Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom First Look

At its recent press event, Sony Online Entertainment took the wraps off its upcoming PlayStation 3 title, Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom. The game is an original entry in the Untold Legends series, which began on the PlayStation Portable, and is set in the game's rich (albeit messed up) world. While the game wasn't playable at the event, we were able to check out a trailer for it and talk with reps at the event about what to expect.

The game is a brand new installment in the Untold Legends series and will feature an original story crafted by Keith Baker, a veteran D&D scribe, and will find you playing as one of three characters who set out to save a land in danger of being destroyed by a corrupt ruler. This time out, your choice of characters will be a brute (the burly dude shown in the media for the game), a mage, and a scout. The core mechanics will be based on the PSP game but are being beefed up some. The combat system is being taken to a two-button system to allow for more possible combos. As before, you'll be able to build up your character and equip all manner of crazy gear to aid you in your quest to stomp out evil. A new twist to the gameplay pointed out by Sony reps will be the new Havok-based system in the game, which will come into play during combat and puzzles, although specific details were being kept under wraps. Outside of the single-player experience, the game is slated to feature a number of online features that will allow for online multiplayer support.

The visuals on display were still a work in progress, but Sony showed off a decent sampling of what to expect from the game. The trailer showed several different environments that were what you'd expect from an Untold Legends game--a lush forest setting, a dank sewer setting, and so on. The trailer showed off the expected array of eye-candy bullet points that are de rigueur for next-gen titles these days. The playable character model of the brute was large and burly, with a glossy sheen to him. The enemy character models were close to his level of detail. The environments were detailed and featured flourishes such as lighting, particle and water effects, and a host of filters. One notable aspect that caught our eye was how far it was possible to see in the distance. It was hard to judge how the game's performance was going to end up; the footage we saw in the trailer moved fairly smoothly, although it hitched up a bit in a few spots.

From the look of things, Untold Legends should offer an accessible dungeon crawler for the PlayStation 3. If the action stays faithful to the PSP game, it should provide a solid core that we hope is built up to offer a deeper experience for Sony's newest console. With the game currently planned to ship within the platform's launch window, which was recently revealed to be this November, we're hoping that it can be buffed up enough to live up to the lofty expectations of gamers, who are anticipating big things out of PS3 titles. Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom is slated to ship around the launch of the PS3. Look for more on the game this May at E3 and in the coming months ahead, and check out the first screenshots of the game in action.