Kingmakers enemies are medieval but not dumb - they'll recognise, react and 'counter-balance'

Kingmakers went viral on social media due to its fun, unique concept. Mowing down hordes of medieval enemies with modern vehicles and weaponry - it's a power fantasy to behold

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However, there's more to the game than just mowing down foot soldiers. In an interview with Edge Magazine, game director Paul Firsch discussed the strategic nature of Kingmakers.

"It's like a hybrid strategy game," Fisch explains. "If you give a guy an assault rifle, when he starts fighting thousands of people, he's surrounded and shut down. You actually need to build a town and cultivate an army and have generals."

The footage that grabs the most attention is generally on the ground: spraying at medieval knights with assault rifles, or driving through hordes of enemies on a sports car. However, the top-down gameplay is an undersold element of the title. Players will have the option to switch between both modes, and over time, foes will start adapting to your modern tech. Having the bigger gun doesn't necessarily mean success in Kingmakers.

"The people in the past start counter-balancing. You're this force on the battlefield that they recognise, and they start fielding things to try to stop you."

While the game features staples of modern warfare - machine guns, attack helicopters, and bazookas. At one stage, the developers considered going a step further with sci-fi mechs. According to Fisch, it was "like a titan unit" that would "march around and move soldiers out of the way". However, they decided to scrap it, highlighting that even for a game that features sports cars in the middle ages - it was immersion breaking.

"We discovered that was too much. It was immersion-breaking. Ultimately, it broke the fantasy."

Kingmakers does not currently have an official release date, but it is slated to enter early access on Steam sometime this year.