It all begins in the land of Bersia, where a war breaks out near the small village of Hironeiden. An evil force has rampaged through the village like a plague, and it is here that the battle for all of mankind begins. It is here that Kingdom Under Fire: Heroes starts the campaign of seven great warriors, all of whom have unique capabilities and wield weaponary capable of destroying an army. These great warriors battle in a typical faceoff of good versus evil, or in this case the Human Alliance and the Dark Legion.

The Human Alliance consists of three main characters that rely heavily on the weapons they carry: Ellen, her weapon of choice the blade, but also uses a bow and arrow in combo attacks and for attacking enemies at distance; Walter, the iron mace, which wields a mighty force capable of destroying enemies with one blow (Walter also carries a shield which can also be used during attacks); and Rupert, whose main weapon is the two-handed war hammer. Rupert's attacking abilities are focused largely around his hammer, and rightly so, as with it he is able to take out multiple enemies with a single swing.

The Dark Legion consists of characters of unknown origin which have special abilities that compliment the weapons they carry and the combos they unleash. Cirith uses the Katar, which can be described as a one handed, double-bladed sword. She also has the ability to generate an electric ball that can take out multiple enemies within striking range. Morene Strident's weapon of choice is the bone blade, which in short are chains that rip enemies apart. Urukubarr uses brute force; towering over opponents, Urukubarr crushes any man that stands in his way. Leinhart prefers the long sword to carry out devastating attacks and combined with combo attacks, can slice through anything that stands before him.

All the of hero campaigns are based around the war, which as those familiar with the KUF series will know, is five years prior to the events that occurred in Crusaders. Each campaign follows, in some way, the unique storyline of Heroes, even if it may seem to be a bit off track. As you are able to play any of the seven warriors, you get to see each one's perspective on the war and find out what ultimately drives them to succeed. Of the seven characters you can play, only three characters are made available up front. It is only once you complete each of the campaigns that you will unlock the remaining characters.

Initially many of the campaigns start off with you leading an army, and it is here where the real-time strategy kicks in. Heroes take's an interesting concept to RTS in that, when not in battle, you command your army at the typical overview angle, but when you encounter another army you dive right into a slugfest, with the camera diving in to focus on your hero. It is here where you gain full control of your hero and his abilities and find the greatest appreciation for battle.

This game is not to be taken lightly and some planning needs to go into it if you want to succeed. This includes reading up prior to playing, as you are thrown right into the thick of it as though it thinks anyone who plays it knows what he is doing, and how to control the different aspects of the game. The lack of guidance in terms of game functionality does not help alleviate the issue, with no training offered on how to do anything. There is plenty of fun to be had with this game but until you learn the know-how to you are not going to have much fun.

Although trial and error can be frustrating, once you get a handle on the game and the concept you will find yourself being pulled further into the battlefields. Heroes has a lot to offer, and with the changing environments of each battle it does not seem as repetitive as other titles. The graphics are well done, with the characters being well crafted. Even during battle, Heroes' graphics seem to hold their own, with bodies falling, and blood and gore flying all over the place.