Unlike the previous KUF games, The Crusaders is now a fully 3D title that pits you as the lone hero on the battlefield against an army of thousands. Part Action and Strategy game, The Crusaders takes place 50 years after the events of the previous Kingdom Under Fire games, where the Ancient Heart that caused the whole conflict has been long gone. However, groups of ruthless Orcs have now invaded a small village on the border of the Sacred Land, where the Ancient Heart was previously located. Responding to this foul act, Hironeiden declares a war against evil Vellond and start their invasion on Hexter. Soon after, Ecclesia jumped into the war, in the name of protecting the Sacred Land. Even at such an early stage, The Crusaders is one of the most visually appealing games on the Xbox, boasting over 450 characters on one battlefield. This proves to be one of the best experiences in the game; battling enemies while constantly being swarmed by their comrades in a sea of utter carnage is a sight to behold in this game. Not only that, but you can also plan out your attacks before you do battle in melee combat. Is your regime not strong enough to attack your enemy head on? Call out your archers and let them assist you by shooting some of them down from a distance, or call our your demolition squad and hurl explosives at them, all the while you and your squad watches from a distance as your rivals are reamed by attack after attack. You can even use your surroundings to level the playing field. Factors such as which way a group is facing the sun, their surrounding terrain and the relative height of the ground on which they stand can all play a role in a win or loss for your squad.

When you enter in a melee, you take control of the group leader, and much like in Koei's Dynasty Warriors series, your character is chock full of special moves and abilities, as well as being able to influence the troops around them. Along with your main character are sub-heroes that - while stronger than your normal grunt - are less powerful than you are. Think of them as your aides, casting support spells to attack the enemy while you recover from your attack. But unlike in Dynasty Warriors, don't think that you can take on an entire army by yourself. While you may be powerful, rushing in headstrong without your support will get you killed quickly. During combat you and your troops will gain experience points and level up, as well as obtain spoils of war. These goods can be used to purchase weapons and armor for your troops in order to make them tougher on the battlefield.

In The Crusaders you will also have the opportunity to choose one of the four main characters in the beginning of the game. Depending on your choice, you will be able to experience completely different viewpoints of the storyline that binds them all together with many of the same events being told from different perspectives, which can only increase the longevity of the game.

Unfortunately at this time no online play has been officially announced for the game, but Phantagram has promised that once those details come about they will make it known to everyone. Despite not featuring any online play (yet), Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusaders looks set to be one of the biggest games for the Xbox, a console that definitely needs some titles to bolster it's upcoming lineup in order to combat the PS2 and the GameCube. If the screenshots and videos of the game represents how kickass the gameplay will be, Xbox gamers will definitely have something to look forward to in the beginning of 2003.

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