The Legacy: Realm of Terror

The Good
In 1993 "Legacy" arrived at my door and I was highly anticipating it. I had seen the striking box cover before and it was the initial pull for me to purchase the game. In a time when I lived in a remote area and before the internet this was still rare for me. I was not disappointed as it left a lasting impact on me.

"The Legacy: Realm Of Terror" did a very good job of balancing a mix of horror, adventure and action into what I was assuming to be a simple RPG game. While it does have an RPG feel there is a soup of the three aforementioned aspects that makes it much deeper. It was very satisfying to hit an enemy with a weapon, such as a fireplace poker, and see how much damage it did based on the wound. Puzzles abounded and they varied on the level of somewhat easy to downright diabolical. For mood, the horror you felt was a cross between isolation and shock. There was a great mechanic where your character would be frozen with terror depending on how bad an enemy frightened him. Not being able to manipulate your alter-ego at all inspired much dread.

The game looked good and sounded very good. I always felt that there was a bit of whimsy in the overall graphic design. Almost as if it had a comic strip feel for a newspaper delivered from Hell. There was heavy exaggeration at points on the game that would give you a good laugh or made you shiver. The art was done very well and you never had to wonder what you were looking at or needed from your inventory in a pinch. The small auto map on the bottom left corner of the screen was a nice touch. It's most useful aspect was the fact that you could see if there was perhaps a hidden area behind a wall. Very good for giving a hint but not spoiling anything.

The music and sound that was used could hit a wide range of emotion jarring effects. Hearing something groaning from behind a door or down the hall. The shattering of a stained glass window or the roar of an organ were beautiful and startling at the same time. There was a care taken by the developers on how to make the sounds interact with the living environment. They knew when to bombard you while at the same time adding nothing and leaving the silence to torture you.

The Bad
The combat could have been a bit more refined. Equipping weapons and such was simple. They would show up on your character's "paper doll" interface so that was handy. There were "aim" and "hit" buttons to click on during combat. They were supposed to insinuate a strategy when fighting creatures. Sadly though I found it lacking more often than not. A sound idea but the execution was a bit poor.

The Bottom Line
I don't see this game listed on many of the great games categories and that bothers me. I believe "Legacy" had everything you could have asked from it. I remember how much fun it was to play it. To discover new things and want to move forward but also with a charming forbidding that told me to be careful what I wished. It was a wonderful game in just about every aspect and an experience I am glad I did not miss.