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Kings of War Preview
by Dan "Chimaeros" Genovese
Page 1

Introduction

 

I am one lucky guy.  Two years in a row I have had the opportunity to enter the gamer’s nirvana that is E3.  Where else can you find every gaming platform coexisting peacefully at such close quarters?  Throngs of people carrying paper bags branded with the X-Box logo stroll casually through the Playstation area without being physically accosted or beaten to a bloody pulp.  Of course, sit these same people across from you in a game of Halo and they’ll want your blood.  Ah, gamers.

Last year, TimeGate Studios was walking around showing their Kohan II demo on a single laptop.  They were about to show it to me with their laptop placed squarely on top of a trash bin when I told them that perhaps that was not the best place.  After all, no need to create an omen…

This year, TimeGate has moved up in the world of gaming.  Their own room in Kentia Hall, the smallest of the main halls, with its large widescreen TV, plush couch (rented), office cubicle walls, and the gentle, pulse-pounding rhythms of the Conan, The Barbarian soundtrack (bought) was the perfect, intimate environment to see the game that I flew all the way across the States to see.

While I met and talked with the whole TimeGate crew, the majority of the information in this preview is garnered from a presentation given by Ian Klimon, Steve Hemmesch, and Christina Ginger.  What was shown was an actual playable “demo” and not just a mocked up movie.  And let me tell you, if the demo had lasted an hour, it would still have been too short.

Preview


First of all, Kohan II is no longer Kohan II, it is now Kohan: Kings of War or Kings of War (KoW).  Why the name change?  Simply put, TG wanted a name that was more accessible.  How many times has the question “What’s a Kohan?” popped out of a prospective buyer in the local EBX?  Kings of War should be more successful at grabbing the attention and those three simple words speak volumes more than “Ahriman’s Gift.”  (Who is Ahriman and to whom is he giving a gift?)

Kings of War is the follow-up to Kohan and though there are many changes and enhancements it is important to note that the core gameplay is remaining intact.  The interface has been streamlined in an effort to make it more efficient, easier to understand, and with the hope that it will appeal to a wider audience.  TG hopes to bridge the mainstream RTS with the Kohan gameplay that we all love.  You will not have to manage peons, micromanage troops, or cramp your fingers while trying to get someone to cast a spell.  At its heart, KoW is still Kohan.

The first major change, of course, is the jump to 3D.  And let me say that Khaldun is a beautiful, vibrant world.  The palette is not washed out like a certain “Age” series of games.  Trees gently sway in the direction of the wind, birds fly overhead, herd beasts wander the land, and clouds cast their shadows upon the ground.  The water now also has waves.  While the sense of scale is not perfect, that is buildings are not in scale with units, it is much closer than the previous incarnations.  This is not a criticism; a game with units properly scaled to buildings would likely be unmanageably huge.  Units will pass under trees, allowing a little bit of camouflage

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Copyright © 2001, 2004
Dan "Chimaeros" Genovese
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