Game Reviews

Doctor Who: Legacy

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| Doctor Who: Legacy
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Doctor Who: Legacy
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| Doctor Who: Legacy

Full disclosure: I sort of like Doctor Who.

I'm by no means a rabid fan of the series, but I've watched enough to know that Billie Piper is the Bad Wolf, Rory's always dying, and bow ties are cool.

Even so, the majority of the fan service in Doctor Who: Legacy soared right over my head.

In this puzzler, Tiny Rebel Games focuses on the sixth and seventh series of the rebooted sci-fi series. Even within this narrow field of source material, though, there are constant references to minor characters, obscure aliens, and familiar locations.

Who?

But if you look past all that British set dressing, you'll discover that Tiny Rebel has borrowed liberally from Japanese freemium success story Puzzle & Dragons here.

In essence, GungHo's monster hit and Doctor Who: Legacy are both simple match-three puzzlers with a generous smattering of RPG elements on top.

So, you're presented with a turn-based battle at the top of the screen in Doctor Who: Legacy, as the Time Lord and his companions inevitably find themselves face-to-face with some alien oddity or historical nasty. The real battle then takes place on the lower half of your display, as you match coloured gems to dole out damage and heal your party.

Assembling this squad and filling it with your favourite Who characters is central to the appeal of Doctor Who: Legacy.

You'll unlock certain squadmates in the course of normal play, or you can spend time crystals - which are handed out fairly copiously - to unlock one random character from the series' history. It's like a booster pack for companions. Plus, of course, there's the option to purchase additional time crystals via IAPs.

Medic!

The presentation of Doctor Who: Legacy is disappointingly uneven, though. The game's cartoonish character portraits, for instance, vary considerably in quality, with one bold likeness for every ropey caricature. The in-game dialogue is similarly inconsistent, and only rarely is a fraction of the show's wit or warmth captured.

Doctor Who: Legacy's user interface deserves a dishonourable mention, too. Menus are poorly laid out and weirdly unresponsive, so you'll often find yourself repeatedly jabbing at an option in the vain hope that you'll eventually get a response.

These are trivial irritations, however, and it's more important to note that Doctor Who: Legacy's gem-matching action is simple but satisfying.

Puzzle & Dragons may boast a more universal appeal, sure, but Who fanatics will find an abundance of fan service here. The amount that's worth to you will depend on your relationship with a certain bow tie-wearing time traveller.

Doctor Who: Legacy

Doctor Who: Legacy is a real treat for Whovians, and a satisfying but derivative RPG-puzzler for the rest of us
Score
James Nouch
James Nouch
PocketGamer.biz's news editor 2012-2013