Chaos Legion

"“All right, then, I’ll go to hell.”"

If you're looking for an action-packed adventure starring a debonair, egotistical pretty-boy fighting demons in a spooky castle, then stop reading this review. Chaos Legion isn't another Devil May Cry, and that's not a bad thing. This is a button-mashing gothic 3D brawler plain and simple, and a damn good one at that. The sooner you've realized that Chaos Legion isn't even in the same genre as the much beloved demon slaying adventures of Dante, then the sooner you can enjoy this kick ass title.

You'll take the role of Seig Warheit, a Knight of the Dark Glyphs, during his latest mission. A man by the name of Victor Delacroix recently stole an ancient forbidden book of magic called the Apocrypha of Yzarc, and it's your job to stop him from using it. The only way to do this, of course, is to cut through armies of demons. But why would Delacroix want the book? More is revealed through a series of intriguing cinema scenes with a whole lot of great stuff about sins, penance, and purification of the soul in between the heart-pumping action.

And boy is there a lot of action. Chaos Legion has 14 levels of pure button-mashing greatness. You'll enter an area and be swarmed by incredible numbers of insects brandishing razor-sharp talons, hell hounds with thick hides, giant ogres capable of smacking you around like a rag-doll, and even undead soldiers that are more concerned with impaling young Seig rather than their soon-to-be sliced up carrion. As electric guitars and in one case sweet vocals wail in the background, you'll keep mashing the square button to slash away with hard-hitting combos to bash these demons down to the ground.

But one lone man would have a difficult time fending off armies of undead, so Seig has his own satanic trick up his sleeve. With the press of button, you can summon imprisoned souls known as Legions to aid you in combat. You'll be slaughtering foes left and right with the power of ethereal knights gracefully jabbing away with their unholy cutlery, insane clawed goblins that tear into metal like butter, muscle-bound demons that slam into your opponents with their impressive bulk, and even creepy-looking archers that fire away at enemies while quietly floating beside you. But you'd best be careful because Legions aren't invincible. A few too many hits and you'll land yourself a Crest Break meaning you'll be forced to fend for yourself until you absorb enough souls to regain your lost Legion.

However, Legions aren't only for summoning. Once you've dismissed your hellish partner from combat, you can execute their Assist. This is generally a short move that, as the name suggests, quickly helps you during battle. For example the Blasphemy Legion allows Seig to punt the turtle-shaped demon into a horde of foes before it explodes in a ball of flame and ash causing baddies to shoot up into the air and land on the cold granite ground with a deafening thud. Equipping different Legions (only two at a time) will also beef up Seig by giving him stat increases or sick moves like an electrifying back flip, a hard slash that ignites all it touches, or a burst of lightning to pull in your unwilling enemies.

And once you're neck deep in battered and bruised demon bodies, you'll have to appreciate the subtle aesthetic values of Chaos Legion. From Seig's flowing, tattered cape to the exquisitely animated beat-downs delivered by your Legions, this title makes other brawlers like Dynasty Warriors 3 look like utter trash. In fact the frame rate stays constant and fluid even with all the enemies consuming every inch of space left on the screen. Unfortunately the level designs aren't going to impress you. Rather than making beautiful environments, Capcom loaded everything up with cool looking enemies, but each level is just oozing with action that you really won't notice how linear the path to each boss truly is.

And once you've made it to the boss, it's time for another adrenaline rush. Each colossal boss towers over Seig making him look like a mere ant in comparison. At one point you'll face an immense crab-insectoid made of 100% pure adamantine. While it plants its claws into the rock walls to elevate itself off the ground, Seig will have to find a way to bring it down. So you'll have to jump and slash its front legs in order to force the beast to lose its grip. Once this has been done, it'll come thundering down to the floor revealing its glowing emerald center that's just begging for Seig to hack away at it. At another point you'll face a gigantic possessed tree guarded by several mechanized demons that shoot powerful beams of energy at our hero. While quickly dodging the lasers, Seig has to cut away at the tree's sturdy shield of oak before revealing its Achilles' heel. However, you also have watch out for that same shield's impending return to cover up the weak spot, release strong shockwaves and cause thorny tentacles to erupt from under the Earth.

If you think those bosses sound like truly difficult encounters, then you're partially correct. Chaos Legion does start out challenging thanks to Seig's dinky health meter and low level Legions, so it'll be a true test of skill to finally finish a level. As the game progresses, you'll be able to permanently increase Seig's stats with power-ups. Each battle will also yield tons of experience points that can be spent on your two equipped Legions. You can then put these points into Force (increase the number of legionnaires when you summon a Legion), Assist (power-up your Legion's Assist attack), Enchant (learn new moves, gain stat boosts), Attack or Defense. After hitting stage 10, you can revisit old levels to increase your power. While it is a total blast to make you and your Legions an unstoppable force to be reckoned with, it does make the game a lot easier by the end. It'll also be an easy last mile of this epic if you went through the inner bowels of the game's levels and found the nine Thanatos Chips to regain control of the Ultimate Legion Thanatos. But all the entertainment you get from doing these things easily eclipses the last levels' disappointing lack of difficulty.

As if all the fun you'll have brawling and beefing up your Legions wasn't enough, Chaos Legion sports an impressive longevity with a game time of well over 20 hours. Afterwards you can unlock harder difficulties and an extra character. It's good thing Capcom adding these unlockables because after the awesome song during the climatic ending and credits has struck a chord with you, you'll know it's not time to leave this DVD-ROM from your grasp and on the shelf. Do yourself a favor and pick this one up now. I'll see you at the rusted gates of Murdoa ready to dig my blade deep into the flesh of an undead warrior . . .

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 04/29/05