Blood & Glory: Legend

Glu's Blood & Glory was an unashamed clone of Infinity Blade, taking the same basic gameplay and placing it in a twisted fantasy version of the Roman Empire, complete with burly gladiators and baying crowds.

It was also a lot less enjoyable than Chair Entertainment's iOS fighter, which was largely down to the lightweight nature of the gameplay and the irksome presence of in-app purchases.

None of which has dissuaded Glu from having another pop, and Blood & Glory: Legend does at least try to improve on its predecessor. For starters, the combat system has a little more depth, factoring in new 'Glorious Strikes', which inflict massive damage on your opponents and leave them wide open for further blows.

There has also been a more conscious effort to introduce a storyline, with the central character of wronged gladiator Crimson lending the game some much-needed impetus and drama. While the cliché revenge tale isn't as engaging as the storyline in Infinity Blade or its sequel, it still manages to push the action along nicely.

Visually, Blood & Glory: Legend offers distinct improvements over its forerunner, with detailed environments, impressive combatants, and neat effects such as the blood patches that appear on the fighters as they receive damage. Again, the game fails to match Infinity Blade in this arena, but it still looks great.

There's a definite sense that Glu has succeeded in polishing up Blood & Glory with this sequel, though this may not satisfy those who were put off by the freemium elements of the first game.

To be fair, it's possible to play a large portion of the game without having to spend any cash, but the contests towards the end of the quest are so brutal that it's hard to see how you could possibly overcome them without using real-world money to buy all the best in-game equipment.

This potential issue aside, Glu still deserves recognition for updating and enhancing the core Blood & Glory experience.

It's still painfully derivative of Chair's Infinity Blade series, but there's enough depth and entertainment on offer that it's relatively easy to overlook this issue - especially when you don't have to pay a penny to play it.