Parent's Guide: History: Legends of War - Age rating, mature content and difficulty

Set in World War Two, History: Legends of War is a turn-based strategy game that puts your child in charge of the US Third Army. A rather complex title, your child will be asked to choose which troops to take into battle, and then manoeuvre those troops to secure victory: leading pincer attacks on the enemy, staying behind cover, and outsmarting their foes.

There's a rather steep learning curve for newer players here, with a tutorial that's patchy at best meaning new players have to effectively learn the ropes for themselves. In a game as complex as this, that's likely to be quite the challenge for some younger players.

In the missions themselves, younger players will face further challenges, especially if they're not all that experienced with the genre. Although your troops carry over from mission to mission, gaining XP and earning medals as they go, should they end up getting killed during a firefight, they're gone for good. If you're a younger player who's just learning the ropes, this can add yet more to the challenge, as you'll quickly find yourself with a decimated army - and while you can buy replacement soldiers, the points you spend to buy replacements are awarded for doing well in the levels, making it something of a catch 22 for newer players.

With a large amount of reading involved, being a confident reader is especially important here, as not only will mission briefings tell you what types of units to expect in each mission (if you're expecting tanks, you'll need to take something with a decent amount of firepower), but you'll also have to cope with the game's slightly dodgy translation. Phrases such as "Press A button to move" (when they mean *the* A button), and the rather outlandish "From here, you shall be able to return to a previous stage in the Campaign by loading a mission previously completed. But bear in mind that you will lose any later progress performed to that point" may serve to confuse younger children.

In all, while older strategy fan children will appreciate the depth of Legends of War (after all, there aren't that many turn based strategy games on consoles), younger children, and those new to the genre may struggle to find their footing.

Although it's aimed at an older audience, there's little for parents to be concerned about in terms of content in History: Legends of War. Although your child will be making soldiers shoot at other soldiers, there's little in the way of realistic portrayals of damage - instead of spurting blood, enemies instead simply flash when hit, while a red number pops up next to them to show how much health they've lost. Even when using grenades, or explosives, enemies don't bleed, or show they're hurt, even when standing inside a patch of fire.

Age Ratings

Format Reviewed: Xbox 360