While we've written about it before, GamesRadar got its first real crack at Untold Legends Dark Kingdom today. Continuing in the tradition of the PSP Untold Legends games, Dark Kingdom is a hack-and-slash RPG that will let players cast spells, work as a team or just jam on the attack buttons to make things die.

The only able to play as a meaty, hammer-swinging Warrior, we were told that the final game will also enable players to pick from Mage or Scout classes. (The cartoonishly proportioned Brute from early videos of the game is gone, however. It's almost a pity; we'll miss his absurd barrel chest.) In any case, all three characters will be able to cast spells or special attacks; when we tried it with the Warrior, he slammed his giant hammer into the ground and sent out a huge, flaming shockwave that tore a bunch of attacking skeletons to pieces.

One of the things about Dark Kingdom that was hyped in early showings was its realistically interactive environments, and while it won't be as cool as we were once led to believe - you won't be able to pick up an enemy and swing him around like a club after all - we were able to pick up baddies, boulders and exploding barrels and chuck them around to do tons of damage.

At one point, our path was partially blocked by huge boulders, and we were told that - later in the game, when he gets really buff - the Warrior will be able to pick them up as well. In any case, we were able to roll some house-sized rocks around to crack open the gates of a fort, and the skeletons exploded impressively when we smacked them around for a little while.

Environment aside, the game played like standard action-RPG fare; we had two different attacks that we could chain together in different combos, the ability to block or dodge attacks and a “contextual action” button that let us pick things up.

While it was fun, though, we have to say that - in terms of graphics, at least - this is the least impressive game we've seen on the PS3 so far. But Sony Online has until November to add a coat of polish, and Dark Kingdom has already changed dramatically since the last time we saw it, so we're looking forward to how it shapes up as the PS3's launch day draws nearer.

May 11, 2006