Next to Call of Duty 4, Gamecock's Legendary is the most intense, balls out crazy first person shooter we've played. One second, we're walking down a corridor admiring the pretty scenery, and the next, werewolves tear our squad to shreds, enemy soldiers open fire, random things explode and a minotaur sans penis busts through a stone wall and clobbers our heads. It is without question one of the nuttiest experiences you'll ever have with a video game, and that's precisely why it's one of 2008's most anticipated games.

Aside from the hilarity that ensues from watching bad guys getting their heads torn off, we admire Legendary for its unique story. No, this isn't another World War II shooter or some sci-fi trash about super soldiers and artificial constructs. You play as Deckard, a thief that has the misfortune of opening Pandora's box and unleashing hell on the Earth in the form of mythological creatures. Suddenly, New York City gets decimated by griffins and London burns at the hands of unspeakable horrors. Meanwhile, Deckard gets double-crossed by the company that sent him on the assignment, the Black Order. Fortunately for him, Council 98 (the good guys) gives him a chance at redemption, forcing him to clean up his mess and close Pandora's Box. Thus begins what appears to be an adrenaline charged thrill ride through post apocalyptic wonderlands, where you, armed with a host of high-powered weapons, kill anything that's big, mean and ugly.

Even months from its fall release, there's plenty to get excited about. Thanks to developer Spark Unlimited's use of Epic's Unreal Engine 3, Legendary looks gorgeous, with plenty of destructible environments, tons of firefights and excellent animation. Watching those nasty werewolves scale buildings, leap over debris and slam characters to the ground is an impressive sight. Even the aforementioned minotaur, which uses its club to destroy brick walls, looks sweet. Furthermore, monsters take realistic damage, so as you plug away at a werewolf, for instance, you'll blast apart its skin, revealing the muscles beneath.

With that said, Spark still has a lot of work to do. Weapons take too long to reload, and it's easy to get stuck and slaughtered in a corner. Gamers will also need to experiment with control sensitivity, since it's difficult targeting enemies and hitting them. Until you mess with the settings, you should expect lots of wasted bullets.

Whether or not Spark will be able to fix these issues remains to be seen, but based on our limited demo, Legendary cannot come out fast enough. It's attractive, plays well and has a lot of imaginative content. Expect lots more on this mythological shooter in the coming months.

Related Links

Legendary Game Guide