We've already had a look at Legendary's campaign mode, and our recent look at the multiplayer was something of a surprise. Legendary eschews the typical capture the flag and deathmatch play styles in favor of "Safari," a mode that combines team-based gameplay with an infinitely spawning lycanthropic enemy horde.

Safari mode involves killing as many werewolves as possible and collecting their Animus, a mystical force that powers a machine that can control the werewolves and thereby win the round. Conversely, you can use the Animus to heal yourself, but doing so costs your team an essential resource. While the wanton killing of other players is a reasonable strategy, the game does try to stress teamwork over the "one man army" school of play. Players depositing an Animus into the machine are sitting ducks who will need covering fire to avoid getting mauled to death or torn apart by enemy gunfire. The fact that each team's Animus banking machine is usually in close proximity to the rival's only adds to the chaos.

Mixing multiplayer with an A.I. enemy is a novel approach to online play and forces players to juggle their resources between killing the werewolves for the energy needed to win the round and killing other players, who have a nagging tendency to want to tear your head off with a shotgun. Weapon selection is also important; while some weapons may be more effective against enemy players, they'll be less effective when a hungry pack of werewolves show up. The multiplayer does have a problem in that virtually all of the selectable characters wear some sort of black-leather outfit, which makes visually identifying friend from foe incredibly difficult without looking at the color of the character's name.

Legendary's multiplayer does a good job of capturing the unique feel of the game without devolving into a generic dime-a-dozen online deathmatch. The developer's decision to forgo typical gameplay modes in favor of one well-engineered, unique mode is a big gamble that'll hopefully pay off when the game is released Ocotber 21.

Until then, check out these videos from our recent hands on:

Tags: Legendary Multiplayer Hands-on Video Game Reviews Previews Cheats Tips

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