Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom Update - Mages in Caves

Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom is the upcoming third-person action game from Sony Online Entertainment that casts you as a lone hero out to save a troubled land from evil. Our previous looks at the game have touched on two of the three available classes as we've seen them in work-in-progress versions. The Southern California-based developer stopped by this week with an updated version of the game, which let us try out the mage.

The highlight of the new version was the chance to see and play as the mage, the last class we had yet to see. The wiry magic user is set apart from his more buff peers (who have physique-accentuating outfits) by a flowing cape. The cape showcases some tech flash that SOE is able to perform courtesy of the PlayStation 3. A cloth sim is being used to have the cape move fluidly as the mage fights. The complicated bit of calculation is being thrown at one of the PlayStation 3's Cell cores so as not to bog down performance. While the cape is still being integrated into the game, it certainly looks cool in its current state.

Besides the cape, the big things that differentiate the mage from the other classes are his staff and magic attacks. Unlike his two aggro pals who are at home getting up close and personal with fools, the mage isn't quite sturdy enough for Rambo-style combat. His melee attacks rely on his staff, which actually hits multiple targets around him during combos. His magic attacks are excellent at dealing death along with some crowd control--chain lightning jumps between his foes and stuns them, an ice blast does a nice "frost nova"-style job of holding his foes in place so he can get away, and powerful fireballs help pick enemies off from a distance.

The cavern area served as a good showcase for the mage's abilities, as the goal of the level was to take out a necromancer who's hiding out in the cavern interior. To reach him you'll have to make your way through his undead hordes. Navigating the cavern to get to him was a bit tricky, as it was easy to get turned around after a fight due to the copious amounts of skeletons sent to stop you. But with a little perseverance and a lot of murdering, we got there. Taking out the hoofed evildoer requires some thought because, unlike the more-physical classes in the game, the mage can't barge into mobs, so you'll have to figure out how to deal with the mass of respawning skeletons while murdering their boss.

The visuals in this latest version of Dark Kingdom have made some progress since we last saw the game in motion. The biggest improvement is the frame rate, which is now more consistent and stable, although still rough in places. Detail and special effects have been bumped up, which is especially important to maintain the appearance of the mage--a high-maintenance kind of character with his wavy cape and magic effects. The cavern environment was good and atmospheric, as caves go, thanks to some interesting design and liberal use of water effects. The undead enemies we faced were suitably gaunt and bony and they animated well. The necromancer sported solid amounts of detail and animation. There's still work to be done for sure, especially on the mage's cape, which moved inconsistently.

Based on our latest look at Dark Kingdom, it appears that the game will deliver on what it's setting out to offer: third-person hacking and slashing with some light RPG elements. The gameplay is accessible, the visuals are clean, and the audio is good. While it may not be the flashiest PS3 game we've seen, it has definitely got some appeal, because beating the living (or unliving) crap out of something really never gets old. Look for more on Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom in the coming months. The game is slated to ship this fall alongside the launch of the PlayStation 3.