Legion Arena

For A Second there, I was genuinely excited. It was a fleeting, momentary surge, a sudden belief that here was a dark horse ready to gallop through the RTS ranks and announce its intent by trampling all before it. Sadly, Legion Arena turned out to be more of a three-legged nag than a slavering stallion.

However, it's not the game's impressive 3D engine that lets it down, as this renders massive battles in which hundreds of troops slug it out over rolling landscapes. It's not the deep tactical slant that embraces terrain advantage and troop placement either. Neither is it the well-researched historical facts about the rise of the Roman empire you're fed between missions, or the excellent upgrade system that allows you to nurture your troops into more effective killers.

No, the problem with Legion Arena lies with the enemy AI, which shows about as much tactical nous as a pissed-up Sunday league pub team. This startling strategic ineptitude consists of enemy forces moronically marching towards your troops in straight lines and leaving themselves pitifully exposed to simple flanking manoeuvres, thus negating the need for any other noteworthy military shennanigans. And with most battles under two minutes in duration, it's not long before you realise just how easy and repetitive the whole affair is.

Granted, there's potential aplenty here, but with AI this idiotic, Legion Arena can only go down as a massively missed opportunity, more fit for the glue factory than the glories of war. Shame really.