Legion: The Legend of Excalibur
Score: 73% ESRB: Mature Publisher: Midway Developer: 7 Studios Media: CD/1 Players: 1 Genre: Action/ Strategy
Graphics & Sound: Perhaps the most graphically impressive aspect of Legion: The Legend of Excalibur is Arthur's cape - everything else, however is merely passable. To put it bluntly, there isn't much here that couldn't be done on the PlayStation. Character models are very basic and move with a slow stiffness that isn't all that appealing. While they get the job done - I just wish that I could have seen more. 'To the death!' If I hear this phrase one more time, I'll scream. This, combined with the campy British accents and bad Monty Python jokes, did not do much for me. In fact, half way through the game I completely turned down the sound in the Options menu just so I wouldn't have to hear them. This is not to say that everything in Legion sounded bad since the music is well done. Of course, after hearing the same two or three songs in every level, it did get annoying.
Gameplay: Legion follows King Arthur's quest to create the legendary Knights of the Round Table and avenge the death of his father at the hands of his sister - Morgan LeFaye. Over the course of his quest, Arthur will find Excalibur, purge Avalon of the Black Knight, and reclaim Camelot (sorry, no guest appearances by Robert Goulet). Legion takes the basic gameplay of Gauntlet, and combines it with the RPG elements of Diablo (such as magical items and quests) and some team-based strategy elements. Even though this looks great on paper, the end result isn't everything it could be. Managing your party and issuing orders becomes a hassle, especially in the heat of battle. As I played the game, it became obvious that brains were not a requisite when joining the Round Table since your troops are blithering idiots. I could not figure out why, when in the heat of battle, my knights would just stand around and take a beating.
Difficulty: Legion is hard. If it is not the lame brain knights following you, it is that you are horribly outmatched in every battle. Even with legendary figures as Merlin and Lancelot in your party, battles are more of a chore than a fun gaming experience. This is made even harder once the menus are thrown into the mix. Since the game does not pause when you give orders, this is an invitation for death - especially during 'boss battles'. To make things worse, there is no way to save during the game. This makes long missions even longer since it is frustrating to have to start entire missions over (especially when it's due to something you have no control over).
Game Mechanics: Keeping with its hack-n-slash roots, Legion features a straight-forward control scheme. As easy as the setup is to learn, it is not the most responsive thing in the world. Sword swings are slow, making it hard to time strokes, which is particularly frustrating since it is a major play mechanic. At the end of each of your swings, a faint (and some could argue barely noticeable) spark appears at the end of your sword. Pressing X in time with this spark produces a combo attack, which - if done correctly - can have nasty results. However, since the controls are sluggish in their response, getting this combo off is hard. Legion is especially unforgiving for button-mashers. Simply mashing the attack button for a flurry of quick jabs is not possible since the game has to run through the entire (slow) animation until you are able to attack again. To be honest with you, Legion was a hard game for me to review. For the most part, the game seems to slip between good and average. There were times when I would play it and have fun, yet there were also times that I couldn't wait to turn it off. Despite some obvious flaws, the game can be fun for players who are willing to push through the muck and get to the core of the game.
-Starscream, GameVortex Communications AKA Ricky Tucker
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