fighting

New Legends has gotten poor reviews from numerous sites due to its graphics, which are not up to par with other XBOX titles. This game, however, offers outstanding gameplay which fans of old school beat-em-ups like Final Fight will love. This game was developed by Infinite Machine, headed by the designer of the original Jedi Knight. Not surprisingly, this game has a lot in common with LucasArts' Obi-Wan, which happens to use the Jedi Knight engine. It has the same fun mission based kill-everyone-in-sight 3rd-person gameplay, but instead of wielding a lightsaber, you wield numerous weapons of Eastern theme, ranging from samurai swords to razor claws to guns. Being that you can hold one weapon in each hand, you can either spin around, slicing opponents as you go, or shoot opponents with a gun while at the same time hitting them with a sword attack from your other hand; there are two attack buttons, one for each hand. Though the action in the game is very repetitive (like any beat-em-up), the levels are diverse and a blast to play through. The graphics in this game are better than Obi-Wan, but more on the level of Dreamcast than XBOX. In addition, you also see sub-30fps framerates at points, which also detracts from the graphics. All in all, a worthwhile purchase due to its addictive gameplay, as long as you can get over the graphics.

New Legends is the type of game that could have been awesome for the Xbox, but ends up lacking in several key areas. The game has an interesting story and a very neat combat system, but the graphics are terrible.

The storyline keeps you interested, as you try and regain your kingdom in China. At first, things are a little confusing because of the way you view things. This can hurt some because you basically are thrust right into the game without a tutorial. But after awhile, things get easier and you start to progress with ease.

The game is your basic hack and slash third person game with the goal to kill your enemies and get to the end of the level. Occasionally, you have to complete tasks, like planting bombs or opening gates, but these are straightforward and usually easy to do. The game does get tougher later and figuring out how to complete certain levels can take a long time.

You can use up to two weapons at once, either one of two kinds of two of the same, and they can do some interesting combos. There is a lot to choose from, as well, from swords to bows to guns to other special weapons you get from beating regular enemies and bosses. The variation allows you to pick and choose what weapon is right for you, which is a plus.

What makes this game fun is working your way through some pretty huge levels. Each level looks different and has different characteristics, which is fun. Also, you have help from allies in most of the levels, although they tend to go off on their own, leaving you to dispatch the bad guys, which isn't hard.

That leads me to my next point. While I like facing easy enemies, the lack of variety can make fighting almost seem like a chore. There are only basically a few types of enemies and, while they vary what weapon they have, each is roughly the same. It gets to the point where you wonder if the developers developed the enemies last, although the bosses are very cool and present their own unique challenges.

The main problem with this game comes from the graphics. It looks like a Playstation game. That's the original Playstation, not the Playstation 2. Characters, for the most part, are blocky, as are the foregrounds. The motions are also very choppy and not at all smooth. There is also framerate slowdown like you wouldn't believe in certain parts of the game.

Another problem is that there are times when the gameplay stops momentarily to restart the music, which isn't worth restarting for the most part. Also, in order to check your goals when they change, you have to pause the game, which can get annoying. Finally, the camera angles swing around enough to make you seasick. It also can make fighting extremely difficult.

Overall, this is one of those "rent before you buy" games. Some people can look past the surface and see the great gameplay elements at the heart of New Legends. Others won't be able to look past the poor graphics.

ok, i just got this as a gift from my cousin, and i would just like to ask you: what the hell is this? i'd sell it (or even throw it to the ground and jump up and down on top of it) if it wasnt a gift. but since im nice enough, ill just let it sit on my shelf and embarass me every time i have a friend over. look, DO NOT buy this game. it is SO stupid.