Intro

What you see in the image above is an attack helicopter next to a warrior in medieval fantasy armor. Such a sight was originally available in 2011, roughly 13 years before Kingmakers was revealed to the world.

Parry this, filthy casual

Kingmakers premiered the hilarious announcement trailer on February 20, 2024, showing a few operatives armed with modern-day weaponry wreaking havoc in a medieval war.

Gamers have been expressing their desire for such a clash over the past few years and it seems Redemption Road and tinyBuild heard their pleas. When the game launches we will finally be able to shoot up a bunch of people who don’t even have the concept of gunpowder yet, let alone advanced firearms that shoot more than 3 lead balls per minute.

While Kingmakers will be the only game on the market that completely dives into this particular branch of fantasy, it wasn’t the first one to pit modern weaponry against medieval armaments and fantasy magic.

AR-15 is just for show

Guild Wars had a long history of coming up with highly creative April Fools jokes, be it turning players into stick figures, bobbleheads or swapping the size of players and their mini pets.

On April 1, 2011, the game debuted a dedicated quest, named Annihilator, parodying the plot of Terminator (1984). Corporal Bane was found stranded as his attack helicopter didn’t fare that well during the voyage through time and he now requires help stopping the Annihilator golem from killing an NPC named Sarah. The quest sends the player further back through time as they and Corporal Bane go after the golem, kitted out in special forces gear that includes a heavily modified AR-15.

Unfortunately, the gun can’t be fired but there are other gadgets to help you get through the enemies brandishing swords, shields, bows and magic. Both Bane and the player can use riot gear, grenades and landmines to come out victorious.

Was Guild Wars the first to do this mashup?

While on April 1, 2024, we traveled 13 years back into the past, it is highly likely someone already threw a contemporary soldier into the fray with medieval knights and fantasy creatures before 2011.

However, the impeccable references in both Annihilator and Annihilator 2: Searing Day as well as Guild Wars poking fun at its own shortcomings during these annual adventures warranted a mention in what seemed like far future back then.

Man, that sentence is a doozy.

Fun facts from 2011 and 2012

Here are a few time-capsule-like fun facts to get your mind off the aforementioned sentence:

• 2011 was the year when:
  • In Time movie came out, where people use time as currency and sort of a health bar
  • Skyrim was released for the first time
  • Dark Souls launched, paving the way for a sub-genre named after it
  • Mass Effect 2 presented PlayStation 3 players with an unfathomably cool final mission. PC and Xbox 360 owners played it one year prior
  • Deus Ex seemed to have a bright future but 5 years later, Mankind Divided happened
• 2012 was the year when:
  • Guild Wars dropped Annihilator 2: Searing Day
  • Mass Effect 3 presented everyone with unfathomably uncool endings
  • Taylor Kitsch drifted a battleship
  • Borderlands 2 introduced one of the best villains in gaming history
  • Guild Wars received the last of major content drop via Winds of Change
  • Guild Wars 2 launched