Pocket Legends is already a fun game that shows signs of maturity, and it's getting better all of the time.

User Rating: 9 | Pocket Legends IOS
Pros: MMORPG style play on the iPhone/iPad; fun; addictive; very responsive developers

Cons: Power-hungry; frequent rebalancing tweaks

Price: Free for the first camapign, $1-$2 per additional campaign.

Pocket Legends is a pretty ambitious attempt to bring the MMORPG concept to the iPhone and iPad, and so far, it's doing a very good job of it.

I'd have to classify the game as MMORPG-style, as opposed to strictly a MMORPG, simply because all of the games are instanced, and are therefore multiplayer, but not "massively" multiplayer.

That aside, the game developers are clearly quite busy, adding in the other types of features players expect in a MMORPG type game. The upcoming release will add PvP matches and secure trading, and the technology roadmap shows lomger-range goals such as quests, guilds, pets, and housing.

The drawback to this rapid development is that game balance (weapon damage, drop rates, etc.) is often tweaked, on average once per day or so. It is the price for being bleeding edge.

The graphics are quite good, which does require the caveat of noting that the game drains power from my iPhone pretty rapidly, and the unit gets warm after playing for a while. But really, although its clear there are players who spend hours per day playing Pocket Legends, the whole idea is to get a MMORPG style experience in shorter bursts. The fact that you can play this on 3G (though lag can be an issue there) means that you can get a "quick fix" whenever you have 15-20 minutes to kill.

Gameplay is pretty straightforward on the surface. Pick one of three base classes (tank, DPS, healer) and go out ridding the countryside of enemies, gaining experience, gold, and useful items in the process. Of course, as you gain levels, you then have to start making choices on how to improve your character -- beginning players will generally want to just go with the suggested choices, but the game's forums are awash with build suggestions on how to play around with ability and skill points to make specialized characters.

While it might be possible to "solo" the maps with patience, skill, and a high enough leveled character, the game generally requires playing in a team. Up to 5 players can be in an instance at the same time. You can assemble your own team through password-protected games or simply join (or host) an open group. Good teamwork (such as the healers keeping everyone fit, the tanks managing aggro, and the DPS folks focusing on the biggest threat) makes the maps significantly easier and quicker to complete.

There are "townes" as well, which again are instanced but allow a larger number of players to meet up at once, as well as providing places for characters to stock up on basic equipment.

A campaign is a series of maps that fall within a specified level range. The first campaign (Forest Haven) is 10 maps for levels 1-10, each of the add-on campaigns is 5 additional maps, upping the level range by 5 each time (Dark Forest is for levels 11-15, Balefort Castle for levels 16-20, and so on). Each campaign also features 1 or 2 "mini dungeons", each of which is actually a bonus level, typically harder than the regular levels (more bosses, and more mobs supporting the bosses).

The free download allows you to play the Forest Haven campaign, which will allow you to get up to level 13 (the campaign is for levels 1-10, but you can gain experience up to 3 levels beyond the campaign range). It also allows you to have up to 2 characters on each of the two servers.

Additional purchases are handled with in-app currency called "platinum". This is bought through the iTunes store and can be used to buy additional campaigns, special equipment, additional character slots on each server, or "re-specs", which allow you to reassign ability and skill points on an already-leveled-up character.

In short, if you enjoy Diablo-style multiplayer games, or you want a WoW-style fix on the go, then give Pocket Legends a try. With the first levels being free, there's really nothing to lose, and a lot of potential fun to be gained.