Hood: Outlaws & Legends Reviews
Whether you want to take the righteous route or become the true menace of Nottingham, Hood: Outlaws & Legends is certainly one of the best Robin Hood games to play. The art and world design care are impeccable, representing a grim and gory version of the English folklore. It’s empowering to play as legendary vigilantes and decimate the establishment or opposing forces with strategy and stealth. Although, it doesn’t come without its fair share of problems.
Despite many nods to Hood: Outlaws and Legends' source material, the densely-packed progression mechanics and fun gameplay are the star of the show here. It stops short of being a total showstopper, but comes far closer than you might expect.
Hood: Outlaws & Legends should be applauded for doing something different. In a just world, this release would steal players from larger brands and establish itself as a unique online alternative – but right now, its community is small. Assuming you can find a match, the stealth-based competitive gameplay is refreshing, and while it's not without its drawbacks, it can be seriously satisfying when you work as a team to achieve your objectives unnoticed. There's huge potential here, Sumo Newcastle just needs to find a way to keep its playerbase engaged.
When played with friends, Hood: Outlaws & Legends is a whole lot of fun. When played with strangers, it’s just a bit tedious and dull. It really is a multiplayer game that demands strategy and player coordination and, when played right, it can really make for a thrilling experience. If you end up with players who don’t want to chat and just do their own thing, though? Expect to be left frustrated. The lack of content doesn’t help either, with the one game mode and five maps growing repetitive the more you play. It’s clear that there’s Hood: Outlaws & Legends is doing something right (I can vouch for that with the fun I’ve had with friends), but it does lack that special *something* right now. With the right amount of support and content though, I can see it being a game I’ll come back to again… well… as long as my teammates are willing to communicate with me, that is.
There’s a framework for a good multiplayer game here in Hood: Outlaws & Legends, but it needs tweaking and building upon to truly give it legs. A PvE mode that actually awards progression would be welcome, too. As it stands, the clunky close combat, somewhat unbalanced characters, and a single match type results in a game that doesn’t quite meet its potential. Despite its frustrations though, it’s at least fun to play – well, until the action starts to begin feeling repetitive, which doesn’t take all that long unfortunately.
Sumo Newcastle's debut is an engrossing but substanceless heist game - and an interestingly grim take on Robin Hood.
When everything works the way it's supposed to, the harder fought wins come from precision teamwork and communication, which can be exhilarating, tense, and lead to some rather loud celebratory victories.
An accessible online heist game with some fun but clumsy systems and an ugly presentation.
Hood: Outlaws & Legends is a multiplayer stealth-action game that rewards sloppiness over cunning. That can be fun, but it also badly needs more content.
Hood: Outlaws & Legends is a PvPvE heist game that puts you into the shoes of Robin Hood and his band of thieves - but the arrow misses the target.
Hood: Outlaws and Legends has some good ideas, but the execution is a little lacking. The one mode here is enjoyable but it gets very repetitive, with the clunky combat, slow matchmaking and poor, though admittedly amusing AI, taking the fun out of it. With more variety, whether in the form of different modes or with each map having its own objectives, this could have been a winner, but as it stands it's got a lot of squandered potential.
Hood: Outlaws and Legends is a genuinely refreshing multiplayer idea that's well-executed for the most part. It's a little light on variety and doesn't offer all that much in terms of reward beyond winning matches, but there's a consistent joy to be found in its often intense back and forth tug of war for gold and glory.
Hood gives you glimpses of a new and exciting multiplayer concept, but its many, many design flaws keep the game from delivering.
Hood: Outlaws & Legends offers a barebones experience that is best played with a dedicated team of wolves. Those seeking fame and riches on their own may find themselves lamenting the lack of content both available day one and what's to come in the first year roadmap. Hood may certainly grow in the future, but the first impressions leave much to be desired.
Hood: Outlaws & Legends makes too little of its good possibilities and disappoints with monotonous rounds and small scope.
Review in German | Read full review
Hood: Outlaws and Legends offers players a fun and tense experience but it is oftentimes held back by technical problems, glitches, and other minor issues. When it functions as expected, Sumo Digital's game feels unique, especially when compared to most online experiences. Considering there's no narrative or single-player campaign to fall back on, the game will ultimately live and die based on its community. While many of the game's problems are not game-breaking, the server issues could be the Achilles heel if not addressed. With extensive free and premium Year 1 DLC plans already in place, Focus Home Interactive and Sumo Digital are hoping that the allure of new content and the dynamic elements of its game will keep players coming back.
The biggest problem for Hood: Outlaws & Legends is its meager content offering. There's a solid proof of concept here, but not much else. Whether it be the character roster, the lineup of maps, or gameplay options throughout each round, there's not enough here to capture the imagination. As it is, Hood feels like a forgotten multiplayer mode bolted onto a memorable single-player campaign. People remember Bioshock 2 and Dead Space 2 to this day, but few remember the included deathmatch suites. Without a big upgrade in the very near future, players will forget about Hood's similar offerings just as quickly.
Hood: Outlaws & Legends takes a unique 4v4 multiplayer premise and fails to do it justice. While the art style is cool and the concept is neat, the execution falls short with a lack of content, balancing issues, and a slew of frustrating elements.
Robin Hood legend in good PvPvE game. But there is not enough content right now, only one game mode and weak customization.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
The idea is intriguing and it works, but the technical implementation leaves something to be desired and there are balancing problems. However, the question is not whether the game is fun, but for how long it will be with so little content.
Review in Italian | Read full review