Gauntlet Dark Legacy

"Throwing down the gauntlet..."

Sometimes, you just have to take a break from engaging games. There's only so much strategy, options, and details before your mind can turn into jelly soup. And as you sit there amongst your piles of games, questions start to arise from the darkest part of your mind. Are you tired of strategy? Have you had enough of all the technical gameplay elements of so many games out at the moment? Feel the need for some simple, mindless hacking and slashing? If any of those questions apply to you, you may want to consider Gauntlet: Dark Legacy. This game is a simple and straightforward epic of the quest against evil. Even though this game lacks just about anything remotely deep, it is still a highly enjoyable game.

Forget the cute and quirky anime characters of so many RPGs of late. Gauntlet ops for a much darker, serious plot for its band of heroes. A wise old wizard named Sumner rules the eight realms of existence, using his vast knowledge of magic to benefit mankind. But when his jealous younger brother Garm tries to get a little magic of his own, the peace is shattered by evil. Apparently Garm has never studied his incantations that well, because he's accidentally unleashed Skorne, a demon prince from the netherworlds. Without the thirteen runestones to suppress the evil, Skorne annihilates his liberator and sets his evil minions loose upon the eight realms. He then took the runestones and hid them in each of the massive worlds, hoping that they would never be found. When Sumner came back to his tower, he tries to thrash the demon prince. But like just about every video game bad guy, Skorne somehow escapes and seals himself into an ancient temple sealed by eight Magical Shards. To make sure that the mystical seal is never broken, the prince gives the shards to his most trusted minions, and then sends to wreak havoc upon all reality. Realizing that he'd be no match for the onslaught of dark destruction while the seal was up, Sumner summons the eight greatest heroes of the various lands and commands them to find the Mystical Shards, thus breaking evil's protection.

Still with me? Good.

Even though this game has a plot that could make for an epic game, Gauntlet completely trashes it. Instead of emphasizing the story and letting it mesh well with the gameplay, we're immediately thrust into Sumner's tower and told to go through the first portal. And once you've made that jump into another realm, there's nothing but countless evil minions just waiting to rip you to pieces. With the odds stacked at about a thousand to one, you'd think that wise old Sumner could have given you at least some training before sending you off on this wild goose chase. But with a game like Gauntlet, you don't really need any basic training. Instead of focusing on highly technical battles and complex strategies, this game lets you run headlong into the horde of dark hooligans. You'll be facing everything from zombies to mythical creatures as you make your progress. All you have is some magic and a weapon to see you through the countless foes that stand waiting for you. And even though you're hopeless outnumbered, all you need is some good button mashing skills to guarantee your progress.

Of course, there has to be something more to this than just smacking everything that moves. In order to make the game a tad less repetitive, the game designers implemented various items and pickups for you to find as your crusade continues. You'll find tons of treasure chests strewn throughout the battlefield just waiting to be looted. Sometimes you'll find gold or weapons, other times weapons or food. But the real meat of the pickups revolves around the retrieving of the eight shards in their respective realms. Apparently when Skorne threw the mystical objects away, they broke into tiny fragments and landed just about everywhere on the battlefield. It's up to you to search out all of the levels and collect as many of the pieces as possible. While it seems like a pretty easy task to accomplish, there will be times where you'll be searching every nook and cranny of the massive levels for a few well-hidden shards.

But the real fun factor doesn't revolve around the solo quest. The true enjoyment comes with the multiplayer. You and three other heroes can take on evil as a team, hacking and slashing your way through the thick of battle. Sure, there's nothing wrong with tackling evil by yourself, but it gets pretty repetitive if you don't have a good friend to back you up. When you first start the game, you'll be limited to only a few characters. But once you've made some progress in the game, you'll be able to unlock more. But no matter if you're a prancing jester or a sultry witch, you'll still be able to wreak as much havoc on your enemies as you want. And since all of the characters have their own varied attacks, strengths and weaknesses, you and your friends will have a blast on your crusade.

But if there's one thing that truly hurts this game, it's the presentation. The graphics are horribly grainy, offering little sharp detail to the game. It's a real shame too. All of these massive levels filled with walls, wagons, buildings, and monsters that lack the detail that we've come to enjoy on the Gamecube. Even your hero appears as a tiny stick figure walking up and down the battlefield. Even the mystical crystal shards lack the glow and allure that make other games seem more presentable. Also, the animation can be pretty choppy at times, leaving you with a slight strain on the eyes and a desire for a more finished product. I can understand that the graphics were somewhat sacrificed for the countless enemies that run around onscreen, but I honestly wish they'd at least put some effort into making this installment of Gauntlet more up to par with the current standards.

However, the audio presentation is superb. Everything from the character voices to the hacking and slashing sound effects are given to us with excellent quality, making the battles seem just a bit more real. You can hear the load roar of pain as your weapon vaporizes a nearby zombie, or Sumner's booming voice giving you sagely words of wisdom from afar. Also, Gauntlet features a wonderfully orchestrated soundtrack, with background music that adds so much more emotion to an otherwise dull and repetitive game.

But when it boils right down to the basics, Gauntlet: Dark Legacy is a mindless hack and slash game, offering nothing to those who prefer something a little more advanced with their games. But for those of us that need a break from the super challenging, this game will always answer our prayers for deliverance. While the story is poorly implemented and the action starts to get repetitive, Gauntlet is still a solid multiplayer title for the prospective gamer. So for those of you looking for something fun and easy on your Gamecube, give this Gauntlet a run.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 08/07/04