PC

  News 
  Reviews
  Previews
  Hardware
  Interviews
  All Features

Areas

  3DS
  Android
  iPad
  iPhone
  Mac
  PC
  PlayStation 3
  PlayStation 4
  Switch
  Vita
  Wii U
  Xbox 360
  Xbox One
  Media
  Archives
  Search
  Contests

 

Fighting Legends

Score: 70%
ESRB: Teen
Publisher: Maximum Charisma Studios
Developer: EA Games
Media: CD/1
Players: Massively Multiplayer
Genre: MMORPG/ Miscellaneous

Graphics & Sound:

Many of the MMOG's out there don't exactly use the most cutting edge of graphics. Unfortunately, Fighting Legends follows all too close in it's cousins' footsteps. Low polygon counts and flat colored landscapes are everywhere, and coupled with the fact that the world is about as populated as a post-Armageddon town, there isn't really much to look at. Now, on the plus side, FL does sport a nice night-and-day cycle, revealing a blazing sun during the day and a star speckled sky at night. Another positive aspect is the game's style. It veers away from the whole fantasy theme and has an almost cartoon-like quality about it. The terrain, though poorly detailed, look like something out of a show on the Cartoon Network. The people fit right into this motif, ranging from the deformed undead to characters that are almost, dare I say, cute.

With the visual cartoon style that it has, the game wouldn't be complete without cartoon music, right? I didn't think so either. And thank the maker that they didn't go about the music that way. While the sound effects may fall under the category of 'cute', the music is far from it. An all but cute score is thankfully included. The music is virtually continuous throughout the game, and is soft on the ears. I don't want to call it fantasy, but I'm troubled to find a better name to describe it with. But what is in a name? Call it what you want, the music is sure to please.


Gameplay:

I'd hate to call Fighting Legends a MMORPG, but there isn't a much better name for it. As far as I can tell, they don't have a name for RTS games with role playing elements. On the surface, it may look like an RPG, but the real meat and potatoes are the RTS aspects. You have a main character called an avatar, who basically carries a field base in his pocket. As long as you have enough room, you can deploy your base anywhere you want, turning the whole land into your own personal battlefield.

There are nine different clans in FL, each unique in their own special way. Each clan has five different troops (archers, monks, etc.) that it can make and send to fight. After deciding on which clan you like the best, you choose what type of character your avatar will be, and then you're sent kicking and screaming into the world of Exisle.

Exisle is composed of zones, which in turn make up three different regions. Each region has a theme (sky, earth, and underworld), and contains many different zones. Each zone usually contains a town and portals to other zones. The zones are where you carry out your business, whether it is social, economic or hostile in nature. If you prefer the latter, then everywhere you go is potentially a huge map for you to do battle on.

Deploying your base requires nothing more than the push of a button. As with any RTS, your base is where you pool your resources to make troops and other buildings. At the start of the game, you will have only one building with which to make troops, and it will only be able to make troops identical to your avatar's archetype. New huts for different troop types are available, but don't expect to get them any time soon, as they are far out of your price range when you first start off. Walls and towers can also be built to protect your base, but will stay where they are after you pack up and leave.

As for the resources, no strategy game would be complete without them. There are three different resources in Exisle, and each can be found in abundance in its native region. While there is virtually limitless resources, collecting them in large amounts can be quite a task. Your base will generate resources on it's own, but you should never count on that, as the process is as slow as molasses. Fallen enemies will yield resources, and depending on what region you're in will determine how much of each resource you get.

Fighting can be done with or without your base deployed. Deploying your base just gives you an active place to make more troops, in case the fight is going to be a big one. Otherwise, all your troops walk around with you like one big mob. In the beginning of the game you're pretty much forced to fight small time monsters (where have we seen this before?) until you're strong enough to take on someone that matters. Later though, you can look forward to larger fights with multiple people.

I'd like to touch upon a great aspect to Fighting Legends that people will probably overlook. Your avatar is semi-immortal, and if he dies in battle, he can be resurrected at your base. I say semi-immortal because he will eventually grow old and die. By the time this happens, though, you should have some heroes in your ranks. Heroes are high level troops that are also as immortal as your avatar, but just a little less powerful. You will have to name an heir (one of your heroes) to succeed your avatar when he dies so your forces can live on. Essentially what this does is to keep everyone's power in check, as no one will be able to have extremely high level heroes and avatars that can take over the world. A welcome new addition to the world of MMOG's that will hopefully catch on.


Difficulty:

As with all massively multiplayer games, Fighting Legends requires a lot of patience in the beginning. You'll only be able to kill the lesser monsters such as flies and slugs, along with completing the occasional quest, and not much else. Once you've paid your dues, though, there shouldn't be anything stopping you from achieving greatness. Game masters are more than helpful, and can be found in and around the cities. Forming alliances or joining guilds will also help you immensely, as it will yield larger armies and more experience.

Game Mechanics:

RPG's and RTS's don't have that similar a control style. Combining the two into a single interface might seem a nightmare for some, but Fighting Legends pulls it off nicely. The control is centered on your avatar, much like everything else. You move him around the area using the mouse and keyboard, and get him to do things like talk to people. When you make other members of your group, they stay in formation around your avatar. If you have heroes, you can form squads around them as well. In battle, you can switch to any one of your troops, but this usually isn't necessary. The easiest thing to do is to command a squad through your avatar and heroes.

When it comes to bases, FL isn't much different from any other RTS. There is a menu from which you can choose units and buildings to create. Once a new structure is complete, you simply place it around your base as you would in any other strategy game. There are enough views at your disposal to make this as easy a process as possible, including a Free Look mode that will come in handy more often than not.

In the world of online games, anything new is appreciated. Fantasy games aside, there really isn't much variety in this genre. But we have seen a new emergence of sci-fi games, and now, RTS games. FL has what it takes to sprout a new branch of MMOG's, but in order to do this it needs a strong following of supporters. This is where the game receives a knife to the gut. The land is virtually deserted. There seems to be more Game Masters on than players. And it's really a shame, because this game has a lot of potential to be great. Perhaps in the future, FL's cousins will fare better than it did. We can only hope.


-Snow Chainz, GameVortex Communications
AKA Andrew Horwitz

Minimum System Requirements:



Windows 98/ME/2K, 450 MHz, 128 MB RAM, 16 MB DirectX compatible video card, DirectSound compatible sound card, 56K+ Internet connection
 

Test System:



Windows 98, 1.4GHz AMD Athlon, GeForce 2 mx 32MB video card, 40 gig hard drive, 56x CD-ROM, 256MB DDR Ram, Sound Blaster Live! sound card, T1 Internet connection

Windows FIFA 2002 Windows FirePower

 
Game Vortex :: PSIllustrated