Doctor Who Legacy 2.2

Nice and Blue

You’re just getting the hang of the game and what do they do? Release another upgrade. The new patched version 2.2 of Doctor Who Legacy has been available for a week now. I like it.

The first thing you’ll notice is the new icon and start screens. I wouldn’t say I prefer the new look to the old but it’s nice to have a change. A facelift every few months is no bad thing.

Second thing you’ll come across is the daily log-in bonus. This is nice, and I’m sure it will tempt the punters to keep coming back. You’ll notice that there’s no Black or Yellow Time Fragment bonus and only 1 Red, though that is the first of the sequence so it probably balances out. There are still plenty of chances to earn all Fragments in the game, but it seems that Black and Yellow characters will find it tougher than others to upgrade.

The first time I logged into the 2.2 it instantly awarded me three or four Achievements. I knew that the game was ignoring some of my heroic milestones, so they must have ironed out some bugs. However I still haven’t got Exterminate Red I, when I do have Exterminate Red II & III. Exterminate Green looks busted too. For the record I have 43 out of 56 Achievements, though it should be 45.

Oh the Horror!

There are a few changes in the Setting menu of the Options. You can turn off the ‘flash’ of the characters eyes when you use their abilities. I like that feature so I've left it on. More dramatically you can change the look of the gems on the game board.

There are five skins to choose from, the first being Christmas. This isn’t new, but now you can have it permanently on. Why you’d want to I don’t know, as it's uglier than a litter tray's contents. The Van Gogh skin also becomes an option, and is interesting but murky. I find it hard to tell the difference between Blue and Black gems in frantic moments.

The brand new skins begin with Beast, based on the script seen in The Impossible Planet and The Satan Pit. It’s not so bad, the colours are clearly distinguished and it isn’t garish. Dalek is next, a simple design which makes my eyes go a bit funny with all those grills lined up in rows. Master is perhaps my favourite of the skins, looking like the Toclafane spheres from The Sound of Drums and Last of the Time Lords. The way each colour gem is orientated slightly differently makes the board look quite chaotic, subtle. Ood is another simple inoffensive design which I could tolerate, with the gems looking like the Ood telepathy ball. Lastly we have the Silence skin, based on the 5 bar gate tally marks used by the Doctor and his companions to record a sighting of the Silence. I love the scene in Day of the Moon when Amy is exploring Graystark Hall, she sees her palm is flashing, and that her hands and face are covered in tallys. Then she looks up and sees a horde of Silence roosting on the ceiling, oooh! Shiver. Karen Gillan knows how to sell a scream. Anyway the Silence skin looks much like Beast, only a bit scruffier.

Welcome back Sir

Of course each to their own and the range is quite varied, so most should find one they like. The default skin is still there, and you don’t have to use any of the new ones so there isn’t anything to complain about.

A new ‘cheat’ has been added which allows you to upgrade a character using Time Crystals rather than Time Fragments. Cheat is a bit unfair, more of a shortcut. I have several characters at the maximum level for their Rank but am short of Fragments. I was happy to grind for a while but the novelty was starting to wear off. The Fragment drop rate is significantly higher now so maybe this will be less of an annoyance once things balance out. You accumulate a few free Crystals as you play, so you could just look at them as super fragments, rather than in game cash if you’re squeamish. It does seem cheap to upgrade, 4 crystals for a Doctor, even less for Companions, with it seeming less at higher levels. I was quoted just 1 Crystal to upgrade Jenny Flint to Rank 5. Tempting. I resisted, for now.

One of my favourite changes to the game is the time metre that appears above the gem you’re moving. It counts down your allowed 5 seconds, turning red as time runs out. This stops you having to mutter, “One elephant, two elephant, three elephant…”, attracting worried glances from your fellow bus passengers.

Cancel? Or Confirm

The biggest change to the game is the new Rank 5, and the dual colour ability that it provides. To get to level 5 you need some of the new Time Fragments, Rassilon, Omega and Infinity. I believe these start to appear in the later levels of Series 5 and in the Expert area. I haven’t won any yet, so best not to comment. It all sounds very cool and I'm keen to get there. If you have any experience of Level 5 then let me know. Even the wiki’s cupboard is bare on this subject so far.

The last significant addition is the Challenge Levels. This just holds 2 episodes so far, with more to be released in a steady drip. In these you need to have certain Characters before you can play. For the first you need the Eleventh Doctor, for the second you need the Tenth Doctor and Rory Williams. I’ve played them and they’re fun, dropping Time Crystals when you first play. These first levels are easy so you should be able to rattle them off.

Once again I’d say that Tiny Rebel Games have come up trumps. New content, more options, and a facelift plus bug fixes. Lovely. The only things I don’t like are purely optional, and so avoidable. Bravo!