Chaos Legion

Publisher: Cacom

Based on a Japanese fantasy novel, Chaos Legion has been billed in its homeland as an intense gothic opera. There's certainly no denying the intensity, and it could scarcely be more gothic if it strolled down Camden High Street in pink neon hair extensions with a Bauhaus album tucked under its arm. As for opera, suffice to say it's a deal more entertaining than a fat bloke warbling in Italian.
From the same stable as Devil May Cry, the comparisons are immediate, not least in terms of the main character, a fey chap with long hair and a longer coat. He's handy with a broadsword though, and needs to be, faced with a near constant onslaught of nightmarish monsters, both organic and metallic. Fortunately, help is at hand in the form of the titular legions, essentially mystical heavies that you can draft in to even up the sides. With up to 30 characters on screen at once, the pace is ferocious, and while technically impressive, it often becomes so busy that you literally lose sight of your character.
Maxim has been asked by the publisher not to give the story away, although there is little danger of that given that it is entirely incomprehensible, seemingly involving an audacious attempt to steal something called the Forbidden Book of Yzark. The narrative is relayed via the obligatory cinematics, all quirky camera angles, portentous voice-overs and cod-symbolism. That said, they do at least provide a break from the frenetic action, offering welcome relief to your blistering thumbs.