Crossfire: Legion Review – A Forgettable RTS

The Crossfire franchise was one thing of a thriller to me, a reputation that has been round for the reason that early 2000’s and boasts of being the most important FPS on this planet. But, like me, you most likely haven’t even heard of it. In 2020 the free-to-play shooter laid declare to a whopping 6 million energetic gamers, with most of these being in Asia, and has grossed over $ 10 billion. Over the previous few years, there’s been an effort to push Crossfire into Western markets, in addition to flip right into a multi-genre franchise. So, with my restricted data of what Crossfire is, I made a decision to take a look at Crossfire: Legion, an RTS developed by Canadian studio Blackbird Interactive.

God is aware of they don’t appear occupied with serving to out newcomers to the Crossfire world, although. The 15-mission marketing campaign instantly hurls you right into a futuristic ongoing battle between three factions: Black Listing, World Danger and New Horizon, all of whom are battling it out in a dystopian future the place big firms are the dominant forces. World Danger is the standard company navy boasting smooth tech within the type of pretty commonplace tanks and jets. Black Listing are the scrappy rebels who one way or the other have entry to stealth tech. And at last, New Horizon is a futuristic bunch utilizing fancy AI and stompy mechs.

The motion kicks off with you assaulting a sequence of skyscrapers in a bid to seize helpful knowledge. It’s actually a enjoyable premise for a mission however at no level does the sport attempt to fill you in on what’s really happening or why the factions are combating and even what every faction’s modus operandi is. It actually doesn’t get a lot better: the cutscenes are rendered in a cool visible type and the voice appearing is type of respectable because of some huge names like Ashley Burch and Elias Toufexis, however the sport’s in an enormous rush and doesn’t have time to determine the world, battle or characters. Who the hell is Viper? Wait, that’s his brother? Who’s that chick? I’m enjoying as a unique faction? Okay, however how are they any completely different from the opposite two? And who the hell are these guys!? It makes the makes an attempt at huge, dramatic moments laughably dangerous as a result of who cares when you possibly can’t even keep in mind their names.

That’s not the one failing of the marketing campaign, both. Let’s assume for a second that Crossfire: Legion is definitely designed for pre-existing gamers of the franchise. If that’s the case one might moderately assume that they will not be well-versed within the RTS style, a far cry from the first-person capturing of the opposite Crossfire titles. The marketing campaign, then, must be an training in not solely the essential foundational ideas of motion, unit choice and base-building but additionally the extra superior ideas wanted to leap into multiplayer like grouping, what models are good towards others, sizzling keys and extra. Crossfire: Legion does virtually none of this. It offers probably the most primary of instruction and even fails to incorporate just a few buildings and ideas that exist in the remainder of the sport. Hell, you virtually by no means get the entire gamut of stuff to play with, both – normally, you simply get a few models and buildings to select from.

Look, there may be some excellent news, although – the marketing campaign does have some enjoyable mission designs. Like dodging enemy patrols to take out bases stealthily or ordering troops with jetpacks to leap from ship to ship, taking out defences as they go. Many of the missions are on the brief facet, completable in 5-Quarter-hour normally, however that does imply they don’t are likely to overstay their welcome. Total, then, I’d say the marketing campaign is satisfactory however is leagues away from providing the type of memorable expertise that the very best RTS video games supply, like one among my favourites which I reviewed in 2021, the venerable Warhammer 40k: Daybreak of Warfare sequence.

For the reason that marketing campaign isn’t very occupied with defining the three factions, enable me to present you a tough rundown, a minimum of when it comes to how they play. World Danger is the all-rounder of the three and appears like your typical NATO power with some sci-fi twists. They deploy fairly conventional tanks, helicopters and troopers. Black Listing are the scrappier insurgent forces with an emphasis on hit-and-run ways in addition to some stealth capabilities. They’re particularly good at sneaky base ambushes, probably the one cause to trouble with the in any other case largely ineffective base defences. Lastly, New Horizon are the slowest of the three, their models slower to supply and transfer round, however extra highly effective, culminating in an enormous, stompy mech. Of the three, it’s New Horizon that feels probably the most completely different, with each Black Listing and World Danger (I swear that seems like an insurance coverage firm) enjoying largely the identical.

The gameplay feels closely influenced by each Command & Conquer and Starcraft. Your base is surrounded by two useful resource factors, Supplies and Gasoline, and also you churn out employee automobiles to shuttle these assets backward and forward. Different spots on the map can have a base constructed on them, too, pushing you to increase your operation so as to generate assets quicker than anybody else. With assets in hand, you’ll plonk down primary barracks, factories and airfields so as to create and deploy your military whereas researching a handful of upgrades and throwing down buildings that improve the variety of models you possibly can have. That stated, the utmost military says is fairly small, particularly once you deploy the larger stuff, and the quantity of buildings and models you possibly can create could be very restricted, maintaining the motion streamlined but additionally very primary. In different phrases, in the event you like your RTS video games huge, look elsewhere.

The tempo of the gameplay is unquestionably on the faster facet, once more feeling quite a bit just like the legendary Starcraft 2 or the traditional Command & Conquer sequence. There are not any extended battles or grinding out prolonged tech timber – a handful of models you possibly can construct and small maps imply it’s all about throwing out orders shortly and ensuring you reply with the precise instruments. The largest tactical selections come from what to construct, when to construct it and what number of to construct of it. These preliminary selections really feel like they impression the remainder of the sport probably the most, so I believe aggressive multiplayer will come right down to determining optimum construct orders and the variety of clicks per minute a participant can obtain. That’s an issue. Not for the sport, only for me personally as a result of I like to turtle up and construct an absurdly big base earlier than setting up big quantities of missiles or artillery.

As soon as the fight begins, many models have a particular means they will deploy however I discovered that stuff will get destroyed so shortly it may be laborious to make good use of those talents. Most battles are over in 30 seconds, perhaps a minute. Once more, it’s a reasonably quick tempo, bolstered by the usual rock-paper-scissors idea meaning sure models may be decimated in a short time by their counter. You possibly can hurl huge blobs of models at issues however gamers who take note of composition will fare much better.

There are actually solely two areas wherein Crossfire: Legion takes an opportunity and tries one thing a little bit completely different, although each ideas have appeared in different RTS titles prior to now. As a substitute of getting each unit at your disposal throughout a match, you select your loadout earlier than dropping in, selecting one unit out of three or 4 selections per slot, of which there are 5. On paper the concept appears to be pushing gamers to actually take into account their gameplay forward of the match, uncover what models match their playstyle and make an vital determination about how they intend on tackling the opposite gamers. However in actuality, it’s a irritating system that locks you right into a sport plan and unable to adapt on the fly. Should you introduced the fallacious construct the enemy will steamroll you, and solely a colossal fuck-up on their finish provides you with an opportunity to battle again.

This entire card system was constructed upon the preliminary idea of gamers having to unlock new playing cards utilizing in-game cash. Through the sport’s Early Entry interval, the suggestions was clear; individuals don’t like the concept, and the builders ditched it whereas retaining the playing cards.

The second idea is commanders who convey particular talents to battles. Every faction has three to select from and affords stuff like artillery barrages, deployable mercenary bases or teleportation. The way in which you employ these range on the mode, with some supplying you with restricted utilization and others offering a method to recharge them. Both method, these talents are usually not massively spectacular however they will flip the tide of most fights, and in a typical skirmish match their restricted use makes deciding when to deploy a pleasant, fraught determination.

Common skirmish matches towards the AI are the bread and butter of most RTS video games, particularly for anybody like myself who loves the style however simply can’t match the chops of the net crowd. Annoyingly, Crossfire: Legion hides them away within the customized video games menu, and much more annoyingly your entire sport requires an Web connection to work, so you possibly can’t even play offline towards the bots. As much as six gamers or bots can interact in a skirmish match throughout a paltry collection of simply 5 maps, and the sport lacks some primary choices like having factions be randomly chosen or with the ability to set completely different difficulties for AI bots. It’s very bare-bones. The excellent news, although, is that the sport comes with a map-making instrument and in-built help for community-made maps. The dangerous information is that it’s type of buggy and glitch in the mean time.

I believe it’s truthful to say the AI does put up an honest battle. Even on medium, I discovered them to be a difficult foe. Pathfinding generally is a actual ache within the ass, nonetheless. Models struggling to correctly navigate terrain has typically proved a sore spot within the style, and Crossfire: Legion’s AI suffers from the identical ailment. That may result in annoying moments the place it’s important to choose models amidst the chaos and attempt to nudge them round a nook or one thing to the place you really want them.

However there are just a few different modes to discover, beginning with Payload. This sport kind pits as much as 4 gamers on tight maps the place the objective is to escort nuclear weapons, with the primary group to get three claiming the win. The important thing right here is that there are not any different useful resource factors on the map, so all people generates the identical quantity of assets on the similar fee. It may result in some actually enjoyable back-and-forth battles over the payload the place devoting all of your forces to the target can depart your base weak to sneaky assaults.

There’s additionally an attention-grabbing cooperative sport mode the place you group up with just a few other people to deal with a single AI that dispatches waves of models whilst you attempt to maintain them off. Battlelines is a bizarre addition the place you construct models on a pad, then they get spawned onto the battlefield the place they march down lanes to their doom. This one seems like a throwaway, as does Brawl the place the sport robotically creates and upgrades models so that every one it’s important to give attention to is commanding them.

Like all multiplayer modes, the most important potential difficulty is longevity. With out a strong, engaged participant base the multiplayer will die out and that already appears to be taking place. On the time of writing, Steam Charts exhibits Crossfire: Legion had a median of simply 40 gamers during the last 30 days. So except you’re feeling like you possibly can persuade a small military of individuals to affix you, don’t purchase this purely for the multiplayer.

Crossfire: Legion is greatest described as a purely ample RTS, which is why I’ve struggled to assessment it. Video games like this are the toughest to speak about as a result of there’s nothing that’s price dissecting or getting enthusiastic about. The gameplay is ok, the marketing campaign is satisfactory however uninteresting and the net is already struggling to carry a wholesome participant base. Although we’ve got been starved of RTS titles just lately, the one cause to purchase Crossfire: Legion is in the event you’ve already performed all the things else and you actually need to scratch that real-time technique itch.