GAME REVIEW: Legacy of the Beast

As a heavy metal publication, you might be wondering why on earth Distorted Sound have decided to do a game review. Well, just over a week ago, British heavy metal legends IRON MAIDEN released their own game on smartphones called Legacy of the Beast and we decided to have a bit of time to play the game and make up our minds if it was indeed better than Ed Hunter, which was released in 1999.

Now, don’t be put off by the long loading times that you may encounter, there’s a lot of stuff going on in the Legacy of the Beast game. Kicking off you’ll meet The Clairvoyant, who’ll tell you that several bosses have taken Eddie‘s soul (of course, you’re playing as Eddie!) and you have reclaim the shards from them.

You’ll find yourself first off in Ailing Kingdom, which as you may notice is heavily based from Brave New World, here you’ll have to progress through several rounds of enemies and bosses that will steadily get more difficult to help you ease into the game before progressing into your big boss… Wickerman Eddie. Of course, it isn’t just that straight forward, along the way you’ll have to gain loot from the rounds such as shards to help your characters level up and evolution shards to get you from 1 star characters to your beastly maniac 5 stars characters. During this realm, it’s easier to use it as a quick play to get you into the swing of how the game is played before becoming too serious and trying to get all three Eddie heads (3/3 stars on your round).

One of the most interesting and cool things about the game-play in Legacy of the Beast is the way it almost resembles Final Fantasy. It’s an action role-play in which each character gets one turn and has it rotate, unless you of course stun, which means you sometimes get two goes alongside of dealing some hefty damage, dependant on how high your character is.  Whilst at times this may get a little tedious waiting around, it’s really a good way of determining what your characters strengths and weaknesses are and your enemies, in order for you to become a better player around that.

Wickerman Eddie is ultimately pretty easy to beat, after beating him, you’ll get him as a leader also, meaning during game-play you can swap between your Eddie‘s which is pretty cool if one has the advantage over different enemies. As the game goes on however in different kingdoms, the enemies do get a lot tougher. Take Garden of Aset for example which is located in the Kingdom of the Sands, there you’ll face the Goddess whose son is Horus, she’ll do everything in her power to protect him, despite turning her back on him after defeating her. However, for her you’ll need a serious amount of strength, so farming will seem like a better option, once again patience is required but unless you want to keep reviving and spending then it’s the only way. She’ll keep bringing back her team after you’ve killed them off and she’ll regenerate health like nobodies business.

One of the most fun things on the game is collecting souls, as you progress through the levels and defeat bosses, you’ll sometimes get one in a chest. These mean you can unlock collectable players, some common but some rare and already kick-started with a few stars. Whilst it’s nice to see your characters progress on their own with your hard work, it’s also very nice for tougher rounds to have something there as a back-up.

There hopefully won’t be too many spoilers for you who are hoping to get your hands on Legacy of the Beast but it is a fantastic game for fans who just want to pass some time and get rewards. Whilst it doesn’t seem like a complex game to get you entirely into it, you’ll soon lose yourself and spend a good few hours trying to grind your way through levels. One of the biggest downfalls however is the battery consumption, like every game it’s a big worry for your phone but Legacy of the Beast does take up a huge chunk, 100% will not last you a couple of hours if you want to play this game constantly, so it’s best to do it in little chunks and make steady but sure progress.

Overall, a fantastic game for IRON MAIDEN and heavy metal fans. It shows a lot of thought had gone into the creation and whilst there are aspects of improvement across all of the game, it’s a very strong beginning and will definitely offer a lot more as the game progresses with new kingdoms and updates.

Rating: 7/10

Legacy of the Beast is available to download free via the App Store and Google Play now.

For more information on Legacy of the Beast and IRON MAIDEN like their official page on Facebook.