With over 690 million players worldwide and a TV series that earned 1.8 billion views, it was inevitable that Crossfire, the number 1 free-to-play online first-person shooter, would get a sequel or two. Strangely enough, we’re not talking about the highly anticipated Crossfire X or the hugely desired single-player campaign. Instead, we’re looking at Crossfire Legion and a genre that couldn’t be more different to the shooter that’s proven to be so popular if it tried.

Developed by Blackbird Interactive and published by Prime Matter, Crossfire Legion takes Smilegate’s immensely popular 2007 shooter and converts it into a classic Real-Time Strategy game. Rather than individual characters, players will command whole armies as they fight for resources and capture objectives to further each faction’s goals.

Being an RTS, Crossfire Legions focuses heavily on the multiplayer side of things, though there is a single-player campaign and co-op scenarios in the works. As such, we were granted access to either 3v3 or 1v1 games that we could play against AI or other players online. Unfortunately, given that the technical preview isn’t available to everyone, we were unable to get a game in versus actual players, so we had to resort to games against the AI. That being said, the AI as they almost seem to play like human players, so still offered quite the challenge, and with the label of a “Classic RTS,” Crossfire Legions handles exactly as you would expect it to.

During our hands-on preview for CrossFire: Legion, we were only able to play as the Global Risk Faction, an advanced militaristic government-type group, and the Black List Faction, a group that felt as though it played like rebels or insurgents.

• Led by Cardinal, the Global Risk Faction seems to be the more advanced militaristic government type, with near-futuristic vehicles and an abundance of artillery at their disposal. Other units can provide friendly troops with a near-impenetrable shield to protect them from incoming fire, and their cheap and expendable troops come in hard and fast. Their troops are highly disciplined, and a single rally cry can increase their rate of fire and offer them a healing boost, turning the tide of battle.
• Phoenix leads the Black List Faction, with a similar playstyle to that of rebels or insurgents. Hit and run tactics with powerful but limited weapons, or waiting in an ambush using stealth fields to remain undetected until the opportune moment, wars of attrition will rarely turn in your favour. With the exception of stealth field generators and the rather humourous bomb-dropping jetpack, the Black List faction really does give off that bit of a desperado feel, as the vehicles and buildings appear to be a bit more current, even somewhat ramshackle in their designs.

PREVIEW UPDATE:

Finally, the third faction has been announced, the New Horizon Faction, and we’ve been checking it out.

Fronted by Angel, and somewhat focused on naming their units after mythological creatures, the New Horizon Faction brings a glass canon to the fight. They focus heavily on powerful shields to protect troops from incoming attacks, but once these fall, it’s not long before the soldier succumbs to their wounds. To combat this, the aptly named “Vampire,” a melee combat unit, can be upgraded to drain the energy of their opponents, recharging their own shields as they carve a bloody path through the enemy. Alternatively, the towering Titan, a massive bipedal tank, can consume its own energy to replenish its own shield, blasting away with an incredibly powerful, albeit slow to fire, railgun, dealing significant amounts of area damage regardless of its accuracy.

Synergy is key in CrossFire: Legion and the early-game zerg-rush will often lead to wasted resources. Each faction has its own strengths and weaknesses, but properly supporting your troops with healers, area of effect damage, and many other supporting units will almost ensure victory. As I mentioned in my last write-up, CrossFire: Legion feels familiar, but at the same time it feels different, and that difference could see this quickly rise as one of the world’s more competitive RTS games and follow the success of its namesake.

There is also a yet-to-be-announced third faction planned for reveal in February, and as development progresses, we’ll see the addition of an Army Card System, allowing players to customise their armies. The single-player campaign will make its debut, alongside Steam Workshop Support for users to edit and create their own maps. Additional Commanders and new units will become available, and players will wage war across more maps with different online gameplay modes.

The 2007 release of Crossfire on PC took the world by storm, particularly in the Eastern countries, and with their affinity for RTS games, I dare say the same can be said for Crossfire Legion when it’s released. It really is a classic RTS with its simple “point and click” control system, or the more advanced macro function for those high-paying tournaments known to draw in the crowds, anyone of any experience level can play.

Crossfire Legion hasn’t been released yet, but I am sure it is going to take the RTS world by storm, and for fans of the genre, it’s a welcomed addition to a market that has been left behind by developers.

Written by: MKAU Gaming