Hood: Outlaws & Legends Review

Hood: Outlaws & Legends Review – Steal from the rich and give to the poor as you play as Robin Hood or one of his merry outlaws

Hood: Outlaws & Legends lets you play as Robin Hood or one of his merry gang to steal from the rich and give to the poor. The premise alone was enough to pique my interest. Granted, there was a slight letdown that Robin Hood was not a fox and Little John looked nothing like Baloo, but getting to actually see the arrow lodged in the heads of the corrupted government officials more than made up for that. Focus Home interactive took the spirit of the legend and put it at our fingertips so you and your friends can steal for the greater good. With that said, let’s get into my Hood: Outlaws & Legends review.

The one downside to the game, which doesn’t affect the game in any way, more just doesn’t tickle my fancy, is the lack of a narrative to follow. The game uses Robin Hood lore to introduce the characters and provide just cause for you and your fellow outlaws to fight back against this oppressive dictator. Outside of that though, there doesn’t seem to be a narrative that progresses as you do. Being primarily an online PvE game, it makes complete sense. I just wished the consequences of your successes and failures on the world at large. Even a temporary one, say the failure of the first heist means there are fewer guards on the next because you have lowered their expectations. But again, it doesn’t factor into the game, just something to be aware of and maybe you should know about.

Hood: Outlaws & Legends is ridiculously fun to play. I can’t quite explain why, but pulling off a heist is tremendous amounts of fun and genuinely gratifying. Sneaking around, tricking and killing guards, and fighting for your life will have you running through an entire gambit of emotions. Imagine, the fear of getting spotted as you make your way hiding through the shadows amps up your heart rate. Then you get spotted after you spent minutes canvassing the area, so now you’re loud and annoyed. Followed by a wave of calm after you take out the guard, that definitely spawned out of nowhere, before he was able to alert anyone else. The peace begins to fade as you finally find the Sheriff of Nottingham. Your anxiety spikes as he suddenly takes a turn that is wildly unexpected from his observable pattern. You swipe the key, and get the treasure chest. You fight for your life taking turns hoisting and fending off attackers. The Sheriff arrives breaks all the laws of physics, but somehow you and your crew are able to distract him enough to secure the loot. You and your team reminisce over the shared experience. It’s pure awesomeness.

The game doesn’t initially appear to do much outside the FPS genre, making it feel very comfortable and intuitive. Yes, each class has specialties and stats. But you never feel out of place or at a loss of how to control yourself regardless of who you pick.  It’s easy to pick up and doesn’t seem like you’d get in the way regardless of understanding or ability. What’s most impressive is how often and how easy it is to feel like you contribute to the team, yet your failures largely don’t seem to weigh the team down. As you progress through the match, your contribution and team fate become more and more intertwined, but early on it feels forgiving enough that the team can succeed despite you messing up a few times. The controls, the feel, in combination with the environment, enemies, and in-game events culminate in this masterfully intuitive experience that allows players to feel fully immersed and in control in the best way possible.

There is absolute brilliance in the genius of the game’s simplicity.  The progression and upgrades definitely help you play the way you want to play, and never seem to break the game. The controls are standardized across classes, yet still feel unique to each class, and the upgrades and abilities you gain never make it more complicated. But by the 5th level-up, you are a vastly more capable character. The gameplay is perfectly designed, crafted, and executed for an intuitive experience that challenges your ability to play the game, not learn the game. Plus with four classes, 6 stages/locations, and different team compositions, the options seem infinite.

The only critiques I have about the game, are the Sheriff of Nottingham and somewhat limited customization options. Personally, I like to make my character look completely alien or like myself. Hood: Outlaws & Legends gives you light aesthetic customization at best. You are able to make some pretty cool-looking characters, but frankly, I’d like to be able add some color. I know the origins of the property, and there is no need for the option. I just believe having the option would have been a nice touch. It doesn’t affect the gameplay at all, but in comparison to a lot of customization options in games now, it’s a bit light. I don’t hold it against the game, I just think it’s something that would enhance it greatly. Unlike the Sheriff of Nottingham. The Sheriff is a purposely overpowered character that does not abide by the physical everyone else in the game adheres to. I understand his purpose and the definite need for him. But considering how grounded everything else is, and how intuitive every other aspect of the game feels, the Sheriff being so overly powerful feels a bit out of place. He is absolutely needed for the game, or else it would be almost too easy. I just think making him more skilled instead of more powerful would have taken the game to instant legendary status. Just going off what I know from the lore through the various versions I’ve watched in TV and movies, Little John should be able to hold his own against the Sheriff. At the very least not be nearly one-shotted anytime he goes up against him. If players could outplay the Sheriff instead of taking it down like a raid-boss, it would make the game transcendent.

Hood: Outlaws & Legends gives players the opportunity to live out their Robin Hood dreams in incredibly spectacular fashion. It is a game that is easy to pick up and hard to put down. Players will be fully immersed in Nottingham and can choose to plan out, or wing, their heist. Stealing probably should not bring this much joy to people, but at least in-game it is not illegal. While the Sheriff of Nottingham’s character does not abide by the physics everyone and everything else is bound to, he is an absolutely essential piece of the game and a lot of fun to fight regardless. And even with the limited narrative and aesthetic customization, the ridiculous amount of pure enjoyment of just attempting these heists and the masterfully simple and elegantly robust gameplay makes this game a pure thrill to play. My Hood: Outlaws & Legends review gets an 8.5/10

Also, check out the Year 1 Roadmap of content Focus Home Interactive has planned. It includes the information for free and premium content:

 

 

Hood: Outlaws & Legends is out now on

PS5, PS4, XS, XOne, PC via Steam, PC via Epic Game Store in Standard and Year 1 Edition for $29.99 USD (MSRP)

According to Google, the average Hood: Outlaws & Legends review is about 7.9/10.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Updated: 6/2/2021