- Table of Contents
Intro
Kingdom: The Blood is a video game based on the Netflix show of the same name and focuses on a fictional setting in South Korea where it’s not just various factions at war but also zombies entering the mix, making it a free for all. The backstory is intriguing enough to convince people to give it a try but gameplay is something else entirely.
Initial Impressions
During Steam Next Fest in February 2024, Kingdom: The Blood was one of the games that caught my eye but it ended up rather disappointing due to stiff combat. Eventually, I rated in the C tier.
“C tier ended up disappointing after the initial impression but there is a glimmer of hope still.”
Apparently, the devs didn’t opt to fix the clunky gameplay and instead doubled down on the negatives by the time of release which had predictable results.
Very Negative reviews on Steam
Considering that Steam has user reviews, it was fairly brazen of Nexon to believe releasing Kingdom: The Blood in such a state wouldn’t backfire. Two days after the game’s release, it stood at 19% positive reviews, giving it the Very Negative rating and for good reasons.
Combat and movement, which make the biggest selling points of the title, are clunky and generally not satisfying. One could write it off as inexperience in developing such titles but it is more than likely tied to the game being a poor mobile port.
To drive the point further, there is an in-game shop that offers pay-to-win purchases which is abhorrent anywhere other than mobile games.
While the rest of the game is nothing to write home about, there is really no need to go further than the quick one-two punch that were poor gameplay and predatory monetization. With 427 players at peak and about a quarter of them remaining with Kingdom: The Blood just days after release, one could classify it as dead on arrival.
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