This game fails as a strategy game since there is so little depth to it. It looks like a cheesy imitation of Civilization I (without the tech tree, wonders, new units, leaders, etc.) which came out over 10 years ago. Yet Civ I is better than this for strategy (guns v. butter decisions).

Legion fails in the tactical sense. Don't even begin to compare this to Age of Kings for battle play. All you do is a one time launch of the battle. After it starts you have no control. AoK runs circles around this in controlling and viewing battles plus AoK is better at the strategic level. And yes, AoK did come out over 2 years ago.

That Legion is turn-based (i/o RTS) makes the flow much more stiff but at least I knew that up front.

The graphics are like something out of a time capsule - an not in a good sense. Ancient Art of War does come to mind.

Top it all off with almost useless documentation and, you get the point.

Strategy - F
Tactics - F

Graphics - D
Instructions - F

Am still looking forward to Paradox's Hearts of Iron (which looks great) and Crusader Kings. Still, how can something as bad as Legion come from the same company that produced EU? Reminds me of a line from the Sheriff (Jackie Gleason) at the end of 'Smokey and the Bandit' when he looked at his bumbling son and said 'when I get home I'm gonna puch your momma in the mouth'. Maybe that's how Paradox will look at Legion some day.

"HORRIDLY BAD"
Stay away. Stay FAR AWAY.

This game might (MIGHT) have been acceptable in the late 80s, but I doubt it. The graphics are ugly and primitive. The interface looks like a VGA dos strategy game like Settlers 1, and is unclear and hard to use. The game is plagued by numerous video bugs.

But all that would be ignorable if the gameplay were even OK. Unfortunately, the gameplay [is bad]. It's basically Ancient Art of War for the Apple II with (slightly) updated graphics. The cover illustration is the best thing about this ..., unimaginative, rushed title.

Do yourself a favor and spend your hard earned money on something good, ...

"simple, but somewhat enjoyable"
The game is well implemented and mostly succeeds at accomplishing its modest objectives. As you can see by the other reviews, the non-interactive combat sequences are by far the most controversial aspect of the game. I personally like the way combat is handled: it does provide you with a fair amount of control over your armies without devolving into a frantic click-fest like so many other games. Indeed, I've been impressed by the level of intelligence exhibited by my AI soldiers -- it's a big improvement over standard RTS fare, where half of the time your troops are too dumb to defend themselves when attacked unless you click on them.

My main problem with the game lies in the way units and experience are handled. Each unit can contain up to about 80 soldiers (depending on the type and size of the unit) and up to 8 units are grouped together into an army. If at least one soldier from a unit survives a battle, the unit survives and retains all its experience. You can repopulate the unit pretty quickly just by having it positioned inside your borders. I find that this makes it just too easy to create powerful veteran armies. This system, along with the high frequency of battles in the game, means that very few battles have a make-or-break sense of excitement: even if your elite invading army gets wiped out, it can be replaced fairly easily.

I did get a few evenings of enjoyment out of this game, but it's certainly not one of those games that will take over your life and consume every moment of your free time.

(The earlier reviewer who said that the factions differ in name only is incorrect: different factions have different unit types available to them. Also, the faction's starting strength and position can dramatically alter the flavor of the game.)

"Doesn't cut it"
I was so looking forward to this game. I mean Really. Which is why I am really bummed it is not that good. As a Roman empire fan I was dying to use my legions to trounce those nasty celts. And it just seemed to lack any roman flavor. The combat baffled me as the units had no common sense, you can't use traditional Roman tactics, and I almost went mad trying to get my troops to realize they were in a great hill position just sit and wait! The Legion units scattered to the four winds in combat- so much for that great trained bunch of men hammering through the barbarians. And I was also mystified by the rqndom limits placed on units in specific areas- which why of all things are called "squads"? They went to great lengths to get every celtic tribe name correct, but allow only 8 "squads" in one place.

Maybe its in the game someplace but after playing for a few hours I was just sick over what was missing. No forming the XX Legion and marching on the enemy. It really felt like a game from maybe 4 years ago.

So as a Roman history enthuiast I just have to say I am very disapointed and wished they had put out a demo. WIth that I would have known in 10 minutes not to waste my money.