Kingdom Come: Deliverance

"KCD" redirects here. For other uses, see KCD (disambiguation).

Kingdom Come: Deliverance
Developer(s)	Warhorse Studios
Publisher(s)	Deep Silver Warhorse Studios
Director(s)	Daniel Vávra
Producer(s)	Prokop Jirsa Kateřina Matějíčková
Designer(s)	Viktor Bocan
Programmer(s)	Tomáš Blaho
Artist(s)	Mikuláš Podprocký
Writer(s)	Daniel Vávra
Composer(s)	Jan Valta Adam Sporka
Engine	CryEngine
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows PlayStation 4 Xbox One
Release	WW: 13 February 2018
Genre(s)	Action role-playing
Mode(s)	Single-player

Kingdom Come: Deliverance is an action role-playing video game developed by Warhorse Studios and published by Deep Silver for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. It is set in the medieval Kingdom of Bohemia, an Imperial State of the Holy Roman Empire, with a focus on historically accurate and realistic content. It was released worldwide on 13 February 2018.

The story occurs as a war takes place in Bohemia in 1403. On the orders of Hungarian king Sigismund, Cuman mercenaries raid the mining village of Skalitz, a major source of silver. One of the survivors of that massacre is Henry, the son of a blacksmith. Destitute and vengeful, Henry joins the service of Lord Radzig Kobyla, who leads a resistance movement against Sigismund's invasion. As Henry pursues justice for his murdered family, he becomes involved in an effort to restore Bohemia's rightful king and Sigismund's half-brother, Wenceslaus IV, to the throne.

The game features branching quest lines and an open world environment which encourages immersive gameplay, and includes early 15th century period-accurate weapons, clothing, combat techniques, and architecture recreated with the assistance of architects and historians.

Gameplay

Kingdom Come: Deliverance is an action role-playing game set in an open world environment and played from a first-person perspective which utilizes a classless RPG system, allowing the player to customize their skills to take on roles such as a warrior, bard, thief or their hybrids. Abilities and stats grow depending on what the player does and says through branched dialogue trees. During conversations, the time a player takes to make a decision is limited and will have an effect on their relationships with others. Reputation is based on player choices and therefore can bring consequences.

Character bodies and faces are created through the combination of multiple, individual pieces with finishing touches. The clothing system features 16 item slots and items on many areas of the body that can be layered. For example, a heavily armored knight may on his upper body wear a gambeson, followed by mail and plate armour, with a tabard or surcoat over top, for a total of four clothing items in the chest slots. Each clothing type provides different levels of protection against different types of weapons. Clothing also gets progressively more worn, dirty, or bloody through use, affecting the character's appearance. The player is able to use a variety of weapons including swords, knives, axes, hammers or bows. Horses are featured heavily in the game, and are designed to act with their own AI while under the player's control, moving or jumping to avoid small obstacles or dangers. The player can also fight from horseback and use their steed to carry items if they need additional inventory space, but warhorses are also competent combatants with their own AI. Steeds come with five slots for armor and attachments.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance also features a needs system which requires the player to sleep and eat in order to stay healthy. Equipment and clothing also degrade and require repair. Foodstuffs and other perishable items will spoil over time. The game uses skill/stat-based mini-games for many of these tasks including weapon and armor repair, as well as for gathering new items by picking locks or pockets, distilling alcohol or creating medicines. The game uses long- and short-ranged weapons in combat which is based on a physics system using inverse kinematics to determine the reactions of both combatants based on the speed and weight of a blow. This system aims to add greater variety and realism to the combat, coupled with a variety of basic combat moves and combination moves, some of which can be unlocked by skill points. Different weapons have different characteristics making them useful for different purposes. For example, a sword is a quick weapon for striking and parrying, but is not very effective against heavy armor.

Quests are intended to be nonlinear, with multiple ways to complete objectives to allow multiple character types to be viable. The storyline features some large scale events such as castle sieges and large battles. Every non-player character (NPC) has their daily routine, and every routine can be affected by the player. Characters are able to react to all player actions and adjust their routines to them. NPCs will report crimes to authorities, who will punish the player accordingly, either with a fine, time in jail, or by subjecting them to the stocks or torture. Crime will affect economics and people will get suspicious or aggressive after unresolved crimes.

Synopsis

The noble family of House of Pirkstein and their coat of arms is featured in the game.

Modern-day aerial view of Rataje nad Sázavou and the Pirkštejn Castle which are situated approximately 3 km (1.9 mi) south of the Talmberk Castle, seat of the House of Talmberk, both of which are a template for the game's open world.

Setting

Kingdom Come: Deliverance takes place in the early 15th century, in the Kingdom of Bohemia, part of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown and the Holy Roman Empire in what is now the Czech Republic. The accessible area of the game is located in the region between Sasau and Rattay. Other real-world settlements and towns in the game include Stříbrná Skalice, Světlá nad Sázavou, Ledečko, Sázava Monastery, Talmberk Castle, Samopše, Úžice and Nový Dvůr.

A 15th century battle in the Kingdom of Bohemia during the reign of Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, who is featured in the game.

Plot

Gates of Pirkstein, one of the castles featured in the game.

In the silver mining town of Skalitz, young Henry is a simple peasant, living under his mother and his blacksmith father, Martin. After finishing some errands for his father, Henry joins him in completing a magnificent commissioned sword for King Wenceslaus' hetman, Sir Radzig Kobyla. While Henry wishes to explore and see life outside of the village, Martin insists that a quieter life is much safer than an adventurer's. Immediately after, an army of Cuman and Czech soldiers under Sigismund of Luxembourg's control attack and raid Skalitz, killing all who do not flee. Henry holds on to the sword and runs but later comes back for his mother and father, and witnesses their murder under Sigismund's crony, Sir Markvart von Aulitz. Henry flees to the safety of the castle, but is too late, and is forced to ride out to the nearest castle of Talmberg.

Barely escaping with his life, Henry reaches Talmberg and warns its lord, Sir Divish, and his friend, Sir Hanush of Leipa, of the attack on Skalitz. Sir Divish and Hanush take pity on Henry after his ordeal, and later are greeted by the Skalitz survivors, led by Sir Radzig, who have snuck out during a storm. Henry is devastated by the fact his parents have not been properly buried, and sneaks out of Talmberg against Sir Divish's orders back to Skalitz. Henry swears revenge on the man who murdered his parents, but is immediately outnumbered and defeated by a group of bandits and their leader, who also takes with him the commissioned sword. Henry is rescued by another Skalitz girl, Theresa, and Talmberg's Captain Robard, who finishes burying Henry's parents and safely transports him to the town of Rattay.

Seeking to get back his father's sword and avenge his parents' death, Henry looks to joining Sir Radzig's envoy in aiding the battle against Sigismund's army. Although the tradition of serfdom initially keeps Henry as merely a peasant, he proves to be a courageous and dutiful soldier for Radzig. After saving and befriending Sir Hanush's bratty nephew and heir, Lord Hans Capon, from a group of bandits, Henry is accepted into Sir Radzig's envoy. He investigates the bandits and their raids on the local farms, before eventually discovering a concealed camp that has been set up within a forested and forgotten castle. After warning Sir Radzig of the camp, they prepare a raid to decimate the bandit and Cuman hive. After fighting their way in, Henry confronts the sword thief and leader of the bandits, Runt. After being defeated however, Runt resigns himself to his fate and neither reveals his true leader nor the location of the sword before dying.

The hybrid group of Cumans and bandits leads the Lords to believe that someone has been secretly attempting to raise an insurgency from inside the kingdom, and Henry attempts to investigate further to discover the culprit. A lead is supplied by a clue found at the bandits' hideout; a chest of counterfeit groschen that has been made within the kingdom somewhere. Henry finds and captures the manufacturer of the counterfeits and later finds a lead on the mysterious group. Henry attempts to insert himself into their ranks, but is asked by the bandits to murder a former member of the group who has betrayed them. In order to find the target, Henry covertly joins a monastery of Christian monks where the man is hiding, and lures him out over time. Henry eventually uncovers and infiltrates the bandits' stronghold, finding a massive hidden army composed of Czech mercenary soldiers.

In the stronghold, Henry runs into Istvan Toth, a Hungarian nobleman who had been visiting the Lords prior in the game. Toth remembers Henry and reveals he also holds his father's sword. Before he can react, Henry is knocked unconscious and captured. After being beaten for hours, Henry is visited again by Toth who reveals his plan; use counterfeit groschen to assemble an army of local mercenaries under the Lords' radar, then pillage and capture the land without much resistance. With his alliance to Sigismund's crusade, Toth would be granted the captured Bohemian lands once Sigismund reigns king. He goes on to also reveal that Henry is in fact the bastard son of Sir Radzig himself, and he will keep Henry alive in order to bargain for a ransom.

With the help of a former Skalitz villager Zbyshek, Henry escapes the stronghold and warns the Lords of Toth's treachery. Radzig acknowledges Henry as his son too, but keeps focus on the burgeoning situation. After recruiting Sir Divish, the Lords descend on the stronghold at night and slaughter the mass of bandits. Though they are successful, they realize Toth has fled the encampment, and that he plans to infiltrate Talmberg's castle while it is unguarded. Although they return to Talmberg as quick as possible, Toth overtakes the castle and has both Sir Divish's wife Stephanie and a captured Sir Radzig as hostages. With no other options left, the Lords prepare for a siege on Talmberg.

Sir Divish commands the building of a trebuchet in order to break away at the castle's walls, and Henry aids in the process by recruiting the help of eccentric military engineer, Konrad Kyeser. Freeing him from his former duties at the monastery, Kyeser conducts the building of the trebuchet, allowing for the beginning of the siege. Eventually destroying the portcullis of the castle allows the gate to be opened, and the Lords begin to retake Talmberg and decimate the rest of Istvan's soldiers. Though they have him cornered, Sir Hanush conducts an agreement to secure Istvan's safe departure and exile from Bohemia in exchange for Lady Stephanie. Istvan departs though with Radzig along just in case, agreeing to drop him off in Skalitz.

Henry and Lord Capon ride off to pick up Radzig. Meeting him at the edges of burnt Skalitz, Henry and Radzig ponder the outcome of the situation. Henry is disheartened by the loss of his father's sword and Istvan and von Aulitz's escape from justice, though Radzig weighs that the lives saved at the end were due to the honoring of their nobility and moral principles. They return to Talmberg, to assume their next duties in restoring the kingdom.

In a dream, Henry is visited by his father Martin, who commends Henry for his courage and endurance. He sees both his father and mother disappear into the light and he awakes, in noble clothes with his new status as a lord's son.

Epilogue

The Lords are payed a visit by Jobst, the Margrave of Moravia, and King Wenceslaus' cousin. Together they discuss the state of Bohemia; Wenceslaus lies captive in Vienna, while Sigismund continues to plunder the kingdom. However, his homeland of Hungary has gone on to revolt against him, and he is vulnerable in choosing between staying to capture the Bohemian Crown, or return home to ensure his rule in his own domain. Jobst proposes a plan to set a strategic alliance with Sigismund's supporters, who are put off by the uprising and fear his defeat, to end the war at once. Although the Lords are uncertain of the plan, they agree to rescue and restore Wenceslaus to the throne and end Sigismund's raid peacefully.

In a final scene, Henry and Lord Capon depart on a journey to visit one of Sigismund's allies, Otto von Bergow, at his estate in Trosky Castle. With a letter stating their will to end the war at hand peacefully, Henry remarks that his personal quest remains to hunt von Aulitz and recapture his father's sword.

Development

The project that was to become Kingdom Come: Deliverance began with a pitch by Daniel Vávra, who had left 2K Czech in 2009. With a small team he began seeking investors for the project. Vávra's pitch brought on board Martin Klíma, founder of Altar Games, but pitches to major investors in the Czech Republic were not successful. The team was preparing to abandon the project when a successful pitch to a private investor, the Czech billionaire Zdeněk Bakala, secured funding to develop a prototype of the game. Warhorse Studios was founded on 21 July 2011.

Warhorse Studios first announced that they were working on an "unannounced role-playing game" on 9 February 2012, having successfully licensed CryEngine 3 on this date. After seventeen months working on the prototype, Warhorse began a tour pitching the prototype to various international investors. The project did not generate the hype they had hoped for and with dwindling resources, little progress had been made towards an investment.

On 22 January 2014, Warhorse Studios launched a crowdfunding campaign via Kickstarter with the goal of generating £300,000, ten percent of the US$5,000,000 budget, in order to prove to the investor that there exists an audience and desire for their game. On 20 February 2014, the fund was completed, raising a total of £1,106,371. Even after the end of the Kickstarter campaign, the crowd funding was continued through the studios' website. On 1 October 2014, Daniel Vávra had announced through a YouTube video that the game had raised US$2,002,547 from a total of 38,784 backers. The date of the public alpha access launch was on 22 October 2014. The beta was released for backers on 3 March 2015. On 29 September 2016, it was announced that Warhorse Studios had signed a deal with Koch Media's game publishing division Deep Silver to publish the console versions, as well as the retail PC version. The game's Adaptive Music soundtrack was composed by Jan Valta and Adam Sporka, and its parts were recorded with a symphonic orchestra in Rudolfinum.

The game was released worldwide on 13 February 2018. A day-one patch was released with an extensive update of the game code and gameplay.

Reception

Reception

Aggregate score

Aggregator	Score
Metacritic	(PC) 75/100 (PS4) 70/100 (XONE) 66/100

Review scores

Publication	Score
Destructoid	7.5/10
Electronic Gaming Monthly	3.5/10
Game Informer	5.75/10
GameRevolution
GameSpot	8/10
IGN	8/10
PC Gamer (UK)	84%
VideoGamer.com	4/10

Kingdom Come: Deliverance received "generally favorable" reviews for the PC version of the game, while the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions received "mixed or average" reviews from critics, according to review aggregator Metacritic.

Sales

On release day, the game topped the Steam top-sellers list. Game director Daniel Vávra stated that the game sold 500,000 copies during its first two days, of which 300,000 were on Steam. Within two weeks of release, the game sold over a million copies in total across all platforms.

Accolades

Year	Award	Category	Result	Ref
2017	Game Critics Awards	Best RPG	Nominated
	Gamescom 2017	Best PC Game	Won
		Best RPG	Nominated

Controversy

Several websites accused the developers of racism for not portraying people of color in the game and the developers' claim that people of color did not inhabit early 15th-century Bohemia.

Vice Media refused to cover the game due to its alleged racism. Whereas Polygon in their review admitted bias by claiming the developers alleged support for the Gamergate movement as one of the reasons for their poor evaluation of the game, stating: "... the game's creative director has gone out of his way to rationalize his support of GamerGate, a loosely knit hate group that has devoted time to harassing women, people of color and journalists in the past.".

Whether it is correct that the game does not represent non-white characters, the game magazine M! Games asked the Historical Institute of RWTH Aachen University, which referred to the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. According to them, there were at most Turkic peoples, like Cumans (who appear in the game), but otherwise the presence of non-whites is "questionable". At Game Two, Prof. Dr. Winfried Eberhard, Professor of East Central European History at the University of Leipzig said that the probability that there were colored people in medieval Bohemia was "relatively small". When informing about the alleged lack of people of color in the game, Lidové noviny reported that these claims are "out of place" as most Europeans know that there very few, if any, black people in the early 15th-century central Bohemia.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance also faced an accusation of xenophobia, where Reid McCarter, a writer for Unwinnable, believed Cumans (who he incorrectly believed were Muslim) and Catholic Hungarians were unfairly portrayed as cruel invaders, while the Catholic Czechs were shown only in a positive light. Historically Hungarian Cumans were not Muslim; as they were originally Tengri and after splitting from other Cumans groups inhabiting the Cumania and settling in Hungary they mass-converted to Catholicism in 1227, some 176 years before the events of the game.

External links

• Official website