Legion: Legend of Excalibur
- June 28, 2002 00:00 AM PST
Strange women lying in ponds is no basis for a system of government�or a PlayStation 2 game, either.
Legion: The Legend of Excalibur is a visually attractive hybrid action/RPG/RTS. However, looks aren�t everything, and the game falls directly on its noble ass.The mission-based gameplay features the stilted structure of a real-time strategy game�go here, do this, but if you make one mistake, you may doom yourself to immediate failure and have to restart at the beginning of the level. Also like an RTS, there are somewhat clunky controls to direct your knights during battle through the 12 lengthy levels. Items and experience are collected along the way, boosting character strengths and thereby fulfilling the RPG element.
Despite a beautiful, anti-aliased 3D world full of nice character animation, Legion features some of the worst voice-over work heard in ages. Most characters feature horrible British accents, while Arthur, King of England, lacks one altogether. Pitch-shifted battle cries don�t fool anybody, and the dreadful death rattles sound more like teenagers vomiting.
With not-so-bright enemy A.I., interacting with the enemies isn�t really much fun, no matter how many can be crammed on the screen at one time without slowdown. In short, Legion won�t make you want to swear allegiance to the king so much as just swear.
