RTS + RPG?

Role-Playing

The single-player campaign also features role-playing missions; you take the heroes of the strategy missions and micro-manage them through a dungeon. The camera zooms in for a close look, changing the overall feel to a Diablo-esque style. An inventory system is added to push the role-playing aspect of these missions. The heroes can equip armor, weapons, and items they find. Using a Field Plate of Ass Kicking will increase a knight's defense rating, while a Staff of Thundercats will increase a wizard's lightning spell damage.

Another battle shot

More death

Unlike the strategy missions, the camera is taken out of your control, always focusing on your heroes (Diablo, again). You can split up your party and control one hero at a time, or control all of them at once. The AI from the strategy missions applies to your heroes here. They will fight monsters on their own accord, but any commands you give take precedence. You can also set the default spell/attack your heroes use when they need to take care of themselves.

The Dark and Light legions have 13 missions each; nine RTS missions and four RPG missions. The missions on each side are intertwined. You may defend a town as the Light legion in a mission, while the equivalent Dark legion mission requires you to sack that same town. There are plenty of gratuitous rendered cut scenes between the missions as well.

Baptism by fire

The pent spell again

Multiplayer

The real driving force behind Kingdom Under Fire is the multiplayer mode. It features all of the important aspects that make multiplayer RTS games popular. Build-orders, macromanagement vs. micromanagement, resource controlling, climbing up the tech-tree at the right time; they've thrown in all of the gameplay players want in a top notch RTS. An added bonus to multiplayer is the ability to summon the single-player heroes to lead your armies. We'll have to wait and see if it actually catches on in the professional community.