Its far from perfect but if you stick with Legendary, the gameplay does get good.
I guess the one original gameplay mechanic (more than what I can say about the naming) is the collection of "animus" energy (told ya). Animus energy is usually left behind after killing any of the creatures encountered during the game but some can just be found laying around. Its more commonly use to refill your life but it can also be used to repel enemies or load it in to devices that require it for use. The most useful is a device that will temporary turn monsters into friendly A.I. which causes them to exclusively attack human enemies instead of you. Besides the two guns that I found very useful, I have to say that I wasn't very impressed with the variety of guns offered in Legendary. However, I did enjoy how the game did make malee attacking more relevant by making the Limbo Werewolves particularly weak against it. You see, so many hit will only temporarily put these guys out for the count but a few moments later they'll be back up and continue to attempt to rip you to shreds. They must be decapitated in order "to know the TRUE DEATH" (sorry, I couldn't resist). Due to their annoying speed, trying to do so with a gun is especially difficult in the beginning and while it becomes easier the more you progress in the game, you'll find that it just wastes an unnecessary amount of ammo to attempt. Thus, the need for the almighty fire ax and due to the limbo werewolves being the most common enemy on the game, its just as useful as the guns. The high presence of and nature of how to kill the limbo wolves is what adds the most challenge to Legendary. Besides being swarmed by many of these guys at once (which I would recommend a high powered gun against), they and they're less encountered Alpha brethern tend to inconvienently show up during shootouts with human enemies or when trying to accomplish certain objectives. Despite showing no descrimination on who they kill, they go from being a legitamite threat to just an annoyance.
My main complaint with the game is the imbalance in A.I. The enemy A.I. is far superior to the friendly A.I. To put it bluntly, your team of guys are dumb as bricks and will you usually be killed very quickly. You're better off just letting that happen because you're more likely to die trying to protect them and they respawn after the fight is over anyway. The other minor annoyance was the irrelevance of some of the intel you pick up during the game. All of it is loaded on to a PDA which you can review anytime during the game. Honestly, I didn't find most of it useful until the last level of the game (8 in all) and found the tips on the loading screen more helpful. The visual presentation was acceptable (nothing mesmorizing) and I'll say the same for the sound effects & music. The main thing is that the action and gameplay is solid and good enough to hold your attention. I wouldn't say it does this well enough to warrent more than one playthrough but it does so well nonetheless.
Which is a good thing since, the storytelling fails heavily in this department. While the basis of the plot itself is good, it becomes as predictable as it is underdeveloped and the characters are all pretty one dimensional. The ending felt very rushed and while it did leave the game open for a sequal, it really left no reason to look forward to one.
My Breakdown:
What's Good:
- Solid gameplay
- Slow start but gets much better as you progress
- Great action
- Solid visuals and sound
- Challenging
What's Not-So-Good:
- Could have had a better variety of guns
- Could have done more with the collection of animus energy
- All those Limbo Wolves make all the other enemies take a back seat
What's Bad:
- Underdeveloped story
- Shallow characters
- The minotaurs feel very overpowered
- Irrelevant collectables
- Dumb friendly A.I.
In all, If you're looking for a cheap and mindless fun then Legendary is the way to go but anything beyond that and it will disappoint.