When it comes to fantasy-based isometric games, I am comparing them against what I consider to be the best one ever made; Diablo II, Achilles: Legends Untold is a great addition to the roster and gives a fresh angle to consider, even if it lacks some polish.
Gameplay
In the world of isometric games, especially those with a fantasy feel, it’s easy to call it a Diablo clone and move on. Achilles: Legends Untold is far from that, however. It takes the classic Greek legend of Achilles and gives it an interesting twist. You play Achilles rather than a typical unnamed character class, and the game, interestingly, starts with your death at the Siege of Troy. Those who remember their ancient Greek mythology will remember that Achilles died with a well-placed arrow (not to the knee) but to the heel. What Achilles: Legends Untold does is wake you up years later to see a world impacted by the events that claimed your life. Working with an interesting cast of characters and some gods, you fight through soldiers and mythical beasts on a quest for vengeance and world-saving. It’s a pretty solid narrative, blending elements of classic mythology with newly thought-up fantasy.
The developers claim that the game has ‘souls-like’ combat. This is always a phrase that makes me wary because, let’s be honest, Souls sets the bar pretty high when it comes to deep combat with extreme difficulty. Achilles: Legends Untold gives you difficulty but feels light and basic. You parry, block and dodge but mostly can get by with a few moves and a decent weapon.
Achilles: Legends Untold does pretty well regarding the RPG side of things. You can level up your abilities in the skill tree, designed to look like the stars and constellations, and there are plenty of weapon and gear options as you’d expect.
Overall, if you do everything the game offers, it will take approximately 20-30 hours to complete, which is decent.
Underused gameplay mechanics let it down
It’s always unfortunate when developers add something unique to their gameplay mechanics and then do very little with it, for example, choosing whether a boss lives or dies. This has the potential to offer more than it does currently – if you let them live, you get more dialogue, and if you kill them, you get loot. I can’t help but feel this could have been so much more.
Visuals and Audio in Achilles: Legends Untold
Visually, Achilles: Legends Untold is great. It’s a wonderful recreation of ancient Greece in that traditional isometric style. The textures are fantastic, and the world feels decently detailed. The gore level is also pretty high, with lots of blood spatter and dismemberment, which fits well with the brutality of combat and this visual style.
Regarding foes, some more variety would have been welcome, but what variety there was has been well done. Especially when it comes to mythical creatures.
While the sound effects and music worked well, I couldn’t help but feel the voice acting was a little off, a little hammy.
Final thoughts on Achilles: Legends Untold
Achilles is one of my favourite Greek legends, so I was excited to get my hands on this game, especially since it promised soul-like combat. Sadly, it doesn’t quite live up to that promise, and it’s one you have to be careful to make. It isn’t all bad, though; visually, it looks fantastic, and combat is still fun nonetheless. The story is engaging, and the progression works well. It’s worth playing if you can put up with less-than-desirable voice acting.
