Online Chess Kingdoms PSP Review

Online Chess Kingdoms is one of those games where the name pretty much says it all. The game is about chess and yes, you can play it online. Published by Konami, and developed by Leviathan, this PSP title is a game made for a niche audience.

Online Chess Kingdoms places you in the middle of a conflict due to the forces of the universe fighting one another. The "Creator of the Universe" tried to separate the five factions of its creation but thanks to Chaos, one of the factions in the game who has breached the boundaries of the other factions, the forces of the universe must once again fight for supremacy. And apparently the only way to determine who will best one another is battling it out through the ancient game of chess.

Graphically the game is neither bad nor exceptional. Each faction has its own style and animations. Yes, the fights are animated in the sense that when you take an opponent's piece there is a brief animation of the pieces fighting. Thankfully you are able to speed them up by holding down 'X' as they do get rather boring after the first few times you see them. The game has no cut-scenes to explain its plot but instead relies on cheesy still animations which are so bad they kill brain cells. However, even though the graphics are nothing to write home about, it doesn't retract too much from the main appeal of this game, i.e. the chess.

There are several ways to play chess in this game. You can play through the single player campaign, play against the computer in fast matches, play two players on one PSP, or even play over a WiFi connection against other players. There is also a new and incredibly hard version of chess called "Battle Mode." Battle Mode allows both players to move pieces simultaneously but at the cost of power. Players gain points for each piece they take and the score is used to determine the winner; there are no checkmates. While this Battle Mode is an interesting addition, it is impossible to play against the computer and it ultimately causes nothing but infuriation at how much better the computer will always be. If you play Battle Mode do yourself a favor and only play against other humans who aren't capable of doing multiple things in their minds at once.

Online Chess Kingdoms is a game made for a very specific audience. If you love to play hours of chess against an opponent who is often much better than you are, then this game could be for you. However, be aware you will have to stomach a terrible storyline in order to play the single player game. If you scoff at the idea of playing chess or at the idea of a game all about repeating the same level over and over than you should avoid this game at all costs. This game is about one thing and one thing only, chess; players should move wisely when considering this release.