Endless Legend Preview

It’s just one of those things in life, really. You wait years for a decent fantasy themed 4X game to come along, then two pop up in a fairly short period of time. Age of Wonders III released just a couple of weeks ago over ten years after its predecessor. For the fans of the series it was a moment of great excitement, but for Amplitude Studios, developers of Endless Legend, the timing couldn’t have been worse. Or, perhaps, it couldn’t have been better? The question is, will Age of Wonders take a sizeable chunk of Endless Legend’s audience, or will it conversely grow the audience base altogether? Only time will provide the answer to that question; for now, it’s Amplitude’s job to make a fantastic fantasy turn-based strategy game to ensure that those who came for Age of Wonders III, stay for Endless Legend. With the help of Steam Early Access, they’re doing very well.

The team at Amplitude have been here before though: their previous title Endless Space used an early access scheme before Steam made it cool. Through their Games2Gether programme the studio took ideas and recommendations from their fanbase, many of which found their way into the final game. This experience with an Early Access-esque programme is evident in their current project Endless Legend, a spiritual sequel to the aforementioned space-strategy game. This time the inter-galactic theme is out and in its place is a fantasy world inspired by just about every classic fantasy setting imaginable. If there’s one thing that’ll strike you upon first playing Endless Legend, it’s the incredible variety on offer, even in its current Alpha form.

Through Steam’s programme we’ve become somewhat adjusted to games that are barely playable, yet alone packed full of features. Endless Legend is a pleasant surprise in this regard. With four full factions already available as well as quests for these factions, hundreds of technologies, ten minor factions and a functional AI and diplomacy system, this could possibly pass as a full (albeit rather cheap) game. If ever there was a game worth picking up pre-release, then this has got to be the one. There’s plenty here to keep you and your mates amused as the full title slowly evolves. As ever though, part of the appeal is the ability to help shape and form the final product and as with Endless Space Amplitude are clearly open to recommendations. In fact, Amplitude has relaunched the Games2Gether system in order to monitor the feedback.

The gameplay will be familiar to anyone who has played either Age of Wonders or Civilization on which the formula for all of these games are based. There are some interesting mix-ups to that formula though: the factions, for starters, are a wonderful array of wacky clans. The crossbow-wielding Vaulters are one of the coolest factions, a cross between classic fantasy dwarves and steampunk pilots. Then there’s the Necrophages who, unsurprisingly, strike a much darker tone. The Broken Lords function as a literal clockwork empire, while the Wild Walkers take the Elven route and form a connection with nature. These four available factions are planned on being doubled for the full game, raising the total to eight. Beyond basic aesthetic differences, the factions also offer varying quests. These serve well to provide a bit of variety from faction to faction, and formulate a more focused experience than the open ended Civilization.

While elements such as this create a divide between Endless Legend and 'the mother game' Civ, there’s no point denying that there are a lot of similarities between the two. The hexagonal map, technology trees, a luxury resource system, even ruins to explore. Whether that’s a good or bad thing will ultimately come down to your thoughts on the Civ franchise in particular Civilization V, from which Endless Legend takes the most cues. ‘If it ain't broke, don’t fix it’, seems to be the motto here, and the classic turn-based 4X formula is anything but broken, instead seeing something of a renaissance as of late. It helps that Endless Legend is already a great looking game; it may not be as technologically capable as Age of Wonders III or even Civ V, but it makes up for this with fantastic art design and an overall presentation that is easy to warm to. For a game still in its early stages, that’s an impressive feat.

Despite the similarities to games in the same vein, Endless Legend does present an amusing mash-up of mechanics from varying 4X titles. A self-contained combat system sees players ordering individual troops within an army around the hexagonal maps; it’s an interesting system that works as a crossover between the standard turn-based battles of Civ and the real-time confrontations of Total War. There’s a certain lack of troop diversity within the current build, but hopefully this will improve during development. Another feature that’s a little unusual is the incorporation of an RPG-like Hero mechanic with which players can upgrade their military or civil leaders with both equipment and skills. It’s difficult to say if this system will appeal to strategy gamers, as although it can be satisfying to continuously improve your heroes, the actual upgrading process is a little one dimensional.

Considering Endless Legend has yet to be released in full, and has several new features to be added yet, there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic. Currently, the game is easily one of the most comprehensive titles available on the Early Access programme. There’s very little in the way of killer bugs and the features available are fully functional and mostly good fun. There are similar games out there, in case you hadn’t worked that out by now, but none that offer the opportunity to provide such direct feedback to the developers. This is Early Access done right and for that alone Endless Legend deserves a moment of your time. Of course, if you’re a fan of turn-based strategy then it could well take away more than a moment.