Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 review roundup: 'An undeniable triumph'
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 appears to be an exceptional sequel
👍 Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 has a Metacritic score of 87 after 50 critic reviews
🤩 The game has 90% positive reviews, 5% mixed and 0% negative
👑 The first game only achieved a Metacritic score of 66
📆 Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is out now for PC and consoles
It’s refreshing to see a sequel dramatically improve upon its successor, but that seems to be the case for Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2. The game has received rave reviews from critics, with the game achieving a Metacritic score of 87 after 50 critic reviews.
A first-person role-playing game, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 takes place in 15th century Bohemia, where you play as a young man called Henry, son of a blacksmith. Here’s what critics had to say about the ambitious sequel.
Dexerto thought Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 was worthy of a perfect score, saying:
”It’s obvious a lot of love has been poured into every facet of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2. If you found combat in the first game too difficult or the survival mechanics tedious, then the sequel’s streamlined gameplay might not be enough to change your mind. However, if you were a fan of the first game, there’s so much to enjoy here.
“It’s clearly the game Warhorse wanted to make back in 2018, and it’s been improved in so many small ways. Bigger and better, it’s a must-play. Aside from some clunkiness and the odd tedious mission, it’s hard to find another game that so expertly combines realism and fun, with tough but satisfying combat, a morally ambiguous but grand story, and a faithfully recreated medieval world brimming with stuff to do. It’s the sequel fans wanted, and I feel quite hungry for more.”
Window’s Central felt the same as Dexerto, and said:
“With a colossal open world packed with well over 100+ hours of engaging content, substantially improved combat compared to the original KCD, and more, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is an undeniable triumph from Warhorse Studios. It's one of the best RPGs I've ever played, and will undoubtedly be in the conversation for 2025's Game of the Year.”
IGN and GameSpot also enjoyed Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, awarding the game a 9/10. IGN said:
“In many ways, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 feels like it’s picked up and run with the reactive first-person RPG torch that Bethesda left lying in the mud years ago in pursuit of a broader audience. And it has excellent melee combat, which The Elder Scrolls never came close to even at its peak.
“Sometimes it's not sure if it wants to be a cinematic tale about a specific guy going on a specific adventure or a truly dynamic open-world sandbox packed with interesting and varied side quests, and that can lead to a few immersion-shattering conflicts. But most of the time, leaning into one doesn't get in the way of the other, and you’re free to go on any of its many optional adventures along the way to a thought-provoking and rousing finale for the main plot. I was delighted to get lost in its world, and it will be a long time before I forget its exceptional story.”
However, the game’s Metacritic score was dragged down by Eurogamer, which gave Kingdom Come: Deliverance 6/10 and said:
“It is a hard and maddening slog at times, but one that still has its moments where it surprises and quietly delights. Like the original, this isn't an RPG designed to make you feel good - you continue to be little more than a passenger in this historical tapestry, following along behind the horse tails of Henry's betters, and clearing up the mess they leave behind. Some will revel in that work, but I for one won't be chomping at the bit for another sequel any time soon.”
GamesHub’s 5/10 review was even less favorable, saying:
“Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is a game that unabashedly demands you meet it on its level, which I do find somewhat admirable. I just constantly found it to be a miserable slog to engage with, where everything was ten times more overblown than it had any business being. There’s a fascinating sandbox deep down within it, but digging through the mountain of muck to appreciate it was simply more than I could stand most of the time.”
Despite a couple of disappointing scores, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 sounds like a fantastic sequel and one that is sure to please fans who enjoyed the rather janky and unpolished original.
Check out the upcoming PS5 games and upcoming Xbox games lists to see what’s up next for Sony and Microsoft’s consoles.
Adam Vjestica is The Shortcut’s Senior Editor. Formerly TechRadar’s Gaming Hardware Editor, Adam has also worked at Nintendo of Europe as a Content Marketing Editor, where he helped launch the Nintendo Switch. Follow him on X @ItsMrProducts.