Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom

Dark Kingdom isn’t particularly innovative, and it falls prey to a number of RPG clichés, but when it comes to the important things – the hacking and the slashing – it performs admirably.

The graphics are commendable, but not amazing, the sound is arguably the game’s best quality, and overall, comes as a game that is best suited for fans of games of this nature only.

It isn’t that Dark Kingdom is broken in any way, but the game lacks the sense of grandeur that can be seen in other next-generation games.

It's a pretty standard action RPG with simple controls and decent action.

A legend that should have stayed untold. [Feb 2007]

An old-fashioned game that will entertain for a few hours. [Apr 2007, p.66]

Early bosses can be defeated by simply standing right in front of them and persistently pressing of the x button.

As a fan of the Norrath series, I hope SOE can salvage this mess for future releases because this simply doesn’t cut it, especially on the dawn of the next-gen console race.

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.

As with its handheld predecessors, Dark Kingdom is a game that can be enjoyable to hardcore fans of the genre who are willing to overlook its flaws, but probably not to anyone else.

If people are looking for a true next gen action RPG experience, they're not going to find it here. Plagued with current gen issues and repetitive combat, Dark Kingdom feels like it was ported over to the PS3 from a pre-existing console.

A mediocre attempt at furthering a genre that has almost completely stalled in its progress. Thankfully, fans of the genre will continue to feel right at home with Dark Kingdoms, but they will have to suffer through some annoying anomalies to fully enjoy it.

Untold Legends sticks to its roots and doesn’t quite feel like it’s made the jump to the next-generation.

Far more action than RPG, and along with a ridiculously linear path and almost no variety in gameplay, even lacking a decent story and highly dumbed-down mechanics, there's not a whole lot to recommend here unless you really, really love the genre and don't mind playing something that doesn't require as much micromanagement while waiting for some legitimate entries on PS3.

Dark Kingdom has its failings, but it still isn't "bad"; it's just old fashioned and disappointing, especially when compared to modern action RPGs like "Marvel Ultimate Alliance."

The role-playing elements are lightweight, and while the combat can be flashy, it's also pretty uncomplicated. It can be fun for a while, but monotony eventually sets in, and you find yourself wondering why this technically modest game is on the PlayStation 3 in the first place.

Graphics bump aside, little has changed since we clicked the mouse one million times in "Diablo."

A shallow and simpleminded title that holds a faint glimmer of fun. There's nothing here that you'd want to play for more than a few minutes, but ironically enough, that qualifies Dark Kingdom as one of the more tolerable PS3 launch games.

Granted, the snappy graphics are pretty boss, even in standard definition (and you'll notice a difference if you use an S-Video cable instead of the plain old composites), but that's just not enough to warrant the label next-gen -- not when you've got a machine as powerful as the PS3 flaunting its Cell processor.

It does one thing right: it has a ton of hack-and-slash action. Beyond that, it doesn't have many redeeming features. A long list of small bugs, weak role-playing elements and an atrocious camera prevent it from being a worthy purchase.

Sixty bucks for this experience is just asking too much. [Jan. 2007, p.84]

A decent PS3 debut quest, but this by-the-book RPG is nowhere near what we expect from Sony's new machine. [Mar 2007, p.76]

Everything in place functions okay, but there’s not one single aspect of the game that excels in terms of quality, and there are just too many problems that ultimately cripple the overall package.

From the experience of killing bugs, to the last-gen graphics, and the unfinished gameplay I would say skip this one entirely. That is unless you’re an Action RPG freak who has the ability to play online.

The flaws are numerous, even in comparison to other launch games, but if you want to spend a mindless weekend full of fantastical hacking-and-slashing it’s not a terrible choice.

Old, safe, and completely uninspired, Untold Lgends is only saved from the humiliation of being the worst of the launch games by its plodding competence. [Issue 148, p.86]

Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom is just plain boring.

So it all boils down to how long you can stand to button mash and devote points to basic character growth, and little else. The storyline never really picks up, your chosen character never becomes interesting, and the gameplay never evolves past the original premise.

Overall, it's a disappointing effort at best, and only recommended if you're a sports-,car-,and gun-allergic PS3 owner grasping for something to play. [Jan. 2007, p.74]

With "Oblivion" looming, Untold Legends' one-noe gameplay feels woefully outdated. [Apr 2007, p.116]

At best, it's a simple hack and slasher with an okay Co-op mode, but 10 minutes of play is all it takes to realise how shoddy the action is.

Graphical problems and monotonous gameplay make this another lacklustre entry in the franchise. [Apr 2007, p.64]

If you take out storytelling and character building, then add in mediocre gameplay, what do you have? A pretty action title that stumbles far more than it struts.

Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom could have got away with some of its shortcomings had it not been on a next-gen console that arrived over a year after its main rival.

If you've already hacked through any of the "Champions of Norrath" or "Baldur's Gate" PS2 games, then you'll find little here to hold your interest. [Jan. 2007, p.80]

To be fair, Dark Kingdom doesn't have any single game-destroying flaw, except perhaps for that murderous bastard camera. It's an average, if occasionally very frustrating example of a genre that's abundantly represented on other platforms.

Mind-numbing button mashing with unremarkable stages can only be used to help you forget about the six hundred dollars that you blew on a system to play a game no better than its PSP cousin.

It's a game that, like other examples of the genre, is utterly simplistic, and little more than a carefully engineered route down the reward pathway of the player's brain.