Dark Legions (HQ Remake) - Track 1
15Dark Legions was developed by Silicon Knights Inc. (of "Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain", "Darksiders", and "Fantasy Empires" fame) and published by Strategic Simulations Inc. (SSI) for MS-DOS. It was released in April of 1994 on CD-ROM, or 7 floppy disks.
Enter the realm of Tahr Carog, where two Orb Keepers battle to wield the ultimate power of the twin orbs combined. Dark Legions is a turn-based fantasy strategy game with real-time battles. Each player has credits they can spend to customize their units, purchase traps (void, insanity, fire), and rings of power (speed, protection, rejuvenation) to upgrade them. There are 16 unit types to choose from to form a legion of up to 50 creatures and battle either another human player (via modem), or the computer's AI. The player must choose a unit to be the "Orb Keeper" to protect. If they lose that unit, the game is over.
The units are: Berserker, Conjurer, Demon, Fire Elemental, Illusionist, Orc, Phantom, Seer, Shape Shifter, Templar, Thief, Troll, Vampire, Water Elemental, Wizard, and Wraith. Each has their own stat blocks and powers unique to them.
The game functions like chess on a isometric battle map. Instead of instantly killing the unit instantly, players go into a top-down, real-time battle to decide who wins. Depending on the units involved, such a battle may not be on equal terms. This game is an updated version of the Archon series that came over a decade before it.
Dark Legions has a lot of replay value in a number of various setups and scenarios that keep the game fresh, as well the ability to play another human via modem. The game received favorable reviews (average 7/10) by many major magazines at the time and remains a cult classic today.
You can get the game on GOG.com
Original Score by UNKNOWN (leave a comment if you have a clue!), but I suspect it was either Denis Dyack or Ralph Cooksey-Tallbott ©1994
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