After spending time in Early Access, Dark Point Games’ Achilles: Legends Untold has made its way to consoles. Is this epic tale of the mighty Achilles a worthy one? Check out our review and find out.
Achilles: Legends Untold Review
Achilles: Legends Untold follows the story of Achilles directly after the Trojan War. You begin at the shores of Troy, fighting your way up to through the city to take back Helen. Even the mighty Hector is no match for you at this point, as you cleave him down as well. When you reach the top of Troy, Prince Paris kills you, and you awaken in a land you don’t recognize; you’re not even sure if you are alive or dead.
Eventually, you find out you are somehow back in Greece. Your former home runs rampant with bandits, beasts, undead, and otherworldly monsters. The only way you will find out what happened is by fighting your way through. You even get to face off with heroes from the Trojan War, like Menelaus and King Agamemnon. Capturing the feel of the era, this helps Achilles: Legends Untold truly feel authentic.
The game is a CRPG like Diablo, but it’s more akin to the old-school Champions of Norrath with only one character. Combat is pretty simple, with a quick attack, a heavy attack, and a few special attacks. While you won’t pull off any crazy combos, you’ll quickly master your weapon strikes as a result. Special attacks vary, but include damage buffs, area-of-effect attacks, crowd control, and heals. You can only have two equipped at any time, with the third skill always being your shield toss. It helps add to the variety for combat, but I think most people will find a build they like and stick with it.
The lands of Greece are full of treasures, side quests, and other events to find. Clearing out enemy camps will give you access to the chest inside. You get rare materials, new weapons, and new skills like this. Weapons will scale based on your stats, not unlike the Dark Souls series. I found a two-handed sword that went off strength and wrath early in my adventure and used that most of the game.
Also like a Soulslike, enemies will reset if you die or rest. Outside of that, though, most of the game is much easier than the genre is known. You get plenty of healing potions and other healing items. Consumables like fire pots, poison pots, throwing knives, and other projectiles can keep enemies at bay. There are even landmine-type traps you can craft to debilitate your foes. All of this combines with the skills and basic strikes to make a robust combat system that anyone cane enjoy.
Side quests vary from area to area, but mainly involve killing bad guys, breaking objects, or finding something. Sometimes, you get new gear from these quests, but mostly, you earn EXP and materials for crafting. There is a huge skill tree you can spend points on. Most of it is more stat boosts like more strength or HP, though there are some passive skills also. Combine that with weapon and armor upgrades, and you really start to dish out some damage.
Dungeons are scattered throughout Greece that you can explore and conquer. You can think of them as the tiny cellar dungeons in Diablo 4, consisting of a quick fight with quick loot. Other events you can find include mini-bosses, prisoners in need of rescue, and puzzle chests. The puzzle chests initially confused me, because you don’t have the shield toss when you use a two-handed sword. Basically, you need to find the symbols for the chest, break them with the shield or strike, and then get the loot. Sounds easy, but sometimes those symbols are hidden well.
When it comes to Achilles Legends Untold’s boss fights, they are challenging but not overwhelming. What I mean by that is that you will be beaten, but you’ll only have to die a few times before winning. After defeating your foe, you are typically given a choice to spare or kill them. I’m unsure what happens if you spare them, but killing the boss will net you their weapon or skill. Also, if you like history, it is fun to face the heroes of Greece.
Another type of boss in the game lurks in the overworld and can kill you in a shot if you aren’t careful. They are fought under special circumstances, though, so I don’t want to spoil much there.
While there were a few frame drops in the game’s later areas, there were no bugs or crashes during my playthrough.
Achilles: Legends Untold brings history’s strongest warrior to video games in epic fashion. Fans of Soulslikes – or action RPGs in general – shouldn’t hesitate to pick it up.
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