Moments of Legendary can make one grow overwrought with excitement, how can you not? As a myriad horde of eager gryphons clutter the city sky and massive golems thrash through city blocks, it’s almost difficult to prevent yourself from writhing in sheer giddiness. However as the game progresses, it begins to tear itself apart and collapse upon itself into a mass of unmitigated and repugnant waste.  

Moments in Legendary can get chaotic.

          While the game provides samples of epic lunacies, it is also a prime example of what an atrocity the FPS genre can produce.You’ll constantly find yourself in a state of embitterment as you traverse Legendary’s repetitious hallways and subway tunnels. Each stage seeming to be a slightly altered form of the last, all boring, gray and dull. And whilst some of the aspects of the environment are interactive, there are not enough from keeping this supposed chaotic world feel so sterile.

          Most of the puzzles found within the game are exceedingly simplistic and lackluster at best. So much so that one can be convinced that the developers and designers constructed the puzzles with the intention of mocking the players’ intelligence.

          The various creatures that populate the game are just as humdrum as the environments, leaving a lot to be desired, as most of the creatures seemed to be an afterthought even though they were to be the basis of the game. As if the designers sat in a circle and had an aimless session of “oh! wouldn’t it be cool if…” and plugged in monster after monster without any true contemplation as to how these creatures would actually contribute to the game-play, or story. Each creature is dry and isn’t represented as an aspect of revulsion as they were by their respective cultures but are more obstacles than anything.

          The player is granted a wealth of weaponry that you'll acquire to use against the mythical monstrosities. Players will be able to gain a primary and secondary firearm, hand grenades, Molotov cocktails, and a fire axe. Whilst the game provides an ample supply of weapons, legendary handles them very unusually and unrealistically, ammunition is more than bountiful providing the player with an almost illimitable amount of bullets and by aiming down the firearms’ sights, recoil just seems to recede into nonexistence.  

          Once a creature has been slain the player can use the brand on their hand to acquire their energy, or Animus. Any monster contains this Animus, and the player utilizes it through healing themselves, repel objects, and to make certain materials solid. Unfortunately the player is found to be without any capacity too further these abilities through some sort of leveling system. And since most of the mythological beasties seem to ignore melee and projectile onslaughts, one would think that perhaps this magic could be put to more lethal uses. Unfortunately it does not, letting this very intriguing concept die via ill deployment.

          All is not lost; fortunately Legendary shines somewhat through a veil of antipathy to reveal decent visuals. The models are all passable, and while the werewolves look ratty many of the other creatures look just as one would expect them to look and Human models could be described as “alright”. The particle effects are executed well, and the explosions that derive from the occasional mayhem scattered throughout the game look nice. But still, texture ripping, clipping issues, slowdowns, and the occasional hitch are all a little too evident, degrading the product further.