The dungeon crawl is a mainstay of gaming, despite having core gameplay so simplistic that it makes Tara Reid look deep by comparison. You kill stuff, you collect loot. Kill more stuff, collect more loot. Untold Legends for the PSP adopted that very bare-bones approach quite literally, offering little more than hacking, slashing, and collecting. It was very easy on the eyes, and its multiplayer options took good advantage of the PSP's wireless capabilities, but it's super-shallow gameplay left players wanting just a bit more. The sequel, Untold Legends: The Warrior's Code, looks like it's going to make up for that, and then some. Boasting more character classes, a much-improved interface, and a brand-new multiplayer mode, Code looks to be offering gameplay on par with console cousin Champions of Norrath. And if that isn't enough to make you strap on your +2 Boots of Ultimate Chicanery, then how about your character's ability to transform into a big-ass monster? Ohhhh, yeah…who's the dungeon master now, beyotch?

Don't make me roll initiative!
The intro of Code brings players up to date on local politics: everything was cool and froody, until the emperor's evil half-brother decided to be a tool and start making a real nuisance of himself. After the requisite screaming and bloodshed, the emperor was dead, his butt of a half-brother was on the throne, and the city was in a state of woe and misery. Thus brought up to date, the preview picks up with your first mission, to meet the Sheriff in the local sewers. Unfortunately, once I actually found the guy, the sound kacked out, so I never really did figure out what we were all doing there, but based on the noble expression on his face, I'm thinking it's some sort of do-goodery.

Players begin by choosing from one of five characters, all interesting variations on the typical character class themes we're used to. Customization is still fairly limited (you can't swap genders, for example), but there's enough variety available for you to find something you're happy with. Each character has both a melee and a long-range attack, but don't expect the usual boring bows and arrows. My Mercenary, for example, hurled saw blades at her foes and the deceptively cherubic Disciple sports a shotgun. Slaying enemies not only nets you experience points, potions, and plunder, but also "essence"; collect enough essence and you can use your changeling abilities to temporarily transform into a big, bad, mean monster. Using your massive limbs and mighty fists to swat enemies as though they were no more than flies is very, very satisfying.

You've been working out, I can tell
Actually, everything about the combat is satisfying. It's clear that SOE put a lot of effort into improving the overall hack-n-slash experience, by giving us more weapons, more moves, and better control over the entire blood-soaked affair. Control via the analog nub is nice and tight, and switching from melee to long-range weaponry on the fly was a breeze. I'm not thrilled that the developers chose to keep the awkward blocking mechanic from the first Legends game (holding down the Left shoulder button and pressing circle while trying to move with the analog stick is a real hand-cruncher), but I'm not much of a blocker, anyway. Fans of the 20-sided die will appreciate the depth of the item collection (lots of nifty loot to be had), as well as the easy-to-use interface that sorts everything for you and makes it a cinch to compare and contrast weapons and armor. The information at your fingertips is vast, including a map, your inventory, and even a bestiary that keeps track of all the slavering uglies you encounter.

Welcome to the party…now hold still so I can smite you
Although the previous Legends had multiplayer options, they weren't very deep and didn't integrate with the single player experience very well. Code will apparently not only have story-driven two-player co-op, but also player vs. player action for up to four people. (No word on whether or not you get to pillage your buddy's corpse, though.) A new "macro-chat" system is supposed to make multiplayer communication easier, though details about this are still fuzzy.

There were some definite animation and framerate issues in the preview, not to mention that complete sound failure I mentioned earlier, but it seems reasonable to assume that those problems will be resolved in the final version. Minor annoyances aside, Untold Legends: The Warriors Code looks to be a very satisfying, very deep dungeon crawling experience when it's released next month. We'll let you know if it lives up to its full potential when we review the full version mid-March.

-Maj1013