7th Legion - PC Review - Gamecenter

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7th Legion
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CNET Gamecenter Review
By Hugh Falk
(10/7/1997)

Game at a Glance
Recap: Another C&C clone
Ups: High production values, challenging missions, fast-paced
Downs: Poor AI, limited units, no alliances in multiplay
Multiplayer: Good
Single player: Good
Demo: Available
Patch: NA
Cloning has been in the news quite a bit recently--sheep, cows, Michael Jackson (sorry, got that one from the Enquirer). Yet cloning became a common practice in the gaming industry long ago. And MicroProse's new real-time strategy game, 7th Legion, is one of many recent examples.
Its ancestry can be traced back to EA's Krush, Kill 'N' Destroy, which can be further traced to Westwood's Command & Conquer. But unlike human cloning--in which the clone invariably turns evil and tries to kill the original--game cloning often has positive results that benefit the gaming community. And while 7th Legion is not the best clone to leave the lab, it certainly isn't a threat to kill off its predecessors either.
In the Mood for War
Earth is on the brink of ecological destruction after years of abuse, so the Chosen (the smart, wealthy, and strong) evacuate the planet to colonize space, leaving the less fortunate to die with the planet. Unfortunately for the Chosen, the planet and its inhabitants survive and flourish. The surviving Earthlings (a.k.a. the 7th Legion) spend their days preparing for the time when the Chosen will return to take back the Earth they abandoned hundreds of years earlier. That time has come, and the player takes the role of the Chosen or the 7th Legion for a battle to the death.
Once the game begins, the typical real-time strategy formula takes over: building structures allows for more advanced structures, which allow for more advanced military units. Players then go forth and blow up the other players.
No Heroes on Board
Though predictable, this clone isn't necessarily all bad. Why? For starters, the production value is high. Graphics are sharp, cut scenes are short and entertaining, 7th Legion and if you have the system to run it, the music sounds great at the highest settings (44 kHz with 16-bit mixing). The minimum CPU is listed as a P100, but I found a P133 is more realistic, and higher systems (including those with MMX) deliver even better performance.
Meanwhile, there is a host of fast-paced, single-player missions that offer a worthy challenge. And a rather intuitive interface makes it easy to jump in the saddle and head off to war without spending loads of time in training camp.
But much like genetic engineering, every time you make a copy of a copy you degenerate a gene or two. And while it's fun, this game is lacking in many areas that keep it from reaching classic status. First, there is the fact that no air or sea units are included; only ground units are available--such as infantry, tanks, and MechWarriorlike Assault Chassis.

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