“Legend of Korra” Game Release Date Announced As “Book 3” of the Show Concludes

Developers Also Go into Detail on the Pro-Bending Mode

By Andrew Dodson on August 27, 2014 at 3:11pm

Book Three of the television show "Legend of Korra" concluded this past Friday, leaving a lot of us fans feeling kind of empty - especially after such a dark season and such a brutal ending. Player Theory isn't in the business of TV show reviews, but Activision did unveil some big announcements regarding the "Legend of Korra" video game that they're developing with Platinum Games.

First, details of the Pro-Bending game mode have been revealed. Platinum Games, the game's developer studio, worked hard to take the rules for Pro-Bending as set forth by the show and implement as faithfully as possible into the game. Pro-Bending Mode is unlocked once the player beats the main game and will focus on Team Avatar/The Fire Ferrets (Korra, Mako, and Bolin) as they advance in a season some big announcementsof Pro-Bending. As they beat different teams, the AI teams get more difficult, forcing the players to utilize different strategies to overcome and push through to the next level.

A bit where Platinum Games might've missed the mark with the Pro-Bending Mode is not providing a multiplayer/online game option. Currently, the mode is stand-alone and solo-play only. Personally, I would happily invest in a game that just Pro-Bending with a team-building, RPG-type of mechanic, trading players, injuries, uniform customization, and of course, a big emphasis on multiplayer and online play. But that's just me.

Throughout the summer, different gameplay videos of the main Korra campaign have been revealed. The player plays as Korra (as you might assume), and the game itself seems to operate like a fighting game - as Korra moves through a level, she'll get ambushed and blocked off in a location and be forced to fight whatever enemies are around before advancing to the next section. The game has a big emphasis on combos and timing, as the more hits you land on an enemy, the more types of bending moves become available to use in the combo, allowing Korra to deal more damage. With the push of a button, the player can have Korra switch bending techniques, allowing the player to start with series of fire attacks and then end with a big earth finisher.

Despite Platinum Game's reputation for violent and mature games, they managed to keep "The Legend of Korra" a game that someone could definitely play with (and enjoy with) a younger sibling. While the cartoon can deal with some very adult issues and has utilizes realistic combat (well, except for the "bending" part), and that has attracted an older audience to the program, Platinum Games did very well to remember the main audience: children. Through most of the gameplay I saw, you never see an enemy fall down and die; rather once their health bar has been depleted, they are blasted off the side of the screen, never to be seen again ("Team Rocket blasting off again" style).

"The Legend of Korra" game takes place between the first and second books of the television show. The characters in the game are voiced by the actual voice actors from the show, as well.

The most important announcement made about the game in the past week is, of course, the release date. "The Legend of Korra" will be out on the PlayStation Network and Steam on Oct. 21 and available on Xbox Live on Oct. 22 of this year

To tide you over until October, here are some pretty splendid gifs of the Pro-Bending Mode: