Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom ps3 cheats

**Anilrgowda** · 20-Dec-2006, 11:50 AM

After playing through Champions of Norrath: Realms of Everquest on the PS2 several years ago, I was convinced that the genre was headed in the right direction. From the gorgeous visuals to the near-infinite replay value, almost everything in Norrath seemed to fit together perfectly. It appeared that the age-old formula introduced by Gauntlet nearly a decade ago had finally managed to mature into the total package, complete with enough variety and gameplay options to propel it out of the one-trick pony department. Unfortunately, nearly all progress stopped there.
Eventually Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance II, the sequel to the smash-hit Dark Alliance, and Champions: Return to Arms, the sequel to Realms of Everquest were released, but unfortunately, both seemed like mere shadows of their former selves. Sony even released their very own IP, Untold Legends: Brotherhood of the Blade on the PSP, and although it provided fans with a decent handheld journey, it offered minimal advancements in innovation. All of the convincing progress that the genre had made over the years appeared to suddenly halt, unfortunately sending us back to the stone age of video games.
Perhaps it’s not that bad, but it does raise one question. Why does the hack ‘n slash genre seem to lag so far behind in the innovation department? Will it take a game of System Shock or Deus Ex proportions to convince developers that the genre can move forward? Maybe having a near-perfect example like Champions of Norrath to draw inspiration from is not enough. Maybe hardware or software limitations are the real cause, and maybe publishers and developers have been chomping at the bit to provide users with experiences they will not soon forget for some time now, and just haven’t been able to.

Well, the time has come. It’s officially the next generation of gaming. We have Blu-ray discs that can hold nearly 50GB data, we have motion-sensing controllers that can mimic our movements onscreen, and we can see what our friends are doing hundreds of miles away by just turning on our Xbox 360s. But, will anyone actually use these tools to innovate, redesign, and push the envelope on the software side of our gaming experiences?
Certainly, the name Sony Online Entertainment comes to mind as a contender, especially in the hack ‘n slash genre, considering they have developed and published over 20 titles in that category. Unfortunately, however, it seems that more than experience and a decent record of accomplishment are required to innovate, because their latest effort, Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom for the PS3 falls considerably short of reaching that goal. In fact, to say it even comes close would be a complete lie, and an unkindly slap in the face to some past games that have strived so valiantly to evolve, rather than replicate.

Most of the game’s mediocrity is present right from the beginning, as you only have the option to play as three different pre-formed characters. Therefore, unless you are fond of playing through as a warrior, ranger, or mage, then you are going to be out of luck.
What is sad about the character creation process is that as a whole, games have progressed immensely in this department (Oblivion), and yet Dark Kingdom offers a creation set that is more suited for the mid to late 90’s. Honestly, we shouldn’t expect the good old hack ‘n slash to be as deep as some of the larger scale RPG’s, but I don’t think that offering gamers a few different options is too much to ask. Being able to add a little flavor and slight resemblance to yourself is something many gamers find enjoyable in role-playing, and sadly, it just isn’t doable here.
Another startling factor is the lack of attention towards equipment, and how it affects your characters appearance overall. One of the greatest parts of Champions of Norrath was its gigantic armor inventory, all that looked astonishingly polished and unique, while at the same time allowing for near-endless outcomes aesthetically. Kingdoms most certainly has plenty of armor pieces floating around, but very few of them change your character’s exterior the way we would have hoped. It all just seems shallow when compared to past efforts, which is a shame considering the PS3’s power and disk capacity, which is most assuringly greater than what is being displayed.
Quite possibly the game’s biggest problem has nothing to do with monotonous enemy after enemy, or a lack of customization options, but rather with your ability to deal with the horrendous camera angles while trekking through the land of Dureth, which is filled with numerous obstacles such as rocks, trees, and gigantic walls by the way. All of which do their best to impede your view and character when and wherever they can. While zoomed in the camera twists and turns to the level of nauseam, and zoomed out it constantly tries to find the correct viewing angle for you, which is usually very far away from the action, where of course all the aforementioned objects seem to block your view of the action. This usually results in a lot of fine-tuning manually, and unfortunately, it stays this way for most of the game, even while you are fighting off multiple enemies at once.

Even with all the downfalls, many people will still find Dark Kingdoms enjoyable. Problems like these have existed for years in the genre, and to say that they alone will stop the game from selling would be naive. For those of us who are expecting something more for our money, especially since we have now drifted into the next generation of video games, offerings like these are becoming less and less acceptable. I hope that SOE will take these criticisms to heart, and turn the next installment in the series into a truly next generation experience, because if history has taught us anything, it’s certain there will be one.
Review Scoring Details Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom
Gameplay: 6.0
Dark Kingdom does very little to innovate or provide veterans with something they haven’t seen before. Even the new essence and weapon crafting system seems shallow considering the hardware. The constant drops in frame rate also hinder some of the enjoyment, but having said that, most fans of the genre will see the adventure through, despite the numerous issues mentioned above.
Graphics: 7.0
Visually Dark Kingdoms excels for the most part, but it does have its drawbacks. Frame rate drops pretty significantly sometimes, and gameplay is nearly stopped at certain points while locations and landmarks are being rendered. In addition, load times are a little longer than most people will expect, but to help make up for it the game looks sharp, stunning, and beautiful at times.
Sound: 7.5
Most of the voice-over in Kingdoms lacks conviction to say the least, but the amazing score helps overshadow most of that. The audio effects from battles are also very well done, but something still seems missing from the overall formula.
Difficulty: Easy/Medium
Concept: 6.0
The concept of the hack ‘slash is nothing new, and neither is the concept of taking the same exact experience from past years, adding a coat of visual flare, and reselling it. Dark Kingdoms doesn’t exactly fit into that category, but its lack of innovation certainly doesn’t help separate it either.
Multiplayer: 7.0
Gamers who enjoy playing cooperatively will like what is offered here, as up to 4-players can join the battle online. What is cool about this feature as you can take your game saves online, play for a while, and then continue your journey offline when you are ready. Unfortunately, all problems that existed offline are present in the online portion as well, but at least you can experience it with friends.
Overall: 6.5
A mediocre attempt at furthering a genre that has almost completely stalled in its progress. Thankfully, fans of the genre will continue to feel right at home with Dark Kingdoms, but they will have to suffer through some annoying anomalies to fully enjoy it.

Cheats will be added soon

20-Dec-2006, 11:50 AM	#1 (permalink)
Anilrgowda Administrator Posts: 18,720 Join Date: Jan 2006 Rep Power: 10 IM:	Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom ps3 cheats After playing through Champions of Norrath: Realms of Everquest on the PS2 several years ago, I was convinced that the genre was headed in the right direction. From the gorgeous visuals to the near-infinite replay value, almost everything in Norrath seemed to fit together perfectly. It appeared that the age-old formula introduced by Gauntlet nearly a decade ago had finally managed to mature into the total package, complete with enough variety and gameplay options to propel it out of the one-trick pony department. Unfortunately, nearly all progress stopped there. Eventually Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance II, the sequel to the smash-hit Dark Alliance, and Champions: Return to Arms, the sequel to Realms of Everquest were released, but unfortunately, both seemed like mere shadows of their former selves. Sony even released their very own IP, Untold Legends: Brotherhood of the Blade on the PSP, and although it provided fans with a decent handheld journey, it offered minimal advancements in innovation. All of the convincing progress that the genre had made over the years appeared to suddenly halt, unfortunately sending us back to the stone age of video games. Perhaps it’s not that bad, but it does raise one question. Why does the hack ‘n slash genre seem to lag so far behind in the innovation department? Will it take a game of System Shock or Deus Ex proportions to convince developers that the genre can move forward? Maybe having a near-perfect example like Champions of Norrath to draw inspiration from is not enough. Maybe hardware or software limitations are the real cause, and maybe publishers and developers have been chomping at the bit to provide users with experiences they will not soon forget for some time now, and just haven’t been able to. Well, the time has come. It’s officially the next generation of gaming. We have Blu-ray discs that can hold nearly 50GB data, we have motion-sensing controllers that can mimic our movements onscreen, and we can see what our friends are doing hundreds of miles away by just turning on our Xbox 360s. But, will anyone actually use these tools to innovate, redesign, and push the envelope on the software side of our gaming experiences? Certainly, the name Sony Online Entertainment comes to mind as a contender, especially in the hack ‘n slash genre, considering they have developed and published over 20 titles in that category. Unfortunately, however, it seems that more than experience and a decent record of accomplishment are required to innovate, because their latest effort, Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom for the PS3 falls considerably short of reaching that goal. In fact, to say it even comes close would be a complete lie, and an unkindly slap in the face to some past games that have strived so valiantly to evolve, rather than replicate. Most of the game’s mediocrity is present right from the beginning, as you only have the option to play as three different pre-formed characters. Therefore, unless you are fond of playing through as a warrior, ranger, or mage, then you are going to be out of luck. What is sad about the character creation process is that as a whole, games have progressed immensely in this department (Oblivion), and yet Dark Kingdom offers a creation set that is more suited for the mid to late 90’s. Honestly, we shouldn’t expect the good old hack ‘n slash to be as deep as some of the larger scale RPG’s, but I don’t think that offering gamers a few different options is too much to ask. Being able to add a little flavor and slight resemblance to yourself is something many gamers find enjoyable in role-playing, and sadly, it just isn’t doable here. Another startling factor is the lack of attention towards equipment, and how it affects your characters appearance overall. One of the greatest parts of Champions of Norrath was its gigantic armor inventory, all that looked astonishingly polished and unique, while at the same time allowing for near-endless outcomes aesthetically. Kingdoms most certainly has plenty of armor pieces floating around, but very few of them change your character’s exterior the way we would have hoped. It all just seems shallow when compared to past efforts, which is a shame considering the PS3’s power and disk capacity, which is most assuringly greater than what is being displayed. Quite possibly the game’s biggest problem has nothing to do with monotonous enemy after enemy, or a lack of customization options, but rather with your ability to deal with the horrendous camera angles while trekking through the land of Dureth, which is filled with numerous obstacles such as rocks, trees, and gigantic walls by the way. All of which do their best to impede your view and character when and wherever they can. While zoomed in the camera twists and turns to the level of nauseam, and zoomed out it constantly tries to find the correct viewing angle for you, which is usually very far away from the action, where of course all the aforementioned objects seem to block your view of the action. This usually results in a lot of fine-tuning manually, and unfortunately, it stays this way for most of the game, even while you are fighting off multiple enemies at once. Even with all the downfalls, many people will still find Dark Kingdoms enjoyable. Problems like these have existed for years in the genre, and to say that they alone will stop the game from selling would be naive. For those of us who are expecting something more for our money, especially since we have now drifted into the next generation of video games, offerings like these are becoming less and less acceptable. I hope that SOE will take these criticisms to heart, and turn the next installment in the series into a truly next generation experience, because if history has taught us anything, it’s certain there will be one. Review Scoring Details Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom Gameplay: 6.0 Dark Kingdom does very little to innovate or provide veterans with something they haven’t seen before. Even the new essence and weapon crafting system seems shallow considering the hardware. The constant drops in frame rate also hinder some of the enjoyment, but having said that, most fans of the genre will see the adventure through, despite the numerous issues mentioned above. Graphics: 7.0 Visually Dark Kingdoms excels for the most part, but it does have its drawbacks. Frame rate drops pretty significantly sometimes, and gameplay is nearly stopped at certain points while locations and landmarks are being rendered. In addition, load times are a little longer than most people will expect, but to help make up for it the game looks sharp, stunning, and beautiful at times. Sound: 7.5 Most of the voice-over in Kingdoms lacks conviction to say the least, but the amazing score helps overshadow most of that. The audio effects from battles are also very well done, but something still seems missing from the overall formula. Difficulty: Easy/Medium Concept: 6.0 The concept of the hack ‘slash is nothing new, and neither is the concept of taking the same exact experience from past years, adding a coat of visual flare, and reselling it. Dark Kingdoms doesn’t exactly fit into that category, but its lack of innovation certainly doesn’t help separate it either. Multiplayer: 7.0 Gamers who enjoy playing cooperatively will like what is offered here, as up to 4-players can join the battle online. What is cool about this feature as you can take your game saves online, play for a while, and then continue your journey offline when you are ready. Unfortunately, all problems that existed offline are present in the online portion as well, but at least you can experience it with friends. Overall: 6.5 A mediocre attempt at furthering a genre that has almost completely stalled in its progress. Thankfully, fans of the genre will continue to feel right at home with Dark Kingdoms, but they will have to suffer through some annoying anomalies to fully enjoy it. Cheats will be added soon

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