Endless Legend Review

It’s time to declare war, to destroy cities, and conquer your enemies. Amplitude Studios has created something that actually does a lot to make itself stand out from games like Civ 5 or StarCraft. Many people would argue that Civ is the best of its genre and that putting in the hours to another game just wouldn’t be worth the time. Much like the Greek Gods ending the reign of their titan fathers, Endless Legend strikes down its paternal protege in the 4X genre. While some might find the depth of the game to be a bit intense, its various functions, excellent combat, and beautiful graphics make the game well worth learning.

Anyone looking for a game with depth and tactics will find themselves at home with this game. While there are definitely some similar elements to the Civ series, hexagonal tiles, and using group of units to destroy your enemies, this game has some major changes to the traditional formula of 4X games that make it stand out from the rest.

The combat truly stands out from the rest when it comes to Endless Legend because of its strong RPG element. In the main story you get a hero character that is tied to a specific faction. This hero is kind of like your basic soldier on steroids that you can upgrade as you progress through the game. You have a talent tree system very similar to an RPG and can equip your hero with a multitude of weapons and armor. The hero isn’t necessarily what makes the combat so unique, it’s the fact that all of the units in your army can use the basic equipment. One part of the combat in Endless Legend that I was not a huge fan of was how combat was executed. You always have full control over how your troops are distributed, however the actual fighting makes you almost feel like a viewer rather than commander as you can only suggest to troops whether they attack or defend. You have little to no choice when it comes to which of your units will attack or defend and what target they will actually attack. This makes it feel more like you are a spectator over your army rather than a commander.

On top of the spectator combat there was also a serious problem with the AI and its aggression. At times the AI was far too passive when it could have easily wiped me off the board, instead it chose to defend and I was able to recover from a mistake I had made. This made the single player far too easy considering most of the time the AI wouldn't even kill me when it had the chance.

Another thing that makes Endless Legend stand out from other games such as Civ 5 is that the game’s factions actually involve different styles of play. Unfortunately it is also intimidating for new players to try and wrap their head around which faction is going to suit their playstyle best. The story behind each faction gives you a rough idea as to what kind of units you will be using. For the Broken Lords faction the game describes them as, “A faction of knights and town-builders that exist only as energy; spirits wrapped in their great suits of armor. The Broken Lords are noble warriors and lords wearing the pristine, polished armor and adhering to chivalrous ideals even though they are immaterial and have lost their humanity”. The significance of the lore behind this faction is that it means your army doesn’t need food to survive as they are nothing but spirits, instead your army survives off of dust and their passive ability makes it easier to find and farm it. No other faction plays like this and other factions will have traits that The Broken Lords will not.If you don’t like certain parts of a faction then guess what? You can actually edit a faction and its traits.
I will not say that the graphics for Endless Legend are better than those of Civ 5, however I can safely say that these graphics kick ass! The art style puts you into what feels like a very intense board game. The units are detailed, and careful work has clearly been put into their design. On top of this, the overall map looks fantastic as each grid displays the resources and environment in gorgeous detail.

The unique factions, hero character, and armor and equipment options make this game a lot of fun to play. Overall I wouldn’t say that it is a better game than Civ, however I definitely believe that it could be a strong competitor given more time. While the AI in Endless Legend is rather lackluster the rest of the game provides a fresh perspective on teh RTS/4X genre. I definitely see myself playing more of this game in the future, especially with the DLC that is becoming available in the next few months.