Elven Legacy Preview Round-up
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The first is at Game Vortex:
The mechanics of Elven Legacy will feel quite familiar to most fans of the genre and will easily be picked up by new players. At heart, it is a turn-based game in which players move various small units of their army across a map broken into hexagonal spaces. The type of units available to the player increases as the game progresses and players are given the option to upgrade their experienced units to the new types, thereby not sacrificing the time spent building up specific units. Missions begin the usual way, with a cutscene followed by the player choosing and positioning his various units in predetermined areas. Once this is done, the rounds begin. Finishing a mission within a certain number of turns will often net the player with special bonuses, including new units, artifacts, and, as mentioned above, occasionally bonus missions.
The second is at Frictionless Insight:
I spent a lot of time with the Elven campaign, one of two campaigns in Elven Legacy that are accompanied by several bonus missions unlocked through superior play. The game follows Sagittel, an Elven mage who wields a bow like a Klingon swings a Bat'leth, and Gylven, an Elven sorceress both of whom are ardent protectors of Elvenkind and willing to defend humanity, if it doesn't inconvenience them too much. 1C promises a non-linear storyline, but that appears to mean that you follow a linear campaign in which you often have a choice between one of two battles. That suggests that the campaigns have at least one solid replay beyond just improving your performance.
The third is at GameZone:
The story involves the usual fantasy suspects of elves, orcs, humans, undead creatures, etc. A quirky addition is the use of flying ships, albeit drawn in Elvish style. I've not played a turn-based fantasy title with enemy units that stayed above the battlefield the entire time and I enjoyed this different type of unit. While this type of story has been around for eons, that's ok. Fantasy fans like elves better than spaceships, anyway.
The fourth is at GDN:
It's obvious, however, that most of the game's resources are being put toward the gameplay, and the result is some pretty intuitive combat mechanics that many Fire Emblem players have been calling for since its release Stateside. Players can attack and move in the same turn, will auto-attack when enemies move into range of them and it doesn't take up their turn, and the combat isn't limited to one versus one either. There seemed to be a lot of unit types, but the AI didn't always seem to respond in a consistent or intelligent way. There would be times when the AI would do an excellent job of flanking and other times they would run right into an obviously set trap.
The fifth is at Strategy Informer:
Players who loved Fantasy Wars will clearly eat up Elven Legacy with a big, hand-carved, wooden spoon. Essentially more of the same, polished to a gleaming shine and focused on a new race to boot, Elven Legacy should satisfy all but the most malcontent goblin-fancier. There's heaps of interesting stuff including 16 multiplayer missions for 2-4 players, unlockable bonuses and perks for achieving a gold rating on each stage, loads of different unit types and the ability to play as humans in a completely separate campaign. Each unit and hero character possesses their very own special abilities too, which can be developed through gaining experience points in true RPG style. With dragons, flying galleons, siege machines and hundreds of new opponents to face, Elven Legacy promises to provide players with hours of compelling turn-based strategic gameplay.
The sixth is at zConnection:
The game's graphics are fairly advanced, with detailed environments and an adjustable camera perspective. Units are portrayed by large character models with intricate textures. The design of characters' clothing or armour are generic and cliché, but somehow look good regardless. Battle and movement animations are smooth, and battles are sometimes accompanied by short cinematic depictions, giving just that extra touch to the immersion of the game.
And the seventh is at Cheat Code Central:
Elven Legacy uses many of the same visual elements and assets as the original game. Though it doesn't win any awards in the visual department, the game has a lot of bright colors and nice details. It also features extensive camera controls that let you view the action from numerous strategic vantages. It's still occasionally tough to make sense of who's who on each side when things get packed, but having the flexibility to view entire armies in a grid represented by a single soldier icon or zooming in closely to view the throng of troops is a neat touch.
