Legacy Dark Shadows

While Ren is on vacation inside a tourist colony on Mars, her buddy Hacker drops a line to say Ted has been kidnapped.  It turns out that we like Ted and now we must find him.  So much for Ren’s rest and relaxation.  Say that three times fast.  If you visit the official website, the story is broken down with a little more detail.  During World War II Germany and Japan were up to no good involving some kind of genetic anti-aging experiments.  These experiments altered the future.  And that’s all I can say.  I will say no more.

Legacy Dark Shadows is a third person point and click adventure game in the classic tradition of other titles such as The Longest Journey, Syberia and Gabriel Knight.  Gameplay will be very familiar to veterans and easy to pick up for newbies.  You simply point to a location on the screen and click.  Ren will walk to the indicated area.  Double left click and Ren will run.  If you roll the cursor over a hot spot and click, a tri menu pops up which allows you to look, take or talk.  During conversation the player merely chooses from a short dialogue tree.  If you right click your inventory pops up.  The inventory interface also holds a camera and clue collecting devices.  That way you can pick up blood samples and bring them to a lab and run tests and what not.  Very CSI. 

Puzzles mainly consist of finding an item and using it in order to progress.  For example, early on I needed to collect a rope, a rock and a pipe while wandering inside catacombs under a cathedral.  Then I combined the objects in my inventory to create a hammer.  The hammer was then used to crack through an old wall in order to complete a goal.  None of the solutions are very difficult and occasionally you must get past a large mutant monster by using your noggin rather than a poorly placed arcade-like sequence.

Legacy has some memorable locations like the dark foreboding rainstorm outside Ren’s office and later on when you return to Mars.  However nothing is very striking or terribly original.  That’s not meant in a bad way however, Legacy does rely heavily on other sci-fi concepts that have come before it.  Such is the way of life.  Blade Runner owes much to the silent film classic Metropolis.  Some gamers will scream rip off, others like me will acknowledge it all as a homage and move on. 

There is no evolution in gameplay for the genre here and to be completely honest the graphics appear dated.  The voice cast is somewhat disappointing as well.  Despite all of these shortcomings I found the awkward quirkiness of Legacy somewhat engaging.  Some gamers will undoubtedly disagree, but I think adventure game purists will appreciate Ren Silver’s gawky, broken English charm.  When it comes to adventure the story is the thing we all look forward to.  So much so that I think adventure gamers are a little more forgiving when it comes to judgment than action/shooter gamers.  Legacy has a few interesting moments that will appeal to its core audience.

Gameplay:  7
Smooth interface and easy progression.  Nothing seems impossible the first time through although some object hunting is a tad mundane.

Graphics:  6.5
The graphics are not horrendous.  However, in this day and age with graphic engines such as Doom 3 and the beautiful Syberia series we need to be honest.  Legacy is a step below the competition.  This doesn’t ruin the experience, but it is noticeable.  

Sound: 6.5
There is a “Burglar” rap, dance song that you’ll either love to pieces or be inclined to light your hair on fire after hearing it for the tenth time.  The tune is infectious and I really need it to stop playing in my head.  Like right now!  The voice cast is not so good.  The only exception is the main character, Ren Silver.  She may grow on you.  She may not.  The broken English gets rather funny after a while.  “That’s Ivan.  He is real boring.”

Difficulty: Easy
I dislike games that are too difficult where the puzzles are completely out of left field.  Legacy is not one of those games.  Odds are if you are stuck you missed an item somewhere in Ren’s immediate vicinity.  

Concept: 6
Pure science fiction set within a traditional first-person adventure game.  Love it or hate it.  There is no in between.  One of the reasons I wanted to play this game is because there isn’t a whole lot out there like it right now.  Of course you can always revisit past classics if you like.

Overall: 7
Hardcore shooter fans will hate this game.  Action/arcade gamers will be bored to tears.  But alas, Legacy Dark Shadows isn’t for any of them.  It is specifically, in my humble opinion, for adventure purists who have patience to sit through bad NPC dialogue because the main character is endearing and in a bit of a jam.