Untold Legend’s predecessor, Brotherhood of the Blade, was a PSP launch title
that brought the Action-RPG genre into the hands of mobile gamers. The next game
in the series is The Warrior’s Code, and while it doesn’t stray very far from
the hack and slash model of its predecessor, it does deliver up some fun dungeon
crawling for the warrior on the go.
Probably the biggest improvement in The Warrior’s Code is that there’s more
to the game. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still more action than RPG, but there’s
more of a story this time out, there are more armor and weapons to be found and
a greater variety of them, and the dungeons are better designed. Brotherhood
featured randomly generated dungeons to enhance replayability, but the problem
with random dungeons is that they look, well, random. The dungeons on The
Warrior’s Code look they were actually designed with a higher purpose in mind
and the roleplaying experience is a bit deeper because of it.
As for the game’s story, it is set in a kingdom overrun by a horde of demons
under the command of a treacherous warlord. Among those betrayed is a race of
changelings, of which you are one. Luckily you escape the fate planned for you
and set out to overthrow the new emperor. It should come as no surprise to you
that this involves exploring a series of dungeons and outdoor environments
punctuated with the occasional boss battle.
Your basic attack in the game is unleashed with the X-button, so be prepared
to do plenty of X-button mashing in the game. You can hold the button down to
charge your attacks, allowing you to unleash more damage in exchange for a
slight delay in your attack. You’ll also get the chance to make “attacks of
opportunity” when enemies leave their guard open. When this happens you’ll be
prompted to press the Square button and if you do so in time you’ll be rewarded
with an extra damaging attack. Each character comes with his or her set of
spells and special attacks which are purchased with points awarded when you
level up. You have some leeway here in customizing your character’s spells and
can choose to spend extra points on a spell to power it up or to spend your
points to acquire new spells. You can select which spells to map to your
Triangle and Circle buttons for quick casting in battle. Another attack option
comes from your changling nature. You can charge a special meter by collecting
the “essence” left behind by slain monsters. Once this meter is full you can
temporarily transform yourself into a powerful beast and unleash some major pain
on your enemies.
The monsters in The Warrior’s Code are pretty generous in dropping items, so
you’ll frequently find new weapons and armor to experiment with. The drops also
include special gems that can be added to sockets in some weapons and armor and
that will bestow additional bonuses such as resistance to fire attacks or faster
health regeneration. The drops in the game are so frequent that it pretty much
makes the gold that you find superfluous. Why seek out a vendor or shop when
there are plenty of goods to be had for the taking? I think this is a good
approach for a portable game – with limited playing time on the go who wants to
spend it trudging back and forth to a store?
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