Gryphons, werewolves, minotaurs, and golems: these are all memorable monsters that most gamers have probably squared off against in a heated boss battle at one point or another, but what if all of these magnificent beasts were cast in the same game, set in present day New York City? Throw in an evil cult dedicated to world domination, and you have a whole new way to interact with these brutal icons of folklore. It is this unique scenario that developer Spark Unlimited is planning to deliver with their upcoming FPS, Legendary.

So how exactly did gryphons and minotaurs end up in the same place? They obviously didn’t just pile off of a tour bus in lower Manhattan, but were instead mistakenly unleashed by an expert thief called Deckard, who thought he was carting away just another priceless piece of art, rather than Pandora’s Box itself. Upon opening the box, every classic mythological creature that we thought only existed in bedtime stories is given an all-access pass to pillage and destroy our world. Luckily, Deckard is imbued with a mysterious power from the box that just may help to rid New York of the horrible plague he inadvertently set loose. But before this task can be accomplished, he’ll have to deal with the Black Order, and with a name like that, you can bet they aren’t all about keeping the sun shining.

As mentioned earlier, Spark Unlimited gave itself a pretty big challenge to include mythological creatures that everyone has encountered in one medium or another, but the developer is turning a possible bump in the road into a sky-high launch ramp to give players a new experience with their favorite classical monsters. Don’t worry about Spark messing with the beasts’ key traits, as they promise the iconic look of the most recognizable monsters has been preserved, but liberties were taken to give a more modern twist to ones whose appearances are somewhat vaguely recorded in mythology and thus open to interpretation. Producer John Garcia-Shelton wouldn’t give away exactly which monsters these will be, but did guarantee that "there will be parts where you’ll be playing and think, ’What the hell is that?’"

Of course, it isn’t enough to simply have these famous monsters in a videogame, just like putting a big star in a film doesn’t necessarily translate into a good movie, and the guys at Spark Unlimited know this. To provide an adequate challenge, the creature AI in Legendary possesses a sharp understanding of the environment, and how to use it against the player. Since minotaurs aren’t usually packing sniper rifles, the denizens of Legendary will come up with other ways of combating the player in a melee fashion, such as dodging gunfire, throwing objects, and a variety of other ferocious tactics meant to quickly close the distance between themselves and their prey. “All our monsters are constantly thinking about how they can use their natural advantages in the best possible way to take you out. Players are going to have to be constantly on their toes,” adds Garcia-Shelton.