Endless Legend

There's so much going on in Endless Legend that it's difficult to know where to start. As good a place as any is the style of game; Amplitude's latest title is a 4X strategy (eXplore, eXpand, eXterminate, and the one we always forget, eXploit). It's in the same vein as Civilization V, in that it's turn-based and plays out on maps broken up into hexagonal chunks. That's really where the similarities end, though.

Endless Legend has a fantasy setting, at least at first, because as each game progresses it becomes increasingly technology-focused; there's an undeniable sci-fi edge to the late game of each contest. And so it should have, this game is narratively linked to Amplitude's other 4X offering, Endless Space.

What is most immediately obvious is the eye-catching map of Auriga that plays host to each contest. We'd go as far as calling it out as the most beautiful we've ever seen in a game of this sort; it's a watercolour painting that houses dramatic diplomatic discussions, wars that roll back and forth like a vengeful tide, scientific advancements and new discoveries that emerge from the ever-disipating fog of war. It's a wonderful backdrop to the deep strategy that unfolds atop it as each turn slides into the next.

The map is littered with minor factions that must be conquered one way or another. There's fantastic variety in this area, and although the units might not have wildly different stats or abilities, they look varied and run the gamut of fantasy creatures and races. Once these minor factions have been conquered they can be absorbed into the empire, their units becoming available when building subsequent armies. There's always something new to discover, and you can never be sure who you're going to meet next as you expand outwards from your first city and starting base.

On top of the numerous minor factions, there's eight playable options available to choose from. These eight are another of Endless Legend's big strengths. Each plays differently to the next, meaning there's incredible longevity to be had from the game, and sometimes the differences between them can be quite drastic. There's some real game-changers in there.

Necrophages, for example, are a hive-based faction that aggressively expand their borders, feeding off of the corpses they leave in the wake of their expansion. Another, the Drakken, are wise Dragon-types so connected with world that they know where every starting capital is based from the very start, giving them ample opportunity to develop strong diplomatic bonds while everyone else flaps about in the early game.

Another really interesting faction is the Broken Lords. These are the spirits of noble knights trapped in armour, and they feed off of the game's currency, Dust. All other factions harvest food from the land, and can buy units and buildings using the currency, whereas Broken Lords require it in place of food, and playing with them completely alters one's perspective of the map and how to approach the game.

There's more, like the Roving Clans (traders with nomadic cities who shy away from violence), The Cultists (they have a single city, can only conquer minor factions but grow strong from defeating other major factions), Wild Walkers (industrialists who prefer ranged combat), Vaulters (the faction that links Amplitude's other games, Endless Space and Dungeon of the Endless), and the faction we're currently enjoying, Ardent Mages (sorcerers who draw power from Dust).

It's a really nice medley of factions, and at the same time as giving the player different directions to take each game in depending on who they play with, facing off against the different major factions also presents a variety of problems to overcome before anyone will be victorious.

Victory is achieved via one of several different win states, ranging from controlling huge chunks of the game map, to stockpiling Dust, or researching a certain number of technological advancements during the game's sixth and final scientific era. Depending on which faction you choose, there's going to be more than one way to win a game. Helping you win are hero characters that can either lead armies or garrison cities, offering buffs whichever way you play the game.

Military conquest is the most obvious method of snatching victory in a 4X, but doing so in Endless Legend means repeatedly utilising one of the game's weaker elements; the combat. Armies are represented by avatars that move across the map, and when two clash, the various units that make up each force roll out across a sectioned-off area (although we love the way they stand down after each battle, like pieces of board game going back in the box).

Instead of controlling these units directly, you assign orders, and then each turn plays out (there's up to six), with the units moving where they want. It doesn't happen often, but sometimes they make profoundly stupid decisions, and can't carry out their orders (the action plays out on the game map, so natural choke points and terrain features can influence the outcome). This system wrestles a little bit of control from the player, and as such the combat feels less than dynamic. So much so, in fact, that on some of the smaller battles, the ones where the result is practically a foregone conclusion, it's preferable to simulate the fight than watch it unfold.

Clashing with your opponents also reveals the occasionally pedestrian AI, whether in battle or in the wider game. There's several options in terms of difficulty if you want up the challenge, and you might need to; the standard setting is a bit of a walkover and your opponents seem naturally conservative. Ideal while you're learning the ropes maybe, but certainly not great for players with a long-term addiction.

There's a lot of nuance to the game, and the level of depth that Amplitude offers is really, truly impressive. There's different scientific ages where new technology means different resources become important. Cities can be expanded and developed, offering plenty of opportunities for players to improve their ever-expanding city states. Each city tile has different properties, including Dust, industry, food or science, so placement is particularly important, as is the way citizens are put to work. Balancing the needs of a city with military brawn, consolidating internal strength as well as efficiently expanding outwards; there's much that needs considering, plenty of decisions to make, and handy messages prompt you into action when a certain building has been finished, or when a unit has been trained.

Periods of winter come around regularly and they change everything; movement (of most units) is slowed, the properties of tiles on the board change, and the progress of once prosperous cities grinds to a halt. Having a preset option to easily switch between summer and winter settings would have been great, because once you have a huge empire it can take some time to go through all of your cities and adjust the allocation of your workforce so as to ensure that each city doesn't start dying of starvation during the colder months.

One of our main issues with the Early Access version of the game was the lack of tutorial. This has been fixed, but it's still a very complicated game, and it takes a while to really get to grips with everything that's going on. Even after several hours and with plenty of tooltips, it can still be hard to piece together how the different systems fit together. However, the pace is such that it's not an overwhelming experience. Endless Legend is more of a slow burn, it takes time and patience to get your head around everything, but, once the main points have been grasped, it's a really pleasant way of clicking away a few hours.

The late game, as is so often the way in the 4X genre, can be a bit cumbersome and unwieldy, but there's so many options that can be tinkered with when setting your preferences before a game, that you can adjust it to suit your style and it needn't be a big problem in the long run. You can tweak the size of the map, put a timer on each turn, reduce the number of factions; there's options aplenty. There's even multiplayer, but the pacing of the game means you'll have to put aside a few hours if you want to enjoy it.

Endless Legend is certainly a game that boasts longevity and depth. There's a lot to take in and learn, with complex systems and diverse factions ensuring that even those well versed in the genre will have plenty to ponder as they grow their empire and turn the map their particular colour of conquest. It's a huge, deep and compelling game, and even though it's not perfect, 4X fans will find plenty to enjoy in the rich fantasy world of Auriga.