Legendary Wars Review

By , on January 31, 2011


Legendary Wars
Download on the AppStore
4 out of 5

PROS

  • Variety of gameplay modes; not your typical castle defense.
  • Blending of RTS elements.
  • Lighthearted, cartoonish style; paired with an intriguing story.

CONS

  • Poorly considered controls; prone to misclicks - lacking intuitive options.
  • Repeating levels required to stay ahead of the curve; only other option is in-app purchases to stay ahead.

VERDICT

Legendary Wars does an admirable job of propelling the castle defense genre beyond the usual predictable set of features, though players can be left fumbling to control their army with any level of accuracy.


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Do you happen to have a friend that you hold dear that also happens to have an incredibly annoying personal trait? It could be something as simple as the way they laugh or even a bad habit, but regardless of it you still call them a friend. Legendary Wars by Liv Games is the gaming equivalent of that sort of friend; it's surprisingly refreshing and well considered as far as castle defense games go, but it has one heck of an annoying trait that may make it hard to wholly enjoy.

Case in point, its controls bear more than the lion's share of frustration when it comes to trying to remain invested in the game for longer than the first campaign. Like most castle defense games, players convert resources in to units that are subsequently used to crush the incoming forces, however in an interesting twist there are three possible lanes for your units (and the enemies) to travel down. This sounds clever in theory, however units need to be individually micromanaged in order to efficiently guard or otherwise make progress on most levels. Unfortunately individual control is sketchy and often results in accidentally selecting other units or moving them in to danger too soon and the group controls lack any level of intelligence as your units stumble forward heedless of the formations you've previously set them in.

Though, should you manage to wrangle some sense of control over your units you're granted access to perhaps one of the most intriguing castle defense games currently available on the App Store. The cartoonish art style and childish fantasy theme mask a far more complex game that provides varied scenarios that range from basic defense; to attacking other castles; defeating large 'boss' style encounters; and even 'platforming' sequences and unique solo-hero modes. To top it off, the story is told well as it manages to pace out the serious 'quest' plot-line with interspersed moments of humor that keep things lighthearted without jumping in to cheesy territory.

Still, Legendary Wars is a hard game to recommend without at least making it clear that it's only a matter of time before the controls start to annoy you, but if you enjoy the game's variety and story enough it's a price worth paying for.

Screenshots

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