Reception
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| Official Xbox Magazine | 8/10 |
| IGN | 5.8/10 |
| Game Informer | 5.25/10 |
| GameSpy | 2.5/5 |
| Eurogamer | 5/10 |
| GameSpot | 6/10 |
| Play Magazine | 8/10 |
| Game Trailers | 5.9 |
| UGO | C+ |
| Famitsu | 27/40 |
Upon release, Circle of Doom was met with mixed responses, with an average critic score of 56% at Game Rankings based on 46 reviews. Official Xbox Magazine praised the game, enjoying the lack of RTS elements of its predecessors, delivering a more "straight-up combo-heavy hack-and-slash action" that "manages to look lovely while you slap around your foes" while Play Magazine noted the variety in usable items to mix up gameplay, that "you've never had this much fun tinkering with weapons, spells, and items--I guarantee it." Cheat Code Central pointed out that due to the more basic gameplay elements, that more old-school gamers would enjoy it more than others, that "If you're a fan of the tried-and-true action-RPG formula, then this one won't disappoint" but if not then "may not be your cup of mead."
A common criticism was directed at the basic gameplay causing repetition. GameSpot found that while "slicing your way through the hordes is as compelling as you would expect from the genre", being "a proven one", the "action gets incredibly repetitive". They however noted that the online co-op over Xbox Live "can increase the entertainment value significantly". UGO concluded that while "there's entertaining gameplay to be found at the core of Circle of Doom", they felt it was "overwhelmed by too much repetition" and pointed out the massive differences between it and the previous titles in the series that "for any fun there is to be had, it's tough not to wonder what BlueSide was thinking in calling this a Kingdom Under Fire game." GameSpy also felt disappointed over the "minimal amount of direct character customization" and felt the skill points player stat would be the "most annoying aspect of the game for button-mashers".
On the game's story, Game Trailers found it "vague" and IGN felt it was more of a way of providing simple variety in character choice that "you feel a bit like you're playing a separate adventure rather than just a new character" yet found the dialogue "cheesy" and "comical". They did however find the soundtrack to be one of its highest points, being "a reasonably powerful soundtrack that chimes in when moments of action are about to transpire". Eurogamer however thought it was an "insanely inappropriate repetitive metal guitar noodling".
Read more about this topic: Kingdom Under Fire: Circle Of Doom
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