Hood: Outlaws & Legends is a fantastic multiplayer game that currently has four distinct characters. One of those is Robin, as in Robin Hood, the bow master of legend. He’s exactly as you’d imagine him to be, sneaky, fast, and incredible with a bow. In fact, it’s those bow mechanics that make the game so enjoyable when playing as him. No other character feels like him because the bow is so damn powerful, and it completely changes the game if you’ve been focusing on one of the melee characters in the meantime.
The bow is easy to aim, and as long as it hits a target in the head, they’re going down. This is the most satisfying thing in the game, because you can take down the biggest enemies around with just a headshot. Of course, a knight won’t go down because they have armor, and the Sheriff is way too strong for anything but an explosive arrow to take him down. In a weird way though, the bow mechanics make Hood: Outlaws & Legends feel a lot more like a Dark Souls game. It’s a level of challenge and fairness that isn’t present in most other games.
What I mean here is that you’ll get that guaranteed kill as long as you aim for the head. If you’re slightly too low, you’ll only maim the enemy, though they will be pretty much dead. This mechanic teaches you to take more time and learn where you need to aim to pick up those headshots. There’s even a level of dropoff on your arrows that will have to come into play if you’re trying to take out enemies from afar. Learning this has been a real experience, but it’s also helped me enjoy the game more because I feel like I’m getting more out of it. As you get better, it feels better to play the game.
I’m always excited when I load this game up because I know that the mechanics are fair. They’re polished and will always provide you with meaningful feedback, and you can learn from that. This is exactly how Dark Souls works, and I think it’s what will keep this game relevant for years to come.
