PlayStation 2

Legion: The Legend of Excalibur

There are really only a few beefs that I have with this game. One is saving. You can’t save in mission but it auto saves for you after you complete each one. You can’t even save after you buy equipment before you go to the next mission. The real kicker about it though is that you can’t start a new game on the same memory card. It only auto saves to the same file. This is a real problem because there is no level select option either. Once you complete a mission it is done - there’s no going back. There’s no movie player either so break out the VCR for those cutscenes because you are only going to see them once, unless you replay the entire game.

In the end, Legion is a solid game that is worth playing through once. It may lose its steam after that, but it's a fun mix of action, strategy and RPG. Fans of Gauntlet, Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance and Diablo might want to give it a look.

Not everyone's a fan of action games, nor is everyone a fan of strategy games, or adventure games, or even RPGs. But for those curious to try one or the other, and at the same time -- Legion: The Legend of Excalibur packs a good deal of each one for an entertaining mix up. Bundled with one of time's old and favorite tales still told today through books and movies, and an included DVD behind the scenes look at the game, it's fun enough to last anyone a decent amount of time and should be on your list of releases to rent this or any weekend.

Gaming is supposed to be fun, not frustrating. Too often I found myself cursing at the unusually hard to manage team attacks and screaming as I started the whole field over for the 100th time. Patient gamers, up for insane multi-tasking, may not find too many problems with this game. But you have to ask yourself… why should I work so hard to have a good time?

After all is said and done, what you're left with is a game that didn't deserve the time you spent playing it. Although it had some great ideas (the RTS elements) and a cool storyline, the actual execution of the gameplay is mediocre. Midway should really consider sticking to what they know best and stay away from ambitious games like this.

If you're looking for an easy hack-n-slash to play in between servings of some better, more robust game, then Legion: The Legend of Excalibur might not be a bad rental. Otherwise, I'd leave this sword in its stone.

The King Arthur mythos is quality source material that could probably make for a pretty cool game. But Legion: Legend of Excalibur is not that game. The game plays like its developers were unsure if they wanted to make a Gauntlet-like action game or a hero unit-focused strategy game. The combination of the two ideas waters down both concepts, and that along with some poor production values results in a dull end product that should be avoided.