Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom
Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom is a hack and slash role playing game that was developed by Sony Online Entertainment and was released for the Sony Playstation 3 on November 13, 2006.
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Developer: Sony Online Entertainment Publisher: Sony Online Entertainment Release Date: November 13, 2006 Platforms: PS3 JustRPG Score: 66% Pros: +Fun combat system. +Good replay value. Cons: -Mediocre story line. -Poor visuals. -Clunky controls. |
Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom Overview
Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom is a hack and slash role playing game that was released for the Playstation 3. This game plays almost identically to previous Untold Legends titles which stays true to the traditional RPG format. This version of the game allows the player to play as either a warrior, a mage, or a scout. The game has fun combat mechanics, but an overall weak story line. If you are a fan of the traditional role playing game template then this game is worthy of your collection.
Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom Screenshots
Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom Featured Video
Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom Review
| In the last few years, the PSP has seen a couple of installments of Sony Online Entertainment’s action-RPG series Untold Legends. The series has basically stuck to the PSP, but coinciding with the launch of Sony’s latest console, the PlayStation 3, is the release ofUntold Legends: Dark Kingdom for the PS3. Will hack-and-slash fans easily warm up to Dark Kingdom, or should this story have gone untold? Read on to find out. |
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Throughout Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom, players will be taking on the role of a member of an elite group known throughout the Kingdom as the Dragon Shades. When peace is threatened in the land of Dureth by a massive rebellion of barbarians, the King sends you and your fellow Dragon Shades to restore peace to the land. However, the tides turn when you discover that the King has fallen into darkness and that he is the one who is actually behind these attacks. As a soldier loyal to Dureth, the Dragon Shades take arms against the King in an attempt to end his reign of destruction. |
| Similar to many games featuring the hack-and-slash formula, Dark Kingdom features three different character classes that players can take control of throughout their adventure. These classes include the physical powerhouse of the group, the Warrior, the agile Scout, and the master of magic, the Mage. Each of these character classes comes equipped with two different attacks, which are basically their heavy and fast attacks. Using the two types of attacks, players are able to combo them together to trigger some of that character’s different combination attacks, but chances are most players will stick to using a couple of effective combos and mere button mashing rather than actually going with the list of combos. Nevertheless, each of the characters have a list of combo moves which will be obtained throughout the adventure and can be viewed by pressing the start button and glancing at their combo attacks. |
| As is the case with most RPGs, as characters defeat enemies, they will acquire an amount of experience points. Once these points reach a certain amount, that character will then level up and you will then be able to increase their stats. Whenever a character levels, the player will be able to use one stat point to increase their character’s melee attacks, melee defense, spell defense, health points, magic power, and so on. Aside from stat bonuses, players will also be given one point that can be used to strengthen one of their character’s spells or acquire a completely new one. |
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Throughout Dark Kingdom, as the enemies are defeated, many of them will often leave behind some sort of equipment. There are five different types of equipment that the characters can wear on certain positions of their body, including the head, chest, shoulders, legs, and feet. All in all, there are large quantities of different types of equipment that your characters can wear, many of which are pretty neat looking. However, unlike many games of its kind, the characters in Dark Kingdom will not actually obtain completely new types of weapons. Throughout the entire game, each character will use the exact same weapons, but instead they will pick up enhancements that can increase the strength, add elemental attacks to the weapon, or give other abilities such as making the enemies appear on your mini-map or identifying the location of hidden treasure chests. Also, aside from actually finding your character’s equipment, the player is also able to purchase equipment at different checkpoints by using the game’s currency, which is known as essence. Obtaining essence is really quite simple, and can be found by merely defeating your enemies, and in different locations throughout the game. |
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| While Dark Kingdom and similar games in the genre can be enjoyed alone, much of the real enjoyment usually comes from the multiplayer. Not only can players go through the entire story mode by their self, but also at any point throughout the adventure another player can jump in the game and play. In total, up to three players can go through the adventure together on the same PlayStation 3. However, the game also features online play, where up to four individuals can play through the same game, but not all on the same system. With online play and four different difficulties to choose from, the game has a little replay value along the way. |
| No matter if you choose to go through the adventure alone or with a friend, one of the biggest problems with the game is the difficult camera angles. At least while going through solo, the game allows you to switch the camera angle from a behind-the-back view to an overhead view, which is nice and does help. But at the same time the camera has the problem with constantly getting stuck on certain objects, including trees, walls, rocks, and many other objects found throughout the game. The camera in co-op isn’t very good either, constantly fixed in an overhead angle, which gives a decent view, but it still gets stuck on trees and walls often. Overall, the camera can make the entire gaming experience very frustrating and may be enough to even turn away some gamers. |
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Graphically, Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom probably isn’t the most impressive to be seen on the PlayStation 3, but the overall look of the game isn’t necessarily bad. The character models feature a fairly good amount of detail and, as I mentioned earlier, quite a few of the equipments look pretty good too. Aside from that, many of the magic spells carry along a nice look. However, the environments at times are a bit weak, and add in some slowdown sequences in the game, and this hurts some of the experience. |
| As for the sound department, the game fares a bit better than it does in the graphics department. The game does feature quite a bit of voice work throughout, but most of it isn’t particularly good. While the voice acting isn’t exactly awful, it is a bit disappointing. On the other hand, the score throughout the game is done very well and helps create an entire epic feeling, which fits well with the game. |
| Overall Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom definitely has some flaws along the way. While this might not be the epic that many gamers were hoping for, if you’re looking for a decent hack-and-slash RPG for the PlayStation 3, then you may want to check out Dark Kingdom. |
| Final Grade: 66% |
Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom Screenshots