Legendary
Preview
Unreal engine 3 powered mythic beasts coming at you
by Keaton Arksey
previewed on PC
And now for something completely different
The shooter genre is huge on every gaming platform with the possible exception being Nintendo’s Wii. In an overcrowded market it is hard to find something other to shoot than Aliens, Zombies, Nazi’s or other humans. Wouldn’t you want to shoot something different sometimes?
If so, then the folks at Gamecock and Spark Unlimited have exactly what you need. Legendary: The Box isn’t your average shooter, for one reason and one reason only: instead of fighting the usual enemies you fight mythical beasts such as Gryphons, Werewolves, and Golems.
Opening the box
Charles Deckard is a thief, and a good one at that. In what seems like a great career move, the biggest score ever is being thrown right into his lap: an anonymous person has tasked him with stealing an ancient box from a New York museum. When Charles finally reaches out to grab the box, it opens…
As some of you may have guessed, the box once belonged to the charming lady Pandora. For those less versed in ancient mythology: Pandora’s Box contains all the evil in the world. Lefay, the anonymous person giving you the job, is the leader of the Black Order, a group of insane mercenaries. He hopes that by having control of the box, he can take over the world.
Once opened, everything goes to hell as ancient terrors are unleashed onto the world. Skyscrapers tumble, fire rains from the sky, Gryphons start tearing people in half; there is no end to the destruction.
Enemies and Animus
The graphics are nothing short of impressive. Using the Unreal Engine 3.0, textures look great and the amount of action on the screen is jaw-dropping. Environments are fully destructible and the game will throw bits and pieces of objects, walls and ceilings at you depending on the havoc that is caused by you and your adversaries. Character animations are rich in detail and -with a dozen enemy types and even more variations- are a sight to behold.
An interesting twist to the tried and true shooter mechanics is the fact that once you open the box, an insignia appears on your hand. When you kill one of the mythical beasts, you can suck ‘animus’ from them, bolstering your health as you do.
Your enemies will not just come from the mythological bestiary. The Black Order will also be trying to stop you from rescuing the planet. Since the beasts aren’t under their control yet, three-way fights will be common. On occasion, the beasts are so overwhelmingly strong that you actually have to team up with the Black Order to take them on. Under most circumstances however, the Black Order will attack you but when the game’s toughest enemies -named Alpha Beasts- show up, it is either team up or get killed.
