By James Johnson

Legion Arena can be a deceiving game to the untrained eye. Upon first inspection the game might seem shallow, with only basic graphics and average gameplay. Don’t be fooled though, beneath the surface lies a game with more than enough depth and addictive gameplay. On the one hand Legion Arena is exciting and easy to learn. On the other it’s complex and intricate requiring careful thought. As the General it is up to you to determine whether to take the fast road, charge ahead, and throw caution to the wind, or pause and contemplate the best strategy to destroy your opponent. No matter your style, Legion Arena will have something to satisfy you.

Your legions on the field of battle.

There are no machine guns in Legion Arena, no battleships, no aircraft carriers, no bombs and no missiles. There are no unmanned aerial vehicles, no space-based radar, and no chemical or biological weapons. This game takes war and presents it to you in its purest form. It doesn’t complicate or confuse the subject with technology and gadgets. Legion Arena provides you with squads of specialized men, on foot and horseback, with primitive armor and weapons. Your goal is simple, learn the strengths and weaknesses of your men, understand your battlefield and your opponent, and ultimately use all of your available resources to devise a strategy that will kill as many enemy troops as possible.

You begin the game with a quick tutorial that shows you the ropes of playing General. After completing the tutorial you are left to begin your campaigns as a loyal soldier of Rome, working to unite the various tribes and factions that surround the capital city. You will encounter civil war, uprisings, and enemy assaults while you continue along the path to become Caesar Imperator. The game allows you to play 3 individual campaigns as the Latins, Romans, or Celts. In actuality, the Latins represent the tutorial, while the Romans and the Celts represent the bulk of the game. It is worth mentioning that you will not able to play either the Romans or the Celts until you have completed tutorial. Not to worry though, the tutorial is rather quick and requires only a few minutes of your time to complete.

Your work as General actually begins long before your men set foot on the battlefield. In Legion Arena, a great deal of effort and time can be spent in the Army Camp. The Army Camp acts as your staging ground, a sort of jumping off point. The Army Camp is where the customization and management of the actual units begins. As the General you can manage the squads in many different ways. There is the obvious task of selecting squads and types of units, but there are also many other tasks that you can work on in the Army Camp. Your squads' equipment, uniforms, health, and status are all able to be tweaked and tuned. A feature that you should be aware of, in case you find yourself on the battlefield poorly equipped and with the wrong type of squads, is the ability to return to the Army Camp after receiving the battle briefing. You can actually return to the Army Camp without fighting the battle, even after you have gone through the briefing and been taken to the battlefield.

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