Reviewed: July 3, 2003
Reviewed by: Dave Larson
Publisher
Strategy First
Developer
Strategy First
Released: May 22, 2003
Genre: Strategy
Players: 1
ESRB: Teen
8
5
7
8
8.0
System Requirements
Move over Julius, it’s time for some new blood. Still enjoying the fan base revived by Russell Crowe and cast in Gladiator, Strategy First's Legion: Gold, puts you in the Emperor’s throne. In this turn-based strategy game, you control the unstoppable might of the Roman, replete with an intimidating array of Praetorians and Legionnaires, archers and equites. So pack your pilum and shields, armor and gear, and suit up for the struggle for dominion of Europe.
Legion: Gold is relatively simple in concept. You start in Rome, and you take over the world. The game breaks this process up into many campaigns. You can tackle the many counties of Italy until the entire boot is yours, or you can storm the English. If you’re really feeling tough, go for the Goth units hovering in mainland Europe and prepare for a real fight.
It takes more than sheer might to conquer though. You have to manage your resources, maneuver your troops, and have charismatic savvy at the diplomatic table to stay alive. Making enemies of all of the opposing forces could lead to a very long day. The most difficult thing, though, is keeping track of your armies well. You absolutely MUST leave sizeable armies at your cities near the front, and yet still have one or two (or more) offensive armies out putting your enemies to the torch. All of these armies can get quite expensive quickly, putting considerable strain on your resources.
The actual fighting takes place in a different format. You have up to eight units in your army, and you place them on your third of the battlefield before the start of the battle. You also give them their formations and commands at this point, such as wait a short time and charge or go a long distance and hold. Simulating actual historical battles, there is no control over your units once the battle has begun—chaos reigns supreme. So there it is. Play your strengths and minimize your weaknesses. Use the Force. Do whatever you have to do, or the world will slip through your grasp like a dollar at a strip club.
Legion: Gold is a game where the old slogan “still waters run deep” hold true. Up front, this game appears quite simple. You start with cities that have up to 9 or so build points. You build your economic-generating, morale-building, and military structures in these places. You make armies, and you crush your enemies and hear the lamentations of their women with your unstoppable forces. Simple, right? If you think so, then prepare to have your naiveté mocked.
First of all, the economics of this game take constant vigilance to be secure. While your setup in 800 BC may work for your, by 798 BC (eight turns) you could be generating only half of the wood you need, and be way over on your ore. Depending on the number and type of troops you build, your upkeep and workforce can change dramatically and quickly. Keep a sharp eye on your goods or you’ll get a nasty surprise.
Secondly, combat is deceivingly complex. You place your units and give them the commands before the start of the action, and then you let it all go. Hmph. While that is certainly the case, your opponent does the same. The result is that either of you prepare blind, and that can lead to poor consequences without it being a tactical blunder; most generals at least have an idea of how the enemy is coming. It’s a locked guarantee that you will lose a couple of easy fights just because the computer lines up on the completely far side of the battlefield, or that your troops will charge too far to be effective.
Lastly, diplomacy is quirky at best. You can give ten percent of your total resources to a neighboring country and it will continue to hate you, yet the country that you send one measly lump of ore to becomes your friend for life. However, diplomacy is very important to victory. Trying to win the whole board via combat alone will, at the least, take prohibitively long, and at the worst will result in your utter humiliation and defeat. So, take your lumps and your losses, and continue to send your brib—uh, gifts.
Graphics are certainly a weak point of this game. The overall world map is the worst of the graphics. Simple lines indicating counties, simple icons for cities, and single guys for armies are the order of this game. It’s very nineties. It’s so nineties that this game smells like teen spirit. The city screens are static images that replace your empty build positions from forests to the building you construct. And the best graphics are the live combat screen, which before you place your armies is just a bunch of squares for objects and a big green square. After you place your armies, the individual guys aren’t too bad, but are really just average. Barely.
The only saving grace to all of this is that this game is not really designed for graphical awards. It’s a thinking game, so use your noggin and just pretend you’re playing a retro game.
Sometimes you have to wonder if all of the strategy games have one big archive of music they draw their music from. Sure, it is a historical setting, so classical music is a choice, but it’d be nice to have someone break out some good, powerful music. Surely it’s not too expensive to pay for the rights to some Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, or Dvorak? Or perhaps a few movie soundtracks would be more in order, such as the Lord of the Rings flicks. Regardless, a change would be nice.
Okay, off of the soapbox. Other than the lack of inspiration, the sound in this game is pretty okay. Not special, but not really lacking either. Sure there are the appropriate sounds for battle, and the background music tootles along nicely, but if you have the basic two speakers and a SoundBlaster, you’re pretty much set.
There are a number of campaigns to play, all of which are pretty challenging and require some perseverance and wiles to succeed in. It would easily take over a hundred hours to get through the campaigns. However, the learning curve is very flat; getting the subtle nuances of the game down can be accomplished in 10 hours at the most. Also, retailing at $29.99, this game is just a bit pricey for the money. For that kind of dough, I don’t expect the best game in the world, but an extra effort in graphics and sound would be nice.
To sum it up shortly, this game is long on intellectualism, tactics, and economic management and very short on appearance and design. If you need a lot of extras to hold your interest, then this game is not for you. If you are more oriented towards pure strategy and results, then you’ll love this game. It’s that simple.