By Kingdom Come, Deliverance is a realistic medieval action/RPG

No magic, myths of monsters (well, maybe some of the human variety).

“The team’s ambition for Kingdom Come: Deliverance is growing this ever-maturing sandbox genre in a believable, real-world context and scope,” remarked studio Creative Director Dan Vávra. “To that end, we’re harnessing CryENGINE®3, nonlinear narrative, varied freedom in character progression, and a consequence-laden living world in ways that have never been possible until now.”

You can’t really tell a huge amount from that trailer, but developer Warhorse Studios’ action/RPG Kingdom Come: Deliverance is based in historical fact and the events that swept through Europe during the middle ages. It’s also an open-world, first-person, action-adventure (that’s a lot of hyphens…) RPG that’s being cast in the fires of the CryEngine 3. Basically, that means it’s going to be really, really pretty. You might say brutally pretty.

Rooted within the Holy Roman Empire during the late Middle Ages, Kingdom Come: Deliverance promises a first-person seat to a harsh and brutal power struggle for the throne. As players traverse expansive, strikingly detailed locales, they’ll grapple with a range of period-accurate fighting techniques, horseback combat, open-field sieges, and large-scale battles, all while developing relationships and a reputation that will inform the greater story. Kingdom Come: Deliverance promises no magic, high fantasy or mythical overtones – it draws its inspiration instead from historically authentic characters, themes, and warfare.

I love medieval fantasy as a theme, but I like historical swords and armor tales just as much if they’re well told. The dark ages were one of the most brutal and oppressive times in human history and the narratives that could spin out of them are relatively endless. Even so, there’s been a dearth of them in just about every corner of the entertainment industry. From movies to games, there seems to be that most stories that feature knights on horseback mush also feature beasts of legend and mages with pointy hats. Deliverance isn’t about that, not by a long shot, and I’m loving it.

Warhorse will be releasing some more news on this promising title on January 20th, so stay tuned if you’re of the same mind. As for when it’ll be hitting next-gen consoles and the PC, we’ve got a bit of a wait- Kingdom Come: Deliverance isn’t scheduled for release till 2015.