King’s Bounty: Legions Preview

GamePro is next in line to bring us a two-page hands-on preview of the Facebook-powered King’s Bounty: Legions, and they reassure us that the transition to the social network didn’t actually change the core of the game:

When brought to Facebook, some games leave what makes them special behind (such as Civilization has done with Civilization: World, quite possibly the most boring version of Civ I’ve played). This isn’t the case with King’s Bounty. The core of King’s Bounty — the combat — is just about the same. You give orders to your troops, which while not using all of the names from the original game (Beholders are Eyebeasts, Robbers are now Vagabonds, and Priests are Pilgrims) are otherwise the same as in the PC games. For the most part, their attacks are similar to what they are in the retail games. Take Gunners, aka Dwarven Cannoners. They still have their powerful special cannon shot, but their regular attack is delivers acidic damage instead of just physical damage. Vagabonds can stun instead of robbing corpses. I like that attacks are of the (inspired by) variety instead of straight copies — it forces veteran players to reevaluate their troops and tactics, in case an attack has changed.

The differences come in your spells and the special attacks of your (character.) You don’t have a spellbook, which is something even a warrior can use in the King’s Bounty series. You instead just have spell scrolls, which you may purchase in towns (with in-game gold you earn from fighting armies and finishing quests), receive as rewards for finishing quests, or find as treasure. Scrolls are powerful.

Other stats, such as leadership (which determines how many of a particular unit you can have in your army), attack, and defense, remain unchanged.