Legendary
Latest screenshots
View the gallery
Legenday
Oh it is, in its own way
A first person shooter with a story not about a ex-special forces or current commando who is out to save the world for king and country? Yes that is right, Legendary the Box from Gamecock Media Group is one of those games which has a great back story in a common game genre. The basic story is one that a secret organization has hired a thief to break into a museum and open Pandora’s Box. The legendary item from ancient Greek lore who is said to hold the evils of mankind as well as the hope to defeat them. Well things go very well until you open the box, but with opening the box ancient mythical creatures such as Griffins, Werewolves, Golems and more are unleashed across the world and from all accounts they are winning the fight against humanity.
Using a variety of weapons and a magical signet in your hand, a gift from Pandora’s Box, you will fight these creatures in an attempt to seal the box and sent all of these creatures back to what ever hell or suburb they came from. Legendary has a good story arc and the overall story is told fairly well in various cut-scenes which span the game and beyond a few issues the game is very fun.
BAD DOG! - Cut or blow off these guys heads to keep them down or you will end up paying for it...
Gameplay
Gameplay is the bread and butter of most games on the market, they each need to have something which will stand them out in front of the pack. But Legendary does not have a series of or even a single gameplay feature which will allow it to stand out, in fact it has more in common with older first person shooters who relied on linear corridors and back tracking and way back in the day that was fine, but today it is inconceivable for a level designer to have failed so badly in this one regard.
The standard controls of the game are nothing we have not seen before in other games, with basic first person controls, a few weapons, the ability to jump, even though it feels no more then a few inches off of the ground and more basic mechanics. Even the weapons are basic with various common weapons, two pistols of varying power, shotgun, machine gun, assault rifle with a scope, rocket launcher and flame thrower and oh I can not forget the Axe which you will only use for a few minutes in the game. You have two thrown weapons in the form of Molotov Cocktails and grenades. Both work well but the longer you hold the button the farther you will throw the item, this is fine unless there are plenty of men with guns or monsters with claws ready to kill you.
Overall game players who are looking for a new experience will not find much in the overall gameplay department for single player and multiplayer only offers an interesting twist with monsters added to the mix, but with a limited number of maps and gameplay choices, again we have a game with multiplayer added just for the sake of adding multiplayer. I can not stress it enough that game developers and publishers have to stop doing this and if they can not give multiplayer gaming a decent show, do not do it and focus on the single player game. I can only imagine how much better Legendary would have been if the resources from the multiplayer side of things would have been put into the single player game.
Yep, your in for a bad day
Graphics
Legendary uses Epic Games Unreal Engine and it is unfortunate that the game does not use the engines full power to push some amazing graphics. Now the game does have some good graphics at times, especially with the monsters and lighting effects are very impressive and some of the overall particle effects for explosions, dust and more are well done. A game like this one whose graphical quality is at this overall level would have been impressive 18 – 24 months ago and the graphic issues such as frame rate slowdown, which are very noticeable during the first couple of levels of the game would barely have registered with many gamers.
Shooting this thing is not going to do much...
Audio
Overall the sound effects are average for most of the general sound effects, but the monster cries and roars are great. The voice overs of the various non-playable characters in the game are decent but lack an emotional connection with the events, besides the heroine lead Vivian who is the main narrator (you do not speak).
What is most impressive about the audio is the great heavy metal / hard rock influenced soundtrack which almost sounds like it came from a few different era’s when metal was coming into its own. I can honestly say I think they were influenced by the likes of Iron Maiden and other bands of that era when the music composers sat down and created this simple, heavy and action oriented music for the game. Best of all the music fits with the game and I hope more game developers take a chance like this on their music in the future.
Do I have something in my teeth?
Value
Legendary is one of those games I will go back to during the next gaming lull and play through it again on a Saturday afternoon and enjoy myself. There is much fun in the overall experience if you can look past the annoying flaws, which for once I was able to with out really trying. On the multiplayer side of things I could not join a multiplayer game and I could not find someone to play with. Of course this could easily be just bad timing because the Halo, Gears of War 2, Call of Duty crowd are playing their games but I would have expected someone.
Oh these are major pains in the backside
Bottom Line
When I first heard of Legendary I was honestly very excited for the concept of shooting mythological creatures and monsters with guns because it is a rare concept. The final product has me on the fence with is it a worth while game to recommend for first person shooter nuts like me, or to leave it be and forget you ever saw it. As a person who enjoys Clive Barker’s Jericho for its unique first person shooter story and gameplay mechanics I would say this is an easy rental. But if you do end up buying it this a game with flaws and very freaking fun.
Pros
+ You get to fight monsters with guns and its fun
+ Music is great, a heavy metal soundtrack influenced by Iron Maiden maybe...
+ Story, short and needs to be longer to have more of an effect on the player
+ Voice overs, for what there are, are decent
+ Monster AI and Enemy AI are smart, brutal and efficient
+ Multiplayer has a good potential concept
Cons
- Short game - it needed to be longer to have a more in depth story
- Graphics just are not of the quality for a new game, plus some slow downs
- No one is playing multiplayer
- Overall presentation is low
- AI of the soldiers with you are dumb, blind and sissies
- Very linear, more linear then anything we have seen in a decade?
Final Verdict
Here's a small guide to help you understand our evaluation of games.
PRESENTATION GRADE
Can be from the game's box to the contents of the booklet, and even the game introduction. (Intro, menus, options, etc)
GRAPHIC GRADE
Up to what point the graphics have been worked on my the developper. The design type, the effort used for textures and environments, as well as animations and framerate.
AUDIO GRADE
Is the soundtrack a good match to the game's style, he ambient sounds keeping with the gameplay and the sound effects clear and convincing?
GAMEPLAY GRADE
Placement of the controls and the inferface that the player with be using during the game.
REPLAY VALUE GRADE
The most important factor in the evaluation of a game. It identifies the lifespan of the game and the fun of coming back again and again.
I can remember many Christmas mornings from my childhood spent excitedly flipping through the pages of a new book. This was unusual because as a young child, books and clothes were the only gifts I would dread receiving. However, the Christmas morning books that excited me so much were something special. Granted, they weren’t literary classics, but back then,... 
RSS Feed