Elves, orcs and the undead in a turn-based strategy game, hmm,
sounds like Heroes of Might and Magic. While the setup and look of the game is
similar to HOMM, Elven Legacy is a bit different. Almost the entire focus is on
the battles, and less so on collecting artifacts and exploring. There are magic
spells used in the battles, though, as in Heroes of Might and Magic.
This is not to say that there is only bloody mayhem and no
finesse. Like any good turn-based strategy game, players will be able to take
plenty of time in planning out all their moves to take down the enemy as quickly
as possible. Many of the missions reward players for accomplishing the quests in
a set number of turns, which is a fun incentive.
The basic story is that you are the Elves, and you want to kick
every other race’s butt. You don’t care why, you just do. It is your right,
because you are superior in every way. Even your women have bigger breasts than
other races’ women. To prove this, you have your females wear very skimpy armor.
Players can choose to either play a standalone mission, or a
campaign mode. There is a tutorial, too, but the interface is simple enough and
the first missions easy enough that it really isn’t necessary. Enjoy these first
few easy missions, because the difficulty ratchets up to a high level early on,
even in the easy level. I’ve played many turn-based strategy games, and while
I’m not the smartest tactical player out there, I’m not the worst, either. I
found the easy level to be about my speed the first time through these missions.
Basic units are available in the beginning, and are the usual
range and melee fighters. There are also air units that add a different battle
type than in many fantasy strategy games. The units can move and/or strike,
depending on the distance from the enemy. A grid can be toggled on or off and
the possible movements are highlighted.
At first, the units are generic units that are the same according
to each unit type. Later in the game, however, players can add skills to their
units and make them unique. This is pretty cool, but it can be traumatic to lose
these specialized troops in battle, when so much work has gone into them. This
feature is similar to the hero system in Heroes of Might and Magic, where heroes
could be built up by having them fight and assigning them artifacts to boost
defense and attack levels.
And lose them you will, because of the unfairness of the combat
ratio in many cases. In the beginning of the game, the battles are simple
affairs that have enemies coming out of a town to attack, and there aren’t that
many more than the number in the player’s party. Soon enough, though, it will
begin to feel like there are waves and waves of enemy units attacking with no
end in sight. Even if the player’s units are strong enough to beat off all the
attacks, they will usually suffer heavy losses.
This is frustrating due to the nature of the winning requirements
for each mission. The missions mostly involve traveling to a certain destination
to accomplish the quest, whatever that may be. The problem is that success is
measured by the number of turns that take place before the quest is finished.
Each increment of minimum turns earns a Gold, Silver, or Bronze award. If the
minimum number of turns is reached before the goal, it’s mission over, period.
It’s fun to have extras awarded for a set number of turns, but it is not fun to
be punished by having to begin again if the goal isn’t met.
Everything looks good, and the
frequent automatic zooming in many of the battles increases the player’s sense
of engagement in the fights. The colors are vibrant, and the animations are
nice. On very close ups, the characters look blocky, but further away they are
more appealing.
The first missions are the
Elves; when those are finished, players can play a second Human campaign. There
are also bonus missions that can be unlocked by nailing the Gold standard level
for the missions, but that is very hard to do, given the insane lopsidedness of
the battles in later missions.
All in all, Elven Legacy is a
decent turn-based strategy title that offers some good entertainment, especially
given the dearth of new TBS titles out right now. It is similar in many aspects
to HOMM, but it isn’t in the same league. However, it does offer some good
strategic depth and plenty of missions. The main problem is the unfairness of
the AI and the winning requirements of the missions. Having to restart over and
over again isn’t any fun at all. Elven Legacy is best suited to hard-core
turn-based strategy fans, despite the misleading easy interface and simple menu
system.
|
Review |
Gameplay: 7
Elven Legacy offers some good entertainment and has the ability to suck players
in, but about midway through the game many players will become tired of the
unfair difficulty and quit. There aren’t enough extra features aside from the
battle strategy to keep most players going.
Graphics: 7
The bright and colorful graphics are attractive and appealing. Close-ups reveal
some blockiness, but a normal zoom is quite adequate.
Sound: 6
The music is average, but not annoying. A more orchestral score would have been
better.
Difficulty: Hard
The game begins simply enough, but later missions are very difficult, even on
the easy level. The main problem is the amount of enemy units as compared to the
number of player units for a given battle.
Concept: 7
This type of fantasy setting has been done many times before, but the execution
is good.
Overall: 7
This is a slightly above average strategy title that offers some good strategic
gameplay. However, many players won’t stick with it because of the difficulty of
finishing the missions from about the middle game onward. I enjoy a challenge as
well as the next player, but I don’t enjoy utter failure time and time again. I
imagine others would feel the same. This is a game for the super-buff strategy
player out there.
