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King's Command

King’s Command is an online RTS simulation game on mobile devices with colorful 2D graphics, true RTS-style gameplay and combat, a single player campaign, many Heroes to collect, real-time PVP with up to 4 players, and a city to build and defend.

Publisher: Nexon
Type: Mobile RTS
Release Date: January 20, 2016
Shut Down: March 15, 2016
Pros: +True RTS combat. +Easy to pick up and play. +Lengthy single-player campaign. +Additional CoC-style Realm mode. +Real-time PVP with up to 4 players.
Cons: -Pay-to-win aspects. -Oversimplified Story Mode. -Outdated visuals.

King's Command Shut Down March 15, 2016

Overview

King's Command Overview

King’s Command is a 2D RTS simulation game developed by NDOORS, the creators of Atlantica Online and Luminary: Rise of the GoonZu, and published by NEXON, a large Korean game company behind the mobile titles, Legion of Heroes and Pocket Maplestory. Experience a true RTS game on mobile where players have full control over their troops in battle. Collect and choose from 16 different Commanders with unique skills, and upgrade various units and buildings. Immerse yourself in the Story mode featuring a lengthy single player campaign and then battle it out with other players around the world in real-time 1 vs 1 or 2 vs 2 PVP. Build your very own kingdom and pillage other player’s kingdoms for valuable resources. Lead Vineheart to victory in a full-fledged RTS game today!

King's Command Features:

  • Stage-based Story Mode – Fight through hundreds of stages for the Vineheart empire and complete various objectives such as eliminating enemy factions and defending the kingdom.
  • Colorful 2D Graphics – Control your units in a colorful and cartoony world with graphics that resemble Warcraft 3.
  • True RTS Combat – Set-up your base, spawn various units, and set out for blood with full control over the battles in traditional RTS style gameplay.
  • Many Heroes to Collect – Collect 18 unique Commanders with different stats, abilities, and attack styles, and lead them into battle.
  • Real-Time PVP – Compete against other players in real-time 1 vs 1 and 2 vs 2 PVP battles full of intense planning, strategy, and action.
  • Realm Mode – Build and manage your very own kingdom and pillage other player’s kingdoms in strategic, asynchronous PVP.

King's Command Screenshots

King's Command Featured Video

King’s Command game play trailer

Full Review

King's Command Review

By, Herman Y.

King’s Command is a free-to-play, mobile RTS simulation game developed by NDOORS, the creators of Atlantica Online and Luminary: Rise of the GoonZu, and published by NEXON, the large Korean company behind Legion of Heroes and Pocket Maplestory. After the huge success of DomiNations, which reached over 17 million downloads in only 2 years, NEXON is back with a brand new mobile strategy game hoping to strike gold once again. However, unlike the typical Clash of Clans-style gameplay seen in DomiNations and many mobile strategy games, King’s Command resembles a true RTS game similar to Age of Empires, except much more casual. Having said that, King’s Command also includes a Realm mode which is pretty much like DomiNations, making it feel like two different games in one. The game features a streamlined single-player campaign with true RTS-style gameplay, 2D graphics that resemble a mix between Warcraft 2 and 3, a Realm mode similar to Clash of Clans, and real-time PVP with up to 4 players.

King Victor’s World Conquest
King’s Command features a lengthy single-player campaign that is divided up into hundreds of missions, and features a somewhat interesting, but mostly generic story. The world has descended into chaos and Vineheart’s successor, King Victor- who looks like Fabio and Thor’s secret love child- seeks to conquer and unify the continent against warring factions. While the actual gameplay resembles a true RTS in which players can create and move units in-game rather than the simply deploying them outside of cities like in Clash of Clans, the stages are very short and were designed to target a casual audience. Each stage has a different objective, but usually involves attacking a group of enemies, destroying the enemies’ Palace, or defending an outpost for a certain amount of time. The stages take place in large maps covered by a fog of war and players generally have to establish a base before moving out in search of their objectives. However, the stages feel very short, usually lasting around 1-3 minutes where players simply have to complete the given objective. The true RTS-style gameplay is unique compared to all of the Game of War and Clash of Clan clones but is greatly limited by the short and “casual-ness” of each stage which is somewhat disappointing. It is, however, saved by the real-time PVP, which is much more exciting and will be discussed later.

Ready for Battle
The combat in the Strategy Mode of King’s Command (which includes the Story mode and Real-time PVP) plays like a simplified version of Warcraft 3 or Age of Empires 3. Players begin most stages in a basecamp area where they can build structures such as residences to harvest wheat, watchtowers to attack incoming enemies, barracks to summon units, and much more. There are also additional wheat fields scattered across the map that players can build residences nearby to harvest. All structures and units require wheat to create so maintaining a high amount of wheat is important; luckily wheat is the only resource in the game to worry about and it is gathered automatically. Players can have up to 3 Commanders (Hero characters) at one time which can be summoned from their Palace (main base). Unlike RTS games where players can manually control each unit, in King’s Command, players can only control their Commanders, who automatically have 5 units that follow them around. This simplifies things and makes it easier to move units and Commanders around since they are attached. Players can set a percentage of their unit ratio (i.e. 20% warriors, 40% archers, etc.) for each Commander, and if they have the “Auto-Production” option turned on in their barracks, units will created and replaced automatically if one of them dies.

Players can move their Commanders by tapping on the ground or by dragging their Commander’s portraits onto the ground. There is an “All” button that will select every Commander to easily move all three at a time. Commanders and units will automatically attack enemies if they are placed near enemies, or players can tap on specific enemies or buildings to focus their attacks on a specific target. Commanders each have one unique skill that can be dragged onto the ground to unleash either a large AOE effect which includes damage or healing, or abilities such as teleportation or temporary invincibility. The enemy team also has Commanders, which can lead to intense team fights and skirmishes. The combat feels like a simplified RTS on mobile devices but is still somewhat in-depth and offers more control and strategy than many other strategy games. Later into the game, players will need to employ more tactics in order to outmaneuver more difficult opponents, and will make use of more advanced structures and units such as siege equipment and unit evolutions.

Clash of King’s Command
In addition to the Strategy mode, King’s Command has another mode called Realm, where players can create and manage their very own kingdom. Unlike the previous mode, Realm is essentially like Clash of Clans, which makes King’s Command feel like two games in one. In Realm, players can build structures and defenses in their kingdom such as barracks, watchtowers, storage buildings, and more, as well as create military units. Players can then attack other player’s kingdoms in asynchronous PVP with Clash of Clans-style combat in which they can deploy units outside of the other player’s kingdom and watch as they attack. The goal is to completely destroy the enemy’s base or to pillage as much resources as possible before being wiped out. This aspect of the game is fairly generic but is still somewhat strategic with lots of emphasis on siege weaponry, and as mentioned before, it’s like two games in one so there’s a little bit of something for everyone. Realm offers a long-term progression system, such as building up and managing a kingdom, which the Story Mode lacks and also has a competitive ranking system.

Commanders and Units
King’s Command currently has 18 different Commanders to collect as well as 12 military units with different stats, special abilities, and purposes. As mentioned in a prior section, players can only control up to 3 Commanders at once but there are many different ones to choose from, each of which has different stats (i.e. attack, HP, movement speed, etc.) and a unique skill. The different Commanders add a lot of variety and replay value to the game as players experiment with the best combination in different scenarios. Commanders can be strengthened with Runes that improve their stats as well as leveled up with Merit, which is gained from the Story Mode and PVP battles. Units and buildings can also be leveled up with Merit and there is a lot of variety to choose from. There are regular and advanced units, and advanced units can be unlocked during battle by researching them in the proper building. Choosing which 5 units to place under each Commander also adds a level of strategy and makes each battle unique. Overall, the variety in Commanders and units makes for some interesting combinations and adds more diversity to each battle.

Strategic Real-time PVP
Once players have completed Stage 12 of the Story mode and have learned the basics of the game, they can participate in real-time 1 vs 1 and 2 vs 2 PVP battles in the Strategy Mode. To begin, players can choose either 1 vs 1 or 2 vs 2 (with the option of having NPC teammates), and then queue and let the match-making system go to work. Once in the game, players start off in opposite corners of the map and the goal is to destroy the other player or other teams’ Palace(s). Players will start off building up their bases, units, and defenses before setting out after their opponent(s) which takes up a bit of time in the beginning of each match. The PVP plays much like a PC RTS game and can be very strategic and intense. Unlike the Story mode, matches tend to last a very long time, usually around 20 minutes each. Skill and strategy plays a large role in each match, although having upgraded troops and buildings help as well. The main cons are potentially unbalanced match-making, being unable to find a match at times, and very unintelligent AI in PVP games with AI. Overall, the real-time PVP is a very fun and intense feature of the game that gives the game much more depth and replayability, and also rewards players with gold, Merit, Runes, and more.

Cash Shop/In-App Purchases (IAP)
The in-app purchases in King’s Command are not completely pay-to-win but offer various advantages to paying players. With Gems (premium currency), players can summon random Runes between Tiers 2-3 (Only Tiers 1-2 are summonable with in-game Merit), and purchase bundles that give Gems per day, Premium Roulette spin tickets (which includes various rewards), Merit Point boosts, and a special Commander for the Realm Mode. Runes can be equipped onto Commanders which strengthen them in the Story Mode and Real-time PVP so obtaining Tier 3 Runes can give an advantage, although Runes don’t give that huge of a stat boost so the advantage is minor. The Merit Point boosts can be very useful since Merit is used to upgrade units and buildings, so paying players will be able to do this more quickly. Players can also use Gems to purchase Realm protection which prevents their kingdom from being attacked for a certain amount of time. Overall, spending money is not required but offers convenience in Merit Point boosts, and minor combat advantages via potentially better Runes.

Final Verdict – Good
King’s Command feels like two mobile games in one that is filled with strategic gameplay and content, but is generally oriented towards casual gamers. Despite the outdated graphics and the overly simplified/short Story mode stages, King’s Command offers a true RTS combat system, competitive real-time PVP, a kingdom to build and defend, and lots of content that is both fairly in-depth and easy to pick up and play.

Screenshots

King's Command Screenshots

Videos

King's Command Videos

King’s Command game play trailer

System Requirements

King's Command System Requirements

Minimum Requirements:

Android 4.0 and up / iOS 8.1 or later

Music

King's Command Music & Soundtrack

Additional Information

King's Command Additional Information

Developer: NDOORS Corporation
Publisher: NEXON
Platforms: Android, iOS
Release Date: January 20, 2016

Shut Down: March 15, 2016

King’s Command was developed by NDOORS, the creators of Atlantica Online and Luminary: Rise of the GoonZu, and published by NEXON, a large Korean game company behind the mobile titles, Legion of Heroes and Pocket Maplestory. King’s Command began soft launch testing on November 3, 2015 in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Philippines, and Malaysia and then added the United States and Canada onto the list on January 20, 2016. King’s Command is NEXON’s second mobile strategy game after the huge success of their first strategy title, DomiNations. NEXON is also the publishers of the popular mobile RPGs, Mabinogi Duels and Fantasy War Tactics. On Febuary 16, 2016 it was announced that King's Command would be shut down on March 15, 2016, less than two months after release.