Main Event
The newest mode we want to talk about is the Legend Killer mode, in which you fight through multiple tiers of wrestlers in a sort of survival gauntlet. First, you’ll need to create a Legend, which is done in the game’s create-a-legend mode. This is in addition to create modes for move-sets, entrances and tag teams.
Once you’ve created your Legend, you head to the Legend Killer mode and select the first tier to fight in. Essentially, you need to fight through ten superstars to pass each tier, of which there are several. These battles are with one health bar and progress like a gauntlet match. Defeat one and immediately fight the other. Incidentally, this is also how you gain experience for your fighter.
How you perform in the match in terms of types of moves performed, taunts or how much health you have remaining all factor into how much EXP you earn after the fight. Now, the tough part about this mode is that if you lose a match, you can either restart the fight you lost or exit the mode and level up your character. You can then restart the tier with your powered up grappler, but have to fight from the beginning. It feels a little like a slog through the mode, but leveling up characters is pretty cool and the more variety you put into your matches, the bigger the reward.
Showboating
Lastly, one of the coolest features in Legends is the ability to import not only all of the characters from SmackDown vs RAW 2009, but your created characters too. In fact, one Legend Killer tier is locked to those particular characters. As long as you have a saved game, you can import these grapplers to have new and old fighters standing tall against one another.
Set for release March 24 - just in time for WrestleMania - Legends is banking on its simplified control scheme to bring in older fans. At the same time, Legends also runs the risk of alienating fans of the SmackDown series. Check back in a few weeks to see if Legends can stand beside SmackDown in wrestling-game greatness.
Feb 26, 2009
