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Home >
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Video Games
> Results: Online Chess Kingdoms
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by Michael Anderson
February 16, 2007
If you put 'online' in your game title, it doesn't look good if your players can't find an online game.
Reviewed for PSP.
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Scroll down for our Kid Factor.
What GamerDad says about the ESRB Content Descriptors:
Mild Fantasy Violence: GamerDad noticed that pieces facing each other would take little swipes, and capturing played out as destroying the opponent's piece.
Something is missing in a game called Online Chess Kingdoms when every time I tried to find an online game the 'lobby' was empty and I was matched against the PSP system computer. Once the human factor is removed, the desire to play online disappears since the basic game is chess plus some strategic conquest. The off-line game has two modes, story and classic. Classic mode is just plain chess - either two-players on the same PSP via swapping, or single player against the system. Story mode is a tale of five kingdoms divided by the creator which are just becoming aware of each other again and begin to seek conquest. It is a thin and uninteresting story that plays out on a rectangular grid with some objectives to meet, but ultimately it is just an excuse to get from chess match to chess match. The load times are awful for a game as simple as chess regardless of the nifty graphics, which themselves are muddied because if the isometric perspective on the chess board. My take on the game is this - if you can play chess any other way, skip this game. I have been playing the same chess engine on my PDA for years and it is faster, smarter and loads instantly. However, Online Chess Kingdoms is a budget title that offers a solid and challenging chess game for all levels, so if the PSP is your primary gaming system it might be worth a look.
Chess is the purest of all strategy games, and one that is quickly learned by slowly mastered. It is a game that all kids should learn at some point, because it teaches many things - actions and consequences, thinking ahead, planning 'what if' scenarios and more. At its core, Online Chess Kingdoms is just a chess game - but it earns a 'Mild Fantasy Violence' ESRB Descriptor because the pieces are depicted as warriors on a field of battle, and conflicts are carried out as single combat. For example, a queen will launch a fireball to destroy an enemy before taking their square. It is all fairly mild, but it takes the game from 'capturing pieces' to 'destroying opponents'.
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> Results: Online Chess Kingdoms
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