Kingdom Come: Deliverance Closed Beta Launched

The closed beta for Kingdom Come: Deliverance has gone live for those who have pledged at the appropriate crowdfunding tier (and it’s still open for those who want to pledge now on the game’s official website). To celebrate the occasion, the folks at Warhorse Studios have released a trailer:

In case you were wondering what the beta has over the alpha builds that Warhorse Studios released in the past, the official website includes a handy list. The short of it, though, is that the beta introduced the game’s main quest for the first time, adds a large number of new quests and NPC interactions, adds a significantly improved stealth and crime system, and expands on the game’s map and combat:

• First introduction to the epic story of Kingdom Come: Deliverance
• Several new fully-fledged quests with multiple solutions
• First important historical battle
• New engaging interactions with NPC’s
• Expanded stealth system – visibility, takedowns, poisoning, sabotage and disguises
• More weapon choices: short sword, long sword, shield, axes and maces
• Huge enlargement of the map compared to Alpha release
• New villages, castles and deep forests
• New dynamic weather system
• First motion-captured cut-scenes
• Introduction of crime system and lock picking
• New sword-fighting techniques
• .and more!

Kingdom Come: Deliverance is an open-world RPG that’s steeped in the history of central Bohemia. The developers are planning to shy away from many of the current cliches of open-world RPGs, so the title won’t include any supernatural element, locations will be more spaced out and realistic in density than in popular Bethesda titles, and combat will be modeled after realistic swordsplay, although the developers took great pains to make sure it would also feel fun.

It’s too early to say whether the title will be any good, but it’s certainly shaping up to be something impressive.