After a brief gameplay teaser at the Opening Night Live of the gamescom 2024, Warhorse Studios now proudly showcases 25 minutes from the game. The focus is on a quest, the player’s decision-making options, and the interactive world.
What game is this about? Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is an open-world RPG by Warhorse Studios, a video game developer based in Prague. It continues the story of the first part and transports the player to a detailed, late medieval world.
The protagonist of the story is Heinrich – an (almost) ordinary young lad who was raised as the son of a blacksmith. After his home was burned down by an invading army and his family was killed, he swore revenge on their murderer.
During the first part, Heinrich served several nobles, gained their favor, and ultimately discovered that his origins are not as humble as he had assumed. In the epilogue of the game, Heinrich sets off with his lord Hans Capon to Kuttenberg in search of powerful allies.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is set to be released on February 11, 2025 for PC on Steam and in the Epic Games Store, as well as for the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.
On August 21, 2024, the developer studio released 25 minutes of gameplay from the game, which you can watch here:
What does the gameplay trailer show? In the selected quest, Heinrich is searching for Ranjek and Adda – two mercenaries whose services he wants to enlist. The trail of the first leads Heinrich to a small village, where the said person was seen playing dice.
On the way there, we pass a gentle stream and ride through a piece of forest. The natural landscape invites exploration and wandering in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 once again.
Lifeless Bodies and Pits of Manure
This is how the quest unfolds. Upon arriving at the local tavern, we learn that gambling has not been good for the mercenary Ranjek. In short: The man has gotten stuck in a manure pit, and we must now search for his lifeless body there.
Such “creative” quests were common in the first part. For example, we once had to capture a specific type of songbird, relying entirely on our hearing and memory.
After the body has been pulled from the muck, the presumably first major decision arises: Do we keep Ranjek’s bow and incur the wrath of his creditors or do we give them the bow and resolve the situation without bloodshed?
The Heinrich from the trailer opted for the first option, which led to a fight. By the way, the fighting plays out just like in the predecessor: We can choose from multiple attack directions and combine strikes into combos, while simultaneously needing to pay attention to our stamina.
The World is Set to Become More Interactive
What do we learn from the gameplay? Wading in the muck had its benefits, as the developers were able to introduce their interactive world. Upon leaving the (murder) scene, we encounter a woman who points out our strong smell.
We can respond to her in various ways, but we should first excuse ourselves. While sitting on our horse, we can just about hear how the woman is startled by the result of our work.
Next, we head to the large city of Kuttenberg, where we visit a bathhouse to wash off the stench. Afterwards, we take a short walk through the city. The developers explain that the inhabitants of this world have their own routines and are not just waiting for us to pass by.
If we whistle for our horse in the middle of the city, it can also be misinterpreted: for example, by a townswoman who happened to be standing next to us and thought we were whistling at her. A nice detail, but hopefully it won’t happen too often; otherwise, it could become quite annoying.
Angel or Bastard? – Both Should Be Possible
As for Heinrich’s character, he is meant to be moldable in all directions. We can remain nice, kind, and righteous, but there should also be plenty of opportunities to be a real scoundrel.
For example, Heinrich sits half-naked next to a man with glasses in a brief scene, who prefers to read in peace. When asked about his lack of clothing, Heinrich responds poorly charmingly that it is still at his mother’s house after the two – well, you know how that goes.
Interestingly, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is being released on the same day as the 4X strategy game Civilization 7 – a coincidence that drives Twitch streamer HandofBlood to the edge of madness. You can read more about it here: Two highlights of gamescom 2024 are being released on the same day – And pose a problem for a Twitch streamer
