Video Game Review: Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom

Circle of Doom is the sequel in the Kingdom Under Fire series of Role Playing games from Blue Side and Microsoft Game Studios that puts you in the shoes of a hero of the Kingdom Under Fire story line.

Ratings: Graphics & Audio: 15/25, Gameplay: 16/25, Creativity 12/25, Fun 14/25
Total: 57/100

Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom is another repetitive role playing game from Blue Side and Microsoft Game Studios that tries desperately to change or reinvent the role playing genre but fails for the most part. The game does a great job with what it has but the disjointed gameplay and attempt to follow the story make it a weak game.

Having not reviewed or played a previous title in a series of games can be a mixed blessing type of affair, in one hand you have no preconceived notions about the games prior tries to entertain. On the other hand if there is not enough of a story to give you some background and they did not include enough on its own merit as a complete game you can be lost in a story that is told from the middle of a complete picture. This game is like picking up a book and starting to read from somewhere in the middle of the book, no clue as to story or what is going on but it can be pieced together.

I have seen this to some extent with other games but nowhere near this disjointed, Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom has a story but to follow it you have to spend precious time piecing together the story instead of having fun playing. The game is a role playing adventure and puts you in the shoes of one hero out of five with another unlockable later on. You get to choose from several heroes with varying abilities that use both regular weapons and magic to some extent.

The role playing portion is your normal fight and quest to get more stuff gaining both weapons and experience to build your character. You will have spots along the way that you can trade with Idols that are placed along your predetermined to both sleep, dream the storyline, and gear up.