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According to myth, Pandora was given a jar (or box if you will) that contained all of the evils of the world - including hope - by Zeus and told never to open it. But, she was also give the "gift" of curiosity, and so ultimately did. She unleashed upon the world all that was contained inside but not before closing it, sealing in hope. The "evils" were represented as guile, envy, vanity and the like. But, what if they were actually the creatures of old? When Pandora shut her box, could she have saved mankind from being overrun by the mythical animals that once inhabited the world?

With that back story in mind, I couldn't help but be excited to sit down with Spark Unlimited, the developers of Legendary, a soon to be released FPS that releases mythological monsters on the modern world.

As Deckard, a professional art thief, you are asked to steal the contents of a "box". Unknowingly, you are tossed into the middle of an age-old struggle between two secret societies. The Black Order, an organization who is hell-bent on throwing the world into chaos by allowing natural order to return to the world; and the Council of 98, who have fought to keep the secret of the "box" and you will find to be your allies during the game. The Black Order and the Council of 98 have been at war for hundreds of years, both working in secrecy to put down the other's plans.

This time, The Black Order has succeeded. They have tricked Deckard (you) into literally opening Pandora's Box and unleashing all of the mythological creatures of myth upon the world. In doing so, you are marked with the signet - the seal of the box and the hope that Pandora kept locked in side - burned into your left palm. Using this signet, you will find yourself able to manipulate the animus of the creatures you must now defeat in your attempt to right the world.

Initially, I could only use the signet to gather health from dead creatures' animus. Later, I was able to push them back. I was told that as my character becomes more in tune with the signet, more skills become available and the more proficient I would become.

The majority of my hour with Spark Unlimited was spent with a controller in my hand, and it was an action-packed hour indeed. The demo was set in an old English town that definitely looked the worse for wear. Buildings were crumbling, cars were burning, and there was no sign of civilian life anywhere. It was quite obvious that something was wrong. I met resistance on the first street I traveled down, but strangely enough, it wasn't from monsters. I was alongside soldiers of the Council of 98, trading bullets with members of the Black Order. Honestly, it felt like any other FPS I've played in the past few months. Then the werewolves attacked...

They came in a group of two. Fortunately for me, I was quite a ways back from the Black Order troops that I was heading towards, but there were a few Council soldiers who had pushed forward. They were the first to die. The werewolves leapt from the rooftops and tore into soldiers, not stopping to discriminate between Order and Council. Once they had finished with them, they turned toward me.

I was shooting with an assault rifle, so rather than charging me, one of them literally climbed the wall (none of the monster combat was scripted) before running along the rooftops to avoid my fire. Now, the thing to remember when fighting wolves is that they work in teams; and the one I wasn't shooting at had climbed over a different set of buildings to get behind me.

I respawned soon after and started fighting the Order soldiers again, accepting strategy advice from the developers this time. After they explained, I continually noticed how there are situations where it's best to hang back a bit and watch the creatures and the Order duke it out for a while before wading into the fray. Seeing your two enemies fight other is always a fun bit of gameplay, and the AI found in Legendary makes it even better. Soldiers give cover fire and work in teams, Werewolves move in packs, changing from a long-range style of car throwing fighting, to a hit-and-run tactic, to an all out suicide charge. It's very cool.

Once you do engage the werewolves, getting them down isn't always enough. If you don't decapitate them, they regenerate. You've got to literally blow their heads off or you will find yourself a few paces down the road fighting something else when it comes up behind, or above, or around and attacks again.

The environments will vary from New York City, to Northern England, London, back to Northern England and finally back to New York City. The designers made sure to mention that these are simply creatures, not malicious beings. Oh, sure they want to eat you, kill you, tear you limb from limb, but it's an instinctual thing. They are more interested in changing the environment into a habitat that suits them. As you return to an area you've once visited, you should see dramatic change as the animals of myth become more at home.

The highlight of the demo was definitely the fight with a Minotaur. Of course, he's in a stone walled maze when you first encounter him; but that maze quickly turns into a courtyard as his charges plow through the walls. These walls leave rubble, which he will throw at you if you get too far away.

The Minotaur was tough to kill... I'm not sure how many shotgun shells I wasted on him, but I could definitely tell I was hitting him. Legendary has an interesting way of showing damage to monsters. Their skin literally falls off. When a monster is close to dying, all you see is the corded muscle where skin once was. It's definitely a disturbing visual, but one that gets the point across.

Overall, I'm excited about the game. It's incredibly action-packed, the graphics are excellent, and the level of difficulty seems to be enough to challenge without frustrating. I don't expect Legendary to change the FPS genre with new, groundbreaking gameplay, but I do expect to spend more than my share of hours killing werewolves, minotaur, and whatever else Spark Unlimited has can throw my way.