Published and developed by Warhorse Studios, and co-published by Deep Silver, Kingdom Come: Deliverance was originally released in 2018 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC, then in 2024 on Nintendo Switch. It was highly praised by critics and gamers for its first-person medieval-themed gameplay and won various awards.

The sequel, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, was released just this month and received even bigger praise for improving on many things from the previous game. Even though the sequel is now available, the original Kingdom Come: Deliverance is getting an enhanced re-release on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.

Bohemia, located in the heart of Europe, is rich in culture, silver, and sprawling castles. The death of its beloved ruler, Emperor Charles IV, has plunged the kingdom into dark times: war, corruption, and discord are tearing this jewel of the Holy Roman Empire apart. One of Charles’ sons, Wenceslas, has inherited the crown. Unlike his father, Wenceslas is a naive, self-indulgent, unambitious monarch.

His half-brother and King of Hungary, Sigismund the Red Fox, senses weakness in Wenceslas. Feigning goodwill, Sigismund travels to Bohemia and kidnaps his half-brother. With no king on the throne, Sigismund is now free to plunder Bohemia and seize its riches.

In the midst of this chaos is Henry, the son of a blacksmith. His peaceful life is shattered when a mercenary raid, ordered by King Sigismund himself, burns your village to the ground. By bittersweet fortune, he is one of the few survivors of this massacre. Without a home, family, or future, you end up in the service of Lord Radzig Kobyla, who is forming a resistance against the invasion. Fate drags you into this bloody conflict and shoves you into a raging civil war, where you help fight for the future of Bohemia.

Players take control of Henry, and the game begins with him living a normal, peaceful life. This segment of the game serves as a tutorial to familiarize players with the controls and game mechanics.

Early on, players will learn there is much more to this game than just hacking and slashing, with the game also offering RPG elements, allowing players to choose different responses during conversations. Henry starts off as naïve, and how players choose to respond helps develop Henry’s personality.

Depending on how players develop Henry’s personality throughout the game, he’ll be able to talk his way out of situations, bargain for lower prices, convince guards to let him go after committing a crime and much more. All of those experiences will vary depending on the relationships you’ve built, which will enable certain quirks to make the game easier, or you can just treat everyone like dirt and face the consequences.

The story starts off as peaceful, but not for long, as Henry’s main goal is to get his revenge. Aside from the main story, there are plenty of side quests to do, which will unlock certain features that can come in handy later in the game.

The main cutscenes are incredibly well done and feel like watching a movie set during medieval times. Henry is voiced by British actor Tom McKay, whose likeness was also used for the character, and he is no stranger to portraying medieval characters on television.

Tom can display a wide range of his acting ability in this game, depending on the choices made by each individual player that develop his personality. He, along with the entire voice cast, all do amazing work to bring their characters to life in-game and in cutscenes, which are full of emotion, drama, tragedy and some feature quite a bit of action too, leading into your next battle.

Of course, being a medieval game, there is plenty of combat. Early on, Henry will receive combat training, and after his village was massacred and burnt down, he must put those skills to use and carry out his revenge. In Kingdom Come: Deliverance, the combat takes a more realistic approach where the direction of your attacks matters, meaning hitting specific areas of your enemies can weaken them or kill them instantly if a vital area is hit.

The battles will not be easy, which is evident early on after losing a fist fight to a drunk, but after hours of experience and upgrading Henry’s armour and weapons, players will soon find themselves taking on the most battle-hardened warriors either on foot or on horseback. Battles can become chaotic when there’s a crowd of enemies overwhelming you, so having your team battle alongside you is essential, assuming you’ve treated them well, of course.

The open-world game set in Bohemia (now known today as the Czech Republic) has so much to see and do. Players will be able to explore villages, castles and various landscapes from open land, forests, mountains, lakes and more. Sometimes the most memorable moments in this game are just admiring the scenery and taking it all in, when no one is trying to kill you, of course. The amount of detail put into all the environments is incredible, and the sounds of birds chirping, water running in the lake, trees blowing, rainfall and more, almost make you feel like you’re actually there.

Even just walking around villages and seeing all the townsfolk doing chores and mundane activities while wearing period-accurate outfits really immerses you into its world. Despite the tragic beginning of this story, not everything has to be doom and gloom, which Henry gets to experience as well.

Upgrading armour, gear, weapons and various stats, plus having good food, is essential in aiding your quest. Some of these can be found while exploring or bought from traders, but you can also make/cook them yourself with the right materials/ingredients.

Unlike other similar games where this is mostly done in a menu screen, Kingdom Come: Deliverance has players forging or crafting their own weapons, armour and gear using Henry’s blacksmithing background, and can even cook their own food. Quality equipment will give you the edge in battle, and quality food will boost Henry’s stats as well as those of his fellow warriors and improve morale.

The original 2018 game had its fair share of glitches, which players would either find hilarious or distracting. The 2026 version seems to have made major improvements, thanks to the modern hardware it’s now on. In my personal experience, there still seem to be some glitches here and there with the physics and character animations, but much less frequently than before. The graphics and frames per second have also received a significant improvement, looking crisper and smoother than the previous console generation.

Even though the sequel, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, is the better-looking game, having the original game enhanced for modern consoles is still a great way for fans to relive it with better graphics and a higher frame rate and for newcomers to get started with the series, especially at a now lower price.

With a potential for over 60 hours of gameplay, there is so much to see and do, and with deep combat mechanics in a first-person perspective, an emotional story, excellent performances from the entire voice cast, the improvements over the 2018 original, this is a worthwhile purchase for both fans and newcomers. Kingdom Come: Deliverance proves once again why it’s an award-winning game, now reforged for modern consoles.

Written by: Sammy Hanson