But wait, there’s more!
That phrase, ‘but wait, there’s more,’ feels like it must come up in every pitch of Kingdom Conquest 2. This is a game that combines elements of city building, card/monster collection, grand strategy, action RPGs, and MMOs. I can imagine that most people’s reaction to hearing about the range of subgenres represented within KC2 consists primarily of doubt. Whether or not the game does everything well, it does give players plenty to do.
I went in to Kingdom Conquest 2 entirely unaware of what I was about to undertake, and I couldn’t believe just how long the game’s tutorial segment took to run down its list of fiddly bits. There are so many intertwined elements within the game that it is initially overwhelming to understand exactly what one is supposed to do. The answer is: everything. Because Kingdom Conquest 2 is a freemium title, giving players multiple avenues of play allows them to mostly avoid the long waits associated with other freemium games. Those waits are still there; moving troops to attack an adjacent tile takes time, as does erecting building within one’s city. However; there is always the option to jump into the game’s action RPG portion to grind out some experience and monsters.
KC2 consists primarily of city building, troop allocation, and real-time dungeon crawling. Each element takes place within an entirely different interface, which dampens the feeling of continuity between game modes. The strategy portion of the game takes place on a grid, it requires the player to designate a combat unit and portion of land they are to capture, and is at the outset the least interesting portion of KC2. Other players within my world don’t seem to be advancing, and I often forget to move my troops about because of the lack of engagement within this mode. City building is familiar, and players build better buildings so that they can accrue more resources, to build better buildings, to get more resources to… well you get it.
The ever present promise of MMO-like action RPG combat is a big differentiator between KC2 and other city building titles. I haven’t had many good experiences with the action mode, with most players immediately dropping out of each dungeon run. This was initially discouraging, but once I was able to play a few rounds with other players the lag was intrusive enough to hamper the play experience.
Kingdom Conquest 2 certainly has enough to offer for those who enjoy city building freemium titles. The action RPG or strategy elements likely won’t be enough to sell those who also don’t enjoy titles such as Farmville or We Rule. Of course, the game is free, so it doesn’t hurt to give it a shot.
Final Score:
Kingdom Conquest 2 is available for free as a Universal App
