| Author | Review |
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Doominatorx6
544,173
TA Score for this game: 2,765
Posted on 25 June 10 at 17:35, Edited on 25 June 10 at 17:47 |
This review has 54 positive votes and 23 negative votes. Please log in to vote. |
From the creators of the phenomenal flop (and recipient of the prestigious Doominator's biggest letdown of 2008 award) Turning Point: Fall of Liberty, comes Legendary, a game that similarly aims high with a great premise, but is sabotaged by embarrassing game design.
Before we start, lets look at everything Spark Unlimited (the developers) have done thus far:
Call of Duty: Finest Hour - 2004. Not a bad game (scored about mid-70's) but underwhelming. They actually GOT SUED BY ACTIVISION for not "meeting standards of the franchise." Because this came out inbetween Call of Duty and Call of Duty 2, I didn't know ONE GAME WAS A FRANCHISE.
Turning Point: Fall of Liberty - 2008.
http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/xbox360/turningpoi... << ouch
Which brings us to this....
If you played Turning Point, aside from the fact I feel sorry for you, you'll remember how cool it sounded: "Oh man, Nazi's invading 1950's America!" The premise was realistic and extremely interesting, but the actual game was packed with horrid AI, a pathetic control setup, and glitches abound.
Legendary is basically the same deal. The plot isn't as realistic, but it's still an interesting one. After your character mistakenly opens Pandora's Box, unleashing mythological creatures (such as werewolves, griffons, and so on) into the modern world, chaos ensues. The whole first level, set in New York, is terrific. You really get the sense that all hell has broken loose and people are reacting accordingly, fleeing for their lives. Then again, that's exactly how TP (Turning Point, but Toilet Paper works just the same) began...
The enemy types are limited. You get wolves, hairier wolves, fairy things, griffons, these things that look like sacks of vomit that crap out little suicide bomber larva, about 4 minotaurs IN THE WHOLE GAME, and various dudes shooting at you. That's it. Why are there guys shooting at you, you ask? Because you were supposed to be dead, obviously. Or you just SHOULDN'T HAVE BOUGHT THE GAME.
You can absorb energy from dead enemies to heal yourself (slightly better than that stupid regenerating health trend) or use a "pulse" attack, which is useless for the most part. I personally used it maybe once or twice in the entire game.
The assortment of weapons is generic but effective. You get a Pistol, Desert Eagle, something that kind of looks like an MP5 SMG, Shotgun, and a Bazooka. But like I said, standard. You do get an axe as a melee weapon though, but when you consider the guy from Doom got a chainsaw, it's pretty ineffective.
The levels are generic and weak overall. There's a cliche warehouse level, one in Times Square, and a lot of crawling around in the sewers. The game does pick up from time to time (a highlight being when a sea monster is smashing the hell out of the Parliament buildings in London) but it just feels so stock.
Turning Point was buggy as shit, but Legendary actually feels more refined, not that that's a big feat. That's like if they put "better than Hour of Victory" on the back of the TP box. The controls are responsive (mainly aiming and sprinting) but your guy can barely jump a foot off the ground. If the protagonist was 500 pounds I'd accept that, but the guy sprints like his ass is on fire, and pants like a dog for several seconds afterward. Is it too much to ask that game characters are in better physical condition?
The game isn't very long. It spans about 8 levels and you can blow through it in an afternoon on the easy setting, provided you don't stop to search for collectibles, or stop and rant about how bad of a developer Spark Unlimited is, and how dumb Gamecock (who got acquired by the slightly more pathetic SouthPeak games, publisher of such classics as Two Worlds and Monster Madness) is for actually distributing it.
Multiplayer is forgettable. It has an interesting concept, where you fight both AI creatures and other players (think Turok), but because a game requires 6 people to start, you'll never get a legit game going.
Achievement wise, Legendary is as bad as the game itself. You have to blow through the story 3 times (difficulties don't stack? FFFFFFUUUUUU...), find various PDA'S (AKA Collectibles... FFFFFFUUUU...) play 200 multiplayer games (and sometimes you have to play more, up to 300 in fact. FFFFFUUUUUU...), and do other menial tasks in the campaign, such as LOOK AT POSTERS WHILE A GIANT GOLEM STOMPS AROUND THE CITY, and GET YOUR HEAD STOMPED ON BY SAID GOLEM. It's not tough per se, it's just time consuming, and possibly rage inducing.
It's amazing. Spark Unlimited worked on Medal of Honor: Allied Assault back in the day; the game that SINGLEHANDEDLY KICK STARTED THE WWII FPS GENRE. What the hell happened? After that, we saw 3 teams emerge: Infinity Ward, who is known for Call of Duty, and is now slowing burning to the ground, EA LA, who is currently working on a new Medal of Honor that TOTALLY DOESN'T LOOK LIKE CALL OF DUTY (I swear!), and the aforementioned Spark, who put out two of the worst games on the Xbox 360. Yes, it came out on the PS3 too, but without trophy support, nobody played that. Nobody who isn't in an asylum at this time.
Oh, and they tease a sequel at the end of the game. I could go on about this for a solid week, but we'll just quote a Gamespot review: "This isn't so much of a tease, as it is a full on threat." That sums up the whole thing.
Despite playing better than TP, Legendary was equally bashed by critics, earning scores in the 2.0 to 3.5 range, even lower than the 45% average Turning Point got. Official Xbox Magazine gave it a 7.5, and said it was a fun throwback to games like Doom and Serious Sam.
The key difference was Doom came out in 1993, and Serious Sam had personality and was properly designed.
Coincidentally, I never renewed my subscription to OXM after that.
Had Legendary been designed by a rookie team, or the handicapped, i'd look past its shortcomings. It's mindless yes, and it functions as it should, but it's so generic and laughable in today's world. But no, these are developers who pump up the public with interesting, thought provoking plots, and then take a dump on the actual programming.
Somebody pay those writers quadruple whatever they make now (which is likely a slurpee, a bag of Doritos, and 3.50$ a day) and send the programmers back to High School Computer Programming Class.
PS: Here's one more cheap shot at Turning Point, a memorable quote from a buddy of mine, known as Electro Crunch on Xbox Live:
"Abbreviated, Turning Point is TP, which also stands for Toilet Paper, toilet paper that isn't even of a high enough quality to wipe my ass with."
Thanks bro. |
|
This review has 2 positive votes and 2 negative votes. Please log in to vote. |
From the creators of the phenomenal flop (and recipient of the prestigious Doominator's biggest letdown of 2008 award) Turning Point: Fall of Liberty, comes Legendary, a game that similarly aims high with a great premise, but is sabotaged by embarrassing game design.
Before we start, lets look at everything Spark Unlimited (the developers) have done thus far:
Call of Duty: Finest Hour - 2004. Not a bad game (scored about mid-70's) but underwhelming. They actually GOT SUED BY ACTIVISION for not "meeting standards of the franchise." Because this came out inbetween Call of Duty and Call of Duty 2, I didn't know ONE GAME WAS A FRANCHISE.
Turning Point: Fall of Liberty - 2008.
http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/xbox360/turni..... << ouch
Which brings us to this....
If you played Turning Point, aside from the fact I feel sorry for you, you'll remember how cool it sounded: "Oh man, Nazi's invading 1950's America!" The premise was realistic and extremely interesting, but the actual game was packed with horrid AI, a pathetic control setup, and glitches abound.
Legendary is basically the same deal. The plot isn't as realistic, but it's still an interesting one. After your character mistakenly opens Pandora's Box, unleashing mythological creatures (such as werewolves, griffons, and so on) into the modern world, chaos ensues. The whole first level, set in New York, is terrific. You really get the sense that all hell has broken loose and people are reacting accordingly, fleeing for their lives. Then again, that's exactly how TP (Turning Point, but Toilet Paper works just the same) began...
The enemy types are limited. You get wolves, hairier wolves, fairy things, griffons, these things that look like sacks of vomit that crap out little suicide bomber larva, about 4 minotaurs IN THE WHOLE GAME, and various dudes shooting at you. That's it. Why are there guys shooting at you, you ask? Because you were supposed to be dead, obviously. Or you just SHOULDN'T HAVE BOUGHT THE GAME.
You can absorb energy from dead enemies to heal yourself (slightly better than that stupid regenerating health trend) or use a "pulse" attack, which is useless for the most part. I personally used it maybe once or twice in the entire game.
The assortment of weapons is generic but effective. You get a Pistol, Desert Eagle, something that kind of looks like an MP5 SMG, Shotgun, and a Bazooka. But like I said, standard. You do get an axe as a melee weapon though, but when you consider the guy from Doom got a chainsaw, it's pretty ineffective.
The levels are generic and weak overall. There's a cliche warehouse level, one in Times Square, and a lot of crawling around in the sewers. The game does pick up from time to time (a highlight being when a sea monster is smashing the hell out of the Parliament buildings in London) but it just feels so stock.
Turning Point was buggy as shit, but Legendary actually feels more refined, not that that's a big feat. That's like if they put "better than Hour of Victory" on the back of the TP box. The controls are responsive (mainly aiming and sprinting) but your guy can barely jump a foot off the ground. If the protagonist was 500 pounds I'd accept that, but the guy sprints like his ass is on fire, and pants like a dog for several seconds afterward. Is it too much to ask that game characters are in better physical condition?
The game isn't very long. It spans about 8 levels and you can blow through it in an afternoon on the easy setting, provided you don't stop to search for collectibles, or stop and rant about how bad of a developer Spark Unlimited is, and how dumb Gamecock (who got acquired by the slightly more pathetic SouthPeak games, publisher of such classics as Two Worlds and Monster Madness) is for actually distributing it.
Multiplayer is forgettable. It has an interesting concept, where you fight both AI creatures and other players (think Turok), but because a game requires 6 people to start, you'll never get a legit game going.
Achievement wise, Legendary is as bad as the game itself. You have to blow through the story 3 times (difficulties don't stack? FFFFFFUUUUUU...), find various PDA'S (AKA Collectibles... FFFFFFUUUU...) play 200 multiplayer games (and sometimes you have to play more, up to 300 in fact. FFFFFUUUUUU...), and do other menial tasks in the campaign, such as LOOK AT POSTERS WHILE A GIANT GOLEM STOMPS AROUND THE CITY, and GET YOUR HEAD STOMPED ON BY SAID GOLEM. It's not tough per se, it's just time consuming, and possibly rage inducing.
It's amazing. Spark Unlimited worked on Medal of Honor: Allied Assault back in the day; the game that SINGLEHANDEDLY KICK STARTED THE WWII FPS GENRE. What the hell happened? After that, we saw 3 teams emerge: Infinity Ward, who is known for Call of Duty, and is now slowing burning to the ground, EA LA, who is currently working on a new Medal of Honor that TOTALLY DOESN'T LOOK LIKE CALL OF DUTY (I swear!), and the aforementioned Spark, who put out two of the worst games on the Xbox 360. Yes, it came out on the PS3 too, but without trophy support, nobody played that. Nobody who isn't in an asylum at this time.
Oh, and they tease a sequel at the end of the game. I could go on about this for a solid week, but we'll just quote a Gamespot review: "This isn't so much of a tease, as it is a full on threat." That sums up the whole thing.
Despite playing better than TP, Legendary was equally bashed by critics, earning scores in the 2.0 to 3.5 range, even lower than the 45% average Turning Point got. Official Xbox Magazine gave it a 7.5, and said it was a fun throwback to games like Doom and Serious Sam.
The key difference was Doom came out in 1993, and Serious Sam had personality and was properly designed.
Coincidentally, I never renewed my subscription to OXM after that.
Had Legendary been designed by a rookie team, or the handicapped, i'd look past its shortcomings. It's mindless yes, and it functions as it should, but it's so generic and laughable in today's world. But no, these are developers who pump up the public with interesting, thought provoking plots, and then take a dump on the actual programming.
Somebody pay those writers quadruple whatever they make now (which is likely a slurpee, a bag of Doritos, and 3.50$ a day) and send the programmers back to High School Computer Programming Class.
PS: Here's one more cheap shot at Turning Point, a memorable quote from a buddy of mine, known as Electro Crunch on Xbox Live:
"Abbreviated, Turning Point is TP, which also stands for Toilet Paper, toilet paper that isn't even of a high enough quality to wipe my ass with."
Thanks bro. |
BioHaZArd 1989
162,424
TA Score for this game: 2,765
Posted on 29 November 10 at 02:13 |
This review has 24 positive votes and 24 negative votes. Please log in to vote. |
this game looked quite good when it was released,i picked it up 2 years after its release.so after spending too many unnecesary hours attempting to finish up my final achievement.
STORY SUMMARY 2/5- ok let me start this review by saying this the game is a budget game expect budget game quality.the story is the main character is a world class thief who is sent on a mission to open and steal the ark which is in a new york muesem.well without ruining the story for too many of you ,the story is when it opens mythical creatures are released and wreak havoc upon the new york citzens and its surroundings.at the same time the main character deckard hand is turn into something quit..e abnormal giving him a couple inhuman abilities.
GAMEPLAY 2/5 - The gameplay is somewhat interesting and sadly it gets repetetive quite quickly.the whole game is done through first person except for the cutscenes.you do not get many weapons to use at your disposal,the weapons you gain are the fire axe,9mm pistol,submachine gun,shotgun,assualt rifle,rocket launcher,Lmg, and the desert eagle.the variety of enemies are human soldiers,werewolves,fire drakes,minotaurs,harpies, i call these blood sacs they rease they explosive like creatures til the blood sac is destroyed.then for the bosses there is the kraken, and the golem.Ok now to wrap this part up i did not enjoy all the glitches they left in it,achievements are horribly glitched and the hit detection is quite flawed.
MULTIPLAYER 1/5 - This games multiplayer in this game is just ridiculous,the one achievement where you must play 200 ranked matches is completelly glitched.I have endured 500+ ranked matches and so far no achievement.there is only 4 multiplayer maps the werehouse,den,new york city streets, and cathedral.The multiplayer in this game is a bad joke thats all i can say about it.
SOUND 1/5 - The sound in this game gets repetive very quickly,both background and main sound just utter crap.
OVERALL 1/5 - Not enjoyable,do not waist your hard earned money on this terrible game.Two thumbs way down.
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