayal. There is a massive shadow looming over the game regarding the mysteries of the past wars, which are covered in the previous game, Kingdom under fire: war of heroes. Even the most avid player of the previous game however will be completely in the dark regarding the conflicts and mysteries revolving around the plot of Crusaders - but you will have quite a higher appreciation for the bits and bobs that reference back to that game.

    Over all, I say the game play is fantastic: controlling you armies is great, unit balance and counter balance is fantastic. Difficulty levels are perfect: easy really is easy, but ramps up towards the end to prepare you for normal, and normal does the same for Hard. Hard truly is HARD, some missions are extremely difficult and give the player enough freedom in leveling up their troops and picking their troop types to say "this army is in your hands, lead it to success or lead it to failure".

    The game lasts about 25 to 30 hours in total, and the story is very worthwhile. Its sound track is more rock/metal, but is somehow quite appropriate, as you will find yourself jamming out while slaying hordes of monsters with your General.

    There are a few things that prevent this game from being perfect. I'll list them here:

    1. The localization isn't great: Voice overs and audio quality is superb, but text-only sections seem to be grammatically incorrect a lot of the time. Subtitles don't always line up with exactly what is being said, even if both are set to English. Even with the bad localization, its more of a laugh-factor than a true detriment to the game, but it is still an imperfection.

    2. Sometimes your unit AI gets a bit wonky. If you tell your archers to cast tree of healing on your melee, they sometimes run into melee with the enemy and get into combat, preventing the cast. This can be frustrating.

    3. Some of the missions are just down right brutal - and for players who aren't up to the challenge, they may find themselves quite frustrated - especially if they have to restart their campaign because they invested all of their experience into the wrong troops and wrong skill sets for those troops.

    With fantastic audio, compelling gameplay, a mysterious and well written story and great characters, this is by far one of the best hidden gems available on Classic Xbox. The fact that the story builds off of the previous title makes for an even stronger foundation to a very believable fantasy setting. The flaws it has are overshadowd by its outstanding positives.

    If you like games that keep you guessing, and then reveal a big plot towards the end, then you'll like the story.
    If you like rock/metal music, you'll like the music.
    If you enjoy medieval military fantasy settings and genuine character interactions, you'll enjoy the setting.
    If you love strategy games but want a more active combat role, you'll TRULY love the game play.
    If you like RPG's and party management systems, you'll really enjoy the army management.    … Expand
  21. Necroman12
    Mar 15, 2020
    10
    Amazing game still holds up to this day there is truly no game quite like it for 20 dollars on steam it is well worth it

Awards & Rankings

36
#36 Best Xbox Game of 2004
18
#18 Most Discussed Xbox Game of 2004

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
81

Generally favorable reviews - based on 50 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 41 out of 50
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 50
  3. Negative: 0 out of 50
  1. AceGamez
    90
    I love Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusaders - it's as simple as that. What's the point in pussyfooting around? I plain and simply love it! It melds two of my favourite genres - hack and slash with real time strategy - and delivers something fresh, exciting and compelling.
  2. Xbox Nation Magazine
    80
    It's this combination of thought and reflex that makes Crusaders exceptional despite its faults. [Nov 2004, p.101]
  3. GMR Magazine
    80
    Although combination attacks and special strikes are possible, battles come straight from the "Warriors" playbook - and fights, no matter how lopsided, are all too easily won by locating an enemy leader and killing him or her. [Dec 2004, p.127]
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