yeah I bought that game at the same time I got san andreas. Its a really good game, lots of depth to the strategy side - ie such as dont have your archers facing the sun (or they wont be able to see clearly) aswell as the unti building/equipment buying part.
I think the 3rd person combat is surprisingly fun compared to Dynasty warriors/Drakengard. I've been wanting a game like this for a long time, my on;ly hope is that if they make a sequal it will have more free roaming/random occurances.
I do agree about the over use of black, it doesnt look awful but they should have considered how close you are able to zoom in.
Have you tried the hard characters yet Poop? I am playing as the paladin character now (whose missions are tough but beatable), but I did try Regniers missions and they are damn hard.
Website for those who havent seen it;
http://www.kuftc.com/kuf_tc_heroes_d.asp