Legendary

[sandy160687]

About This Game

 

Legendary tells the story of Charles Deckard, an art thief who is duped into stealing Pandora's Box. When he opens the box, he releases hordes of beasts thought to be fictional -- werewolves and gryphons and all means of beast and demon -- into an unprepared modern world. A full scale war between man and myth begins, and it is quickly complicated by the actions of powerful secret societies. As the person responsible for releasing this terror, Deckard's unwittingly become the only person capable of containing it once more and saving civilization from being destroyed by the terrifying creatures of the box.

ESRB Rating: M for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence

Genre: First-Person Shooter

Also Available On: PlayStation 3, PC

Release Date: September 30, 2008

MSRP: $59.99

September 26, 2008

Unreleased

Features

Editions

 

General Features

 

* A fantasy shooter set in an unprepared, modern world

* A massive, blockbuster movie experience – society collapses around you as man and machine take on the beasts of legend in spectacular battle

* Awe-inspiring fire-fights where high-caliber ordnance meets beak, talon, fang and claw

* Dynamic environments crumble around you as you and your enemies literally tear a living, breathing environment apart in your battle to stay alive

* Devastation is realized on an unprecedented scale. See London burn to the ground and witness New York torn apart through spectacular supernatural destruction

 

Ign E3 08 legendary preview:-

 

E3 2008: Legendary Impressions

 

An American werewolf, minotaur and gryphon in London.

 

 

July 16, 2008 - Spark Unlimited's new title Legendary is a different breed of first person shooter. Not only does it pit the player against an impressive bestiary of mythical creatures, it's a game that the team wants to help redefine what 'next-gen' is. No, we're not talking about polygon counts, texture detail or hoopy hardware effects – we're talking about scale. The Spark guys believe that's one of the things that the new consoles and the latest PC hardware should be delivering, but haven't as yet. At least, not as they envision it.

 

To that end, Legendary is a game where the cities have a true sense of size; where Gryphons wheel in the sky before crashing down to land before the player, tearing apart soldiers in their beaks; where a golem composed of trucks, dumpsters and detritus that's the size of a skyscraper lumbers through New York. It's an impressive spectacle, and while the game runs on the Unreal 3 engine, many of the modifications the team made to the engine were designed to help emphasize that sense of scale and to ensure a killer draw distance.

 

It's a high concept game, and one that takes its cues from big screen action/disaster blockbusters like War of the Worlds and Independence Day. Hopefully not too many cues, mind you. We were able to check out a number of sections of the game, and are pleased to say it's looking very promising.

 

 

For those of you that haven't checked out this title before, the player assumes the role of Charles Deckard, an 'international art thief' sent to steal a recently uncovered treasure… which turns out to be Pandora's box. Naturally, curiosity gets the better of him and he opens it. And that's when things get weird. He's branded with 'the Signet' on his hand, and the ground in the museum starts to crack and split, the giant columns along the walls crashing to the ground. Deckard makes a run for it. As he enters a room, the ground erupts, a crackling red beam bursting forth, firing up to the heavens. People are stumbling around stunned… or on fire – it's total chaos.

 

Mind you, that's nothing compared to what happens when he gets outside. A pulse from the epicenter sweeps out, and that's when the beasts start to come. New York is a disaster site in seconds – gryphons roaming the skies, buildings being destroyed, the streets littered with craters and deserted cars.

 

The first three 'episodes' of the game are set in New York, and they end with an epic showdown with the golem we mentioned before. In Times Square no less. Not only is that battle all about scale, so too is the aftermath. The team told us that after taking down the golem, the player will literally have to navigate through a section created from the golem parts that showered down on New York's streets.

 

Coming back to Deckard - what's his Signet brand all about anyway? Well, at a basic level it's his connection to Pandora's box. It's the key that closed it once before, and can presumably close it again. It also plays a role in gameplay, allowing Deckard to pull the life force from downed enemies. This can then be used to heal him, or for an 'Animus Pulse' – an energy thrust that pushes an enemy back slightly, giving Deckard a window to attack. The game, then, lets the player get health from mythical enemies, and ammo from enemy soldiers.

 

 

 

Enemy soldiers? Yes, in the world of Legendary, there are two ideologically opposed rival factions – the Black Order and the Council of 98. During the game you'll ally yourself with the Council, meaning that you'll be in a squad for large stretches of the game (and yes, your squad mates can die, so while it might be fun watching them get ripped apart by a werewolf, it's probably not a great idea). It also means you'll often be caught in the middle of firefights between soldiers and mythical beasties.

 

There are plenty of opportunities to use these confrontations to your advantage, either by luring opposing sides into conflict or by doing stuff like sniping the lock off a cage holding a werewolf in an enemy stronghold. The AI is looking really solid too. In fact, the team were keen to emphasize that this was an area they've invested a huge amount of time and effort in.

 

 

Facing off against the many beasts, which include gryphons, werewolves, harpies, fire drakes and minotaurs, show the results of that effort. Not only will enemies climb walls to get over obstacles and use rooftops to flank you and keep you on your toes, but they're smart enough to know that they can use their environment to deal damage. Gryphons will toss cars at you and barge through anything in their way to get to you, while werewolves will use their speed and agility to quickly close the distance and rip you to shreds. Harpies, on the other hand, have two forms – a spirit form, in which they can inhabit objects and basically toy with Deckard, and a corporeal form, in which he can hurt them. You'll have to be quick, as they flit about and through walls, but hitting a spirit harpy with an Animus Pulse will corporealise it.

 

 

Take all these creatures, each of which behaves quite differently, throw them into a world with two human factions, and you can see that Legendary has plenty of potential. It's not all out-and-out action, either. The team is very much conscious of the need to keep shifting up the feel and pace of the gameplay to avoid shooter fatigue. After leaving New York and heading to London, for instance, episode five is much darker in tone, with the player being hunted, as opposed to being on the offensive. The final location is an unnamed British town with a rather striking cathedral. The town used to be named in the game, but after another shooter had some problems with the cathedral in its game, that all changed. You know what we're talking about.

 

Regardless of what the cathedral may or may not be called, it looks great, as does much of the game. The mythical beasts are definitely a visual highlight – the gryphons in particular are fantastically modeled and animated. They're utterly convincing. The minotaurs look great too – you get a real sense of power when they lower their heads and charge straight through walls, and as Deckard gradually does damage, you'll notice it on the model, with patches of skin ripped off, revealing the muscles and bone beneath.

 

 

While Legendary is going to be a lot of fun, there are definitely some regressive elements to the game design. Turning a valve to activate a sprinkler system to get through a path blocked by fire, for instance, just isn't engaging – if it ever was. We saw a couple of 'valve moments' in our time with the game, which we could definitely live without. Even turning on a sprinkler system to damage the fire drakes (hard shelled beasts that roll around, leaving a trail of fire in their wake) feels a little clumsy.

 

That said, it's clear that Spark is taking the time to get this game right. The guys told us that they've had the full game playable since last September. Since then they've been iterating on the game – tweaking the gameplay and adding in further detail to the world. This one's going to be worth a look.

 

Legendary hands on e3 08:-

 

 

Website- www.legendarythegame.com

[Somebody]

Gamespot Review

 

The Good

*Werewolves are cool.

 

The Bad

* Ugly

* Story doesn't make any sense

* Jumping and sprinting mechanics are awful

* Poor level design brimming with shooter cliches

* It's easy to get hung up in the cluttered, linear environments.

 

Score: 3.5/10

[BuffMonkey]

Loool harsh

[Falcon]

@pra2veen - Hilarious ... Feel sad for those poor souls who bought the game

[Tyler]

You know, I actually thought the game looked quite decent from the early previews...

 

Anyway, it's good to know that I don't have to buy another game.