In today’s action-oriented gaming world, it’s not often we get a chance to relax and think about our next move. Whether it be bullets, spears or AI drivers there’s generally something hurtling up on our flank, ready to bring about a hefty ‘game over’ if we so much as blink. Even the majority of RPGs seem to be favouring real-time combat over the more traditional turn-based approach. With Elven Legacy, Paradox Interactive is asking the player to take a step back and think for a second.

For Elven Legacy, Paradox has taken a sideways step from the historical contexts of their Europa Universalis and Heart of Iron series, and headed into a fantasy world of magic and mystery. The premise is simple; a human has been found using magic, and the elves don’t like it. Magic isn’t safe in the hands of humans apparently (isn’t that always the way?) and said elves set out on a quest to track this mage and uncover the truth behind his magic-based abilities. On the way they encounter ghouls, peasants, giant eagles and of course the traditional orcs. In fact one could be forgiven for accusing Paradox Interactive of using every fantasy cliché in the book, and we were half expecting The One Ring to show up at any time.

The single player campaign plays out over a series of missions chronicling the elves’ journey, during which the player can upgrade and promote units as well as unlock new, more powerful units to take onto the battlefield. Each map has a unit cap, so selecting the correct starting team requires an element of thought. If you do happen to end up with a duff squad, capturing nearby settlements allows you to summon a new unit into the fray, providing you have a free slot/disband an existing unit. Tactics are fairly traditional strategy game fare, with the usual units having the usual strengths and weaknesses.

From our brief hands-on with Elven Legacy, it was fairly clear that strategy aficionados will be instantly at home with the workings of the game. The interface is easy to get to grips with, allowing most commands to be issued solely with a left click, and the HUD is laid out well, with the function of every button made obvious. Couple this with the extremely crisp and bright (yet fairly basic) graphics and you have a game which is designed to appeal to those who are generally put off by the complexity of the genre. There is a danger however, that Elven Legacy might seem a little too familiar to strategy fans and alienate a large percentage of its target audience.

As well as a campaign mode, the full game boasts a ‘Single Mission’ option in which you can replay past levels in order to achieve a higher ranking, or play custom maps. The game includes a map editor which Paradox Interactive has aimed to make as user-friendly as possible. Our preview of the map maker was missing the necessary assets to create full levels, but a brief look around the program showed a simple, self-explanatory interface. Along with single player campaigns, the map maker will allow players to create and share custom multiplayer maps. The multiplayer side of the game allows for LAN, Internet and Hotseat play, the latter being a game hosted on a local computer in which players take turns at the wheel, so to speak. The missions range from simple skirmishes to objective-based gameplay, and the inclusion of the Hotseat mode adds a bit of extra depth to the multiplayer.

Elven Legacy is shaping up to be a solid, accessible turn-based strategy title fighting for its place amongst its heavy-hitting peers. With the focus entirely on the skirmish side of things rather than the resource gathering and construction of games like Civilization, Elven Legacy has the potential to please anyone looking for a fantasy-based tactical strategy experience – as long as Paradox Interactive can ensure their title stands out from the crowd.

This article originally featured in Issue 10 of D+PAD Magazine.

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