Absurd FPS/RTS hybrid Kingmakers gets a more thorough check in at the Future Games Show, revealing more about its army simulations and dynamic destruction.
In case you missed hearing about Kingmakers after its ridiculous debut trailer made the rounds last year, it sees you traveling back in time Back-to-the-Future-style, to medieval England to change the course of a bloody battle and alter the dire future you came from. You get to bring a modern arsenal to bear against thousands of soldiers and knights fighting for king and country and even make your own defenses and command troops for a novel shooter-strategy experience.
Ian Fisch, from Kingmakers developer Redemption Games, explains that you're specifically sent to 1401 to help Welsh commander and rebel Owain Glyndŵr against the legions of Englishman, all of which are fully simulated. "Thousands of soldiers can navigate complex multi-storey castles with the same level of pathfinding fidelity you'd expect from a modern first-person shooter," he says. They're also always present and running their AI, so they can act even when you're not nearby.
Every building and fortification is also fully destructible, whether you want to blow it apart with explosives or crash through it in a car, truck, or tank. Fisch explains that it's also all dynamic rather than scripted thanks to Unreal Engine 4's speed with physics calculations. And if you wanted to blow up castles with your friends, you may team up with up to three other players in online co-op.
Kingmakers will be coming to Steam via early access and "hopefully" to all major consoles. There still isn't a definite release date outside of a 2025 target, but the developer has said it'll have more to share later in the year. For now, you can wishlist the game on Steam and follow Kingmakers on Twitter to keep up to date.
If you’re looking for more excellent games from today's Future Games Show, have a look at our official Steam page.
