"Untold Legends 2: Warrior's Code Review"

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Untold Legends 2: Warrior's Code Review
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*Pros*: It fixes most of the problems of the first game (poor presentation, long load times, etc.) resulting in a much more satisfying experience. Features four new characters to sink your teeth into. Attacks of Opportunity, Charged Attacks and Changeling Form makes for deeper gameplay. Revamped skill system gives more reason to play each character again and again.

*Cons*: Skills are not really needed but make game more fun. Stats are a bit confusing and meaningless (i.e., INT to increase Melee CRITICAL, STR to increase SPECIAL CRITICAL, etc). Some problems with graphics (i.e., some minor tears and some occurrences of areas appearing as black for a few seconds). Sounds are passable at best.

Full Review:

***NOTE: This is in response to the many low reviews this game has received from the start. One review in particular seemed a bit shallow to me. It took a bit of time before this review was released but in the end I was a bit disappointed given the fact that it didn't seem to me that the reviewer didn't play the game long enough before he wrote his review.***

The original game brought the hack and slash genre to the PSP and though it lacked polish, it had a very good following and sales show that gamers bought it even if it seemed to be universally given bad reviews.

After almost a year, the developers have churned out a sequel to the game which, though is much more of the same, fixed a lot of the problems of the first and improved on the old formula (though by just a bit) giving us portable warriors, mages and thiefs another good reason to own a PSP.

Graphics wise, a bit of an upgrade. Characters are exceptionally modeled. The particle effects are pretty good this time putting it a bit closer, in terms of graphical presentation, with its big brothers Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance 2 and Champions of Norrath: Return to Arms. There were some slowdowns here and there and a couple of places where the environments loaded so slowly that it appeared that my character and enemies was walking nothing but black but none of this deterred the action.

In game music were more of the same (i.e., not bad but still forgettable). Sounds however are a bit better with actual character voices. Voice acting is acceptable though not great as well.

Gameplay is much improved since the last game with 5 more characters, a completely revamped skill system, more meaningful stats, and new additions such as "Attacks of Opportunity", "Charged Attacks", and Changeling Forms.

The five characters are completely unique from each other (having no skills common to each). They can be customized in much the same way as before (i.e, hair style, hair color and skin color). They play differently from each other with the Guardian focusing on defensive skills, the Mercenary and Prowler being more offensive, the Disciple more magic oriented, and the scout more ranged inclined.

Stats are a bit more useful with them giving more effects per point investment. Unlike the first game where one point in CON gives only 1 health and one point in INT gives only 1 Power, these stats give 3 each. Aside from these the stats provide other effects as well though some maybe a bit confusing such as STR providing ranged critical chance. Mayhap the developers are giving players reasons to scatter points between skills. In my point of view, it would still be better to just focus on one (i.e., all CON to make a tank or all STR/DEX to make a glass cannon build).

I haven't played with all the characters and all of the skills (there are a lot of combinations!) to properly gauge the balance between the characters though in the boards it seems that the Prowler and Guardian seems to be the most common while the Disciple and the Scout seems to be the least common. Players are saying that the former two are the best characters in the game. I believe though that they may be the best but that is still something to be verified. I believe that they are the most common only because they are the easiest to start with while the latter two will give a more hellish first few levels. I expect that in a couple of months, when the community matures more (the game is only less than one month old after all), we'll see a variety of PVP and PVM builds out there, though don't expect it to rival that of Diablo 2.

Charged Hits, Attacks of Opportunities, and Changeling Forms are not gimmicky as described in other reviews. They have very specific uses and give the game a bit more depth in my point of view. For one, other reviewers say that Charged Hits are useless since enemies are able to hit you a number of times before you can charge it up. I say they don't know how to use it. I for example, Charge my attack while waiting for enemies to converge on my position. This gives me a distinct advantage in that I can kill a few off with one shot and leave others critically wounded. Attacks of Opportunities also are a bit misunderstood. While the reviewers are saying Attacks of Opportunities are useless since you'll take damage while waiting for a chance to do this. I say, why wait? These are attacks of OPPORTUNITY. These are not standard attacks in that you should use it in each and every monster you encounter. You use it when you have the OPPORTUNITY to use it. Rewards for such is not that bad as well with an uncharged one giving as much damage as a Charged Hits, a half charged one giving that amount of damage and putting you out of harms way and a fully charged one giving that amount of damage, knocks your opponent (and anyone near him) back, and sometimes giving special items. Changeling forms are in itself a bit gimmicky but gameplay wise they give a number of advantages which makes them more useful that they seem. For one, you can stun and knock back opponents by default. Life regeneration is also greatly increased while in this form giving you some breathing room in those tight areas. This made the first few levels a bit easier for my scout.

Also, gone are the large random maps (I miss them so). With that they provided pre-created maps (similar to BG2:DA and RtA). This is not a bad thing however since this gave the developers a chance to make triggered events and added to the overall polish of the game.

Online Multiplayer is a very nice addition with the inclusion of leader boards and online PvP. The former is similar to DII's ladder and gives one more reason to play (I hope they reset this regularly to give new players a chance to shine). The latter gives one a chance to show off his skill. I hope to see builds customized for PvM and PvP in the near future.

Presentation is where the game really shines with full in game cinematic and dialogs, actual voice acting and much reduced load times. Here is where you'll see that the developers are listening to players and reviewers.

The game is particularly long even without PvP and online play given the number of characters and the length of the single player game. All in all, I would say it would take between 20 to 30 hours depending on your play style and the character you choose to finish the story. Online play will take you even longer to master especially PvP which pits you against ever improving opponents and evolving builds.

Overall, the game is much improved from its predecessor. As discussed, I believe that this game was given a very bad rap. I for one, did not like the initial stages of the game but when I got further into it and understood the some of the new gameplay mechanics of the game, I had better appreciation of the game.

In all honesty, I believe that reviewers from the major gaming sites either didn't try to actually play it long enough or just jumped on the "dis this game bandwagon". I don't want to point fingers. Suffice to say that I have read some reviews that are not detail ed enough to warrant credibility in my point of view which ended in the sites inquestion losing credibility in my eyes. I love this genre and because of these reviews I almost did not buy this game which would have been a shame because this game is really good even if it does have its share of problems.

- Summary -------------------
Graphics: 7.5 / 10
Sound: 7.0 / 10
Gameplay: 8.5 / 10
Longevity: 9.0 / 10
(Tilt: 9.0 / 10)
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Overall: 8.0 / 10
(Overall with Tilt: 8.2 / 10)
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Expect a full character FAQ in a couple of weeks once I've played with all the characters.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 04/10/06