Online Chess Kingdoms

Did You Know?

• The story mode involves five warring realms: Order, Chaos, Magic, Reason, and Spirit.
• The creator of the universe, Phrenos, separated the realms to prevent fighting.
• Players choose a realm with its own unique animated chess set and move armies around a tactical map by winning chess games.

Features

The game uses the PSP's wireless connectivity for local and online multiplayer. Single-player mode offers four AI difficulty levels. Variants include speed chess and a real-time battle mode. Chess sets display in 2D or 3D, with themed 3D sets such as magicians and an aquatic civilization; animated pieces battle during captures, similar to Battle Chess. Games can be played individually or through a story mode.

Critical reaction

Rolando Cordova of IGN scored the game 6.0 out of 10, praising its visual style, animated battles, and computer AI that challenges a range of players, but noting it offers nothing new that previous chess videogames have not covered. He stated the online mode works fine but finding a partner takes a long while, and concluded that while the game offers a new visual style, players should not expect a revolutionized version of chess. Greg Kasavin of GameSpot gave it 6.4 out of 10, praising the fairly good looking visuals, challenging AI, and online mode that works fairly well, though criticizing the lack of communication with other players. He felt the story mode awkwardly layers a plot onto chess, remarking that chess does not need a plot, and called the real-time battle mode a decent distraction. He concluded the game benefits from being a competent version of chess on the PSP, but compared it unfavorably to other chess programs with more sophisticated AI and complete tutorials.