Gauntlet Dark Legacy

"It's Gauntlet, but not as we know it"

Firstly, my background....I have always loved Gauntlet. From the days of feeding ridiculous amounts of coins into that huge mind-blowing FOUR (yes FOUR) player arcade machines, through Gauntlet 2 and 3. To the heavy RPG overtones of the wonderful Gauntlet 4 on Genesis, to Gauntlet Legends on N64 and the move to 3D! To the travesty that was the Dreamcast version, I've played them all to the end. And I did it mostly with the same bunch of people. Hence I am a Gauntlet guru, so I know what I'm talking about! So read-on, faithful reader, you are in good hands...

So where does this new game come from? Well it's actually more like a port of Midway's Gauntlet: Legends than a true sequel to that game. Those familiar with G:L will recognize this as effectively the same game. However, it does include a considerable amount of additions and extras which I'll describe later. Suffice to say its about twice the size of Legends.
Those unfamiliar with G:L should be advised that Gauntlet has gone 3D! The view is no longer the static top-down affair from the arcades of yester-year. Isometric it is now, with a highly mobile camera that tracks, spins and pans across good solid 3D dungeons-and-dragons type action. This has 2 main effects: firstly the game looks as gorgeous as a Gauntlet game can; secondly, occassionally you wish that the camera would pull back a little and give you a better of view of whatever is shooting at you. On the whole though, the 3D is a good thing, as the top-down view of old would just not cut the mustard these days.

So what do you get for your dollar? Well, this is G:L all over again. G:L players will recognize quite a few of the Worlds on offer, though many of the familiar levels have been given major overhauls for the better. In Dark Legacy you get about double the worlds again, bringing the World count to 9 that I've seen so far. Each World is themed (Desert, Town, Forest etc) and is made up of 4 to 6 levels and a boss at the end. levels are fairly large, and some of them can take 45 minutes to an hour to complete. Since I'm comparing Dark Legacy heavily to Legends, here's a comprehensive evaluation of the additions in the new game...

- 9 worlds now instead of Legends' 5 (on N64) or 7 (on DC). Although history suggests Dark Legacy will let me into a 10th hidden world shortly.
- 8 characters available from the off, as well as 8 further hidden characters. The Warrior, Valkyrie, Archer (aka Elf) and Wizard are present and correct, but are now joined by the Dwarf, Knight, Jester and Sorceress. This time round the extra characters are not just cosmetic, they have real differences from the standard characters. For example, the Jester is similar to the Archer in that he is effectively a speed-based character, but he has a little less speed and a little more power. It's a nice balance.
- Generals. The usual G:L set of monsters (3 sizes of Grunts and Ankle-biters, Suicide Bombers, Lobbers and ol' Death himself - in 2 varieties now) are now augmented with the Generals. They are simply big strong versions of the usual Grunt, with their own personal life bar. They pack quite a punch and are to be feared.
- Guardians. No not bosses....Guardians. You will find them all over the place. Even more scary than the Generals. Guardians include Dragons and Griffons, and each is a huge screen-filling monstrosity with a (pretty large) life bar. Approach with caution. Just don't panic when faced with a Dragon in a large open area full of generators that are sprouting endless Grunts at you as well.
- Bosses. 9 major Bosses, one for each world. The new bosses are far more interesting and fun to fight than the rather static bosses from Legends.
- Heavy Attack and Block. Yes 2 new commands, though I found both to be fairly useless. Timing must be spot on to actually block, and the Heavy Attack is too slow with all but the fastests characters (Jester and Archer). Reasonably useful during any of the 9 Boss Fights, though.
- Special Attack: only 2 levels of Turbo bar now, but it fills slower. In Legends the level 1 special was useless anyway. Best addition is the multi-player combo attack. Press L2 when near another player, with at least 1 level on your Turbo meter, and you will unleash a kind of smart-bomb combo attack involving both of you, and often very amusing/spectacular.
- Power-ups. Hmmm the only major gripe I have about the game. Unlike the N64 version of G:L (the best version of Legends, incidently), in Dark Legacy you cannot stock-pile the power-ups in an inventory to save them for sticky situations. In Dark Legacy, when you pick something up, it activates immediately. Shame. Means there is no point in ever buying a power-up from the shop and greatly reduces the RPG element. However, the shop is still vital for incrementing your stats and buying keys and potions and the like.

So what of the all-important gameplay? Well the view is just a fraction closer than the N64 version of Legends, and that is a drawback. But not a major one. The game itself is repetitive, but the level design is nice and very varied and the boss fights are fun. The whole RPG-element now present in all recent Gauntlet games is very welcome. You level up through Experience points gained by killing foes. This in turn increases your 5 vital statistics (Strength, Armour, Speed, magic and Max Health). At certain levels, characters become a new class (for example, the Wizard becomes a Mage) and this sometimes endows you with new abilities such as being able to turn Poison Food into real food, or acquiring a demonic familiar to flap at your shoulder and shoot fireballs around.
You do end up role-playing to a certain extent....players controlling the battle-hardy Warrior or Dwarf do tend to rush in swinging at the front line, while almost armour-less characters like the Wizard or Archer tend to shower the enemy with fireballs/arrows from a much safer distance.
The RPG system is kind of similar to Phantasy Star Online. You character can be any level from 1 to 100. You can save multiple characters on your Memory Card so you can have several on the go at the same time (as I do). And so can your teammates. And this brings us to the very heart of Gauntlet.....Just like Phantasy Star Online: the whole (otherwise tremendously repetitive) experience is greatly improved with the addition of other human players. In the case of Gauntlet, 4 of you may play simultaneously, though you will need a PS2 multi-tap and 4 pads. However, it *is* worth it. Gauntlet is 1000% better with others in the mix.
Gaming sessions can 'degenerate' into a chaos of panic and shouting as your 'team-mates' get in the way, steal the food and treasure, shoot the exploding barrels that you were standing beside etc etc. Of course they occassionally help you too (so I'm told!), providing support firepower from a ledge high above the main action as you rush in, firing potions to take out either red or black Death, drawing a Dragon's firey breath away from you because they have higher health and your Special Attack is ready to rock and roll, and so on and so forth. 4-player Gauntlet action is a blast.

And finally to the graphics and sound themselves. The game looks nice, though is very dark in places. It is certainly the best looking home version of Gauntlet, easily beating the N64 version in that department (if a little weaker in the RPG department due to the power-ups thing). And your surroundings vary from dark dungeons, zombie-ravaged villages, desert dustbowls, creepy forests, floating airships and the surreal dream realm. While there are plenty of little effects or items of scenery that impress, let's be honest, in no way is this game pushing the PS2 in the slightest. The sound however, is excellent, and the booming voice telling you that ''Yellow Wizard is about to die'' or ''Green Warrior is greedy'' is pure, classic Gauntlet, while the Archer's shriek of ''That food was mine!'' add comedy to the proceedings.

It's Gauntlet, what more do you want?

Finally, some numbers for those who are that way inclined...
Gameplay (single player): 7
Gameplay (multi-player): 8
Graphics: 7
Sound: 8
Lifespan: 8
Replayability: 5
Rent or Buy: Buy or you will see very little of this enormous game.

The Bottom Line: If you like Gauntlet, you'll love it, especially with friends. If you don't like Gauntlet, you'll be bored after 2 hours. If you're in between, try it - especially if you have a multi-tap and 3 friends available.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 08/30/01, Updated 08/30/01