Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom for PS3 Review

The Untold Legends series was originally for the Playstation Portable, but when Sony Online Entertainment needed a dungeon-bash for the launch of the Playstation 3, it was this series that got the call. The result is Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom. It’s a solid enough title but disappointing if compared to something like Elder Scrolls: Oblivion.

Dark Kingdom doesn’t really do much that’s offensive, it just looks like it was slapped together on a weekend by a committee trawling through five-year-old fantasy RPGs and nicking bits. Almost every aspect is more limited than in most recent games in this genre, and more limited than a couple of really old games like Diablo.

Save the kingdom from Evil. Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom does succeed in giving a genuinely dark feeling to its storyline, and there actually is a storyline. But from the moment you get to choose from just three character classes, all of whom get spells and weapons, there’s a feeling something’s missing. There’s a little bit of puzzle-solving and a couple of escort missions, but mostly it’s all hack and slash. The action is tightly on rails too, which makes the world feel small. You’ll be following a single, one step at a time plotline from beginning to end.

That’s been true of a lot of RPGs, though, and they can still be compelling. Levelling up is a process that makes some people voluntarily forgo excitement for grinding, and that compulsion works okay here. Every level you’ll get two experience points to distribute among your attributes, and a star for one of your spells. You’ll get more powerful, but nothing about levelling is going to drastically change the way you fight.

Then there’s loot. There’s always the chance in a game like this that the next monster you cream will drop the Ultimate Weapon, or the coolest unique item. Apparently that was silly, and it’s almost completely done away with. Monster drops consist of orbs that recharge your health and mana; essence, which is the kingdom’s currency; and very occasional pieces of armour. No weapons ever. Essence can be spent to buy back health and mana, or purchase armour, but not weapons.

You’ll keep the same weapon throughout the game. This isn’t as utterly crushing as it sounds, because the weapons operate with a slot system. You can slot runes and gems in and out at any stage to change your weapon’s effects. Some of the slots are shaped so they’ll only take particular gems, so you’ll still have to make some choices. Still, many games manage multiple weapons and a slot system as well, so it’s hard to understand why Sony Online chose to do it this way.

Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom does feature drop in/drop out co-operative play, allowing a second player to come and go when they feel like it, and that is a nice touch. Online play is competent, too, with the game allowing up to four players to team up and play through the same linear campaign you play offline. You can’t transfer either games or characters from offline games to online ones though; another odd little place where the game just seems to be behind the times.

The graphics are an odd mix. The backgrounds and character models are pretty good, and would have been top-line a year ago. That line has moved, though, and PS3 games are supposed to look better. The character models look pretty standing still, but there’s something lacking from the animation when they move that might be what’s lacking from the whole game: spirit.

While there’s nothing terrible about the game, there’s also nothing about it that transports it above its little flaws. We’re back to cameras that swing round so you can see nothing but the tree in front of you and stunningly, Sega Megadrive-era bottomless pits of death. You can forgive little technical niggles, or bland plotlines, or limited character customisation, or repetitive combat, but maybe not all of it, not any more.

Still, if you have a PS3 and you really love dungeon-bashes as some mindless after-work stress relief, then considering all the options, Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom is the game to buy.

Add comment November 5th, 2007