Microsoft Game Studios has done a great job of giving gamers a wide variety of first-party games on Xbox platforms. But when most people think of first-party titles from Microsoft, they forget about the Kingdom Under Fire series of games. It’s hard to believe when you think about the two quality titles, The Crusaders and Heroes, which received some pretty nice feedback from critics when they came out on the original Xbox. Despite two impressive games in the series already, Circle of Doom has flown somewhat under the radar. It may be a good thing that most 360 owners aren’t familiar with the Dynasty Warriors-esque gameplay of Kingdom Under Fire, because this new title deviates from the style of play that the first two titles in the KUF universe delivered. The few faithful who are worried about how this new approach works should read closely. Circle of Doom is obviously designed to appeal to a larger audience. And that may be what went wrong here.

KUF: Circle of Doom consists of six acts, with each one containing between four to eight levels. While most of the action takes place in the “real world”, the story unfolds in the dream world. The dream world is where you’ll talk to other characters and learn more about the developing story. This is also where you’ll learn how to use new abilities that have been unlocked as you make progress in the “real world”. There are roughly 70 total abilities in the game and each of the six characters has a unique set. To learn them, you'll be given tasks from the dream world to complete in the real world. While this approach to gameplay may sound confusing, it’s actually pretty simple in action.

As you progress, your HP, SP and Luck increase every level. Forget about trying to build up defense. Your best asset there is your Hit Points (HP) meter. What I mean there is you better just builds it up and hope there is enough left on your bar to make it through the fight.  Everything else is pretty much handled in the “dream world” I discussed earlier. Spells are handled by simply talking to someone. Bam, spell learned. Yes, the act of learning the spells is really that pointless. It feels like Blueside talked about just making the spells work like the HP and SPs, where you get them every level, but decided at some point to make it feel like you’re earning them some other way. This only reaffirms the feeling that Circle of Doom had the RPG elements tacked on after someone heard in 2007 that Diablo was fun. The option to synthesize weapons together is a nice idea, but one that’s been better implemented in RPGS since the mid nineties on the Playstation. While this feature holds a lot of potential, and can bring up interesting combos, the act of actually experimenting with these combos never really leaves the player feeling they have accomplished anything. Basically it’s a feature that most won’t really bother with as much as the developer had intended. When you do attempt this though, remember to toss in a bit more gold as it will better your chances of success. The moment you synthesize a weapon that’s actually worse than one of the ones you had to begin with, you’ll be screaming foul. I chose to walk away for a few minutes, but you look like someone who would scream foul. No, I’m kidding, give me a hug.

Graphically, Circle of Doom does not raise any bars on the Xbox 360. This isn’t to say it looks bad, because it doesn’t. The game does a good job of maintaining a smooth frame-rate with little to no slowdown when the screen is filled with enemies. There in lies the answer to why the graphics don’t impress. It appears that developer Blueside played it safe in the graphics department to ensure everything stayed smooth. They did this in two ways. First, they didn’t push the hardware too hard and then followed that up with the carnal sin of repeated character models. This glaring issue will be picked up on by most young gamers since it’s not something they’re likely use to in this age of gaming. On several occasions I spotted the same character model in a crowd. While this may have been common place in the nineties, it’s not an acceptable practice for developers in 07/08. Seeing identical enemies in a crowd can detract from the overall immersion and does so in this case.

Overall this game isn’t what fans of the first two Kingdom Under Fire titles would be expecting. Blueside has attempted to completely rethink the franchise. There’s a reason most developers don’t try this with a hit franchise. It rarely works. But the foundation for a nice series spin-off is there. It just isn’t ready. With last-gen graphics, most players won’t be impressed. But that shouldn’t turn you off. The gameplay is what matters. Sadly, that is what will turn you off. The hack-n-slash gameplay with some RPG elements tacked on just can’t justify the price in this age of gaming. Just like the weapons feature, it feels like Blueside synthesized a poor-man’s Diablo with Ninety Nine Nights. If you’re thinking about this one, rent it. Better yet, before you invest the three bucks on that, check out the free demo on XBLM.

+ Graphics look solid, but last-gen

+ RPG elements don’t feel realized

- I’d rather play N3

- Has potential in future titles, but not here