Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusaders, with its massive RTS battles and hack-and-slash combat, left me pretty smitten when it launched on the original Xbox all the way back in 2004. After 16 years, it's finally made its PC debut.
The Crusaders gives you a medieval fantasy hero to command, sending them out into large battlefields to batter foes with magical and melee attacks, all while two armies duke it out. As well as running around with your supercharged hero, then, you've also got to tell your troops what to do, ordering them to engage other units and help you out in scraps.
While there's plenty of action, The Crusaders has some real tactical chops. You can use the sun to blind your enemies, hide from them using smoke and forests, and if they try the same, just set fire to the trees and watch them scatter. The terrain, weather and elevation all come into play.
For the PC version, developer Blueside has added support for modern resolutions and widescreen, but it's largely kept the game the same. Mouse and keyboard controls are available, but you'll probably be wanting to use a controller, which is what Blueside recommends.
There's no doubt that it doesn't quite look as good as it did in 2004, but the character models and animations look fine, and watching a giant scorpion pummel a castle wall hasn't stopped looking incredibly cool.
If you missed it the first time or want to scratch the itch again, Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusaders is out now on Steam for £15.99/$19.99. After a long wait, Kingdom Under Fire 2 also launched last year, keeping the action and strategy while also chucking in some MMO elements.
