Gauntlet Dark Legacy

"This game has some disappointing flaws, but the quality of the gameplay makes it worth it."

Gauntlet: Dark Legacy is the sequel to Gauntlet: Legends which was released on the PS1 and N64. I was sceptical when I first tried Gauntlet: Legends on the N64 as I was a big fan of Gauntlet 4 which was released on Genesis or the Sega Mega Drive as they call it here in my home in England. I have to admit that I really did quite like Gauntlet: Legends so I was keen to play Gauntlet: Dark Legacy afterwards.

Graphics 5/10

I was very disappointed by the graphics. It looked far too much like the N64 original. Back on the N64, the blocky and the cartoony retro style graphics were fine as we didn't expect as much. But since the Xbox is a much more powerful machine, I expected the developers to have put in a lot more effort than this. They may have wanted to keep the charm of Gauntlet: Legends but they should have made use of the Xbox's capabilities.

Sound 6/10

I was disappointed by the sound aswell. It used some remixed tunes from Legends which were not nearly as good as the original Legends music. Legends had some great music in it but Dark Legacy tries to be a lot more atmospheric while I preferred the more exciting and galloping medieval style music of Legends. The music in Dark Legacy sounds pleasant enough but not nearly as infectious. The sound effects were a bit of a let down too. It had the great voices but not so much of the satisfying smacking sounds you got from Legends when you hit enemies. The sounds in Dark Legacy are OK but not as pleasing as it was in Legends.

Gameplay 9/10

This is where the game shines. The game is so simple but great because of it. The objective is to control one of the medieval style characters like the Wizard or Warrior and go on an adventure searching treasure and runestones on a quest to defeat the evil mage Garm and his demon Skorne. You spend most of the time shooting enemies with projectile weapons which is great fun and best of all, four players can join in! The multiplayer is ace and while the game can get dull on single player, the multiplayer will keep you hooked for ages. The game is a little easy though as I did manage to complete it first time without dying once on my own but it is so much fun, it's hardly problematic.

Replay Value 8/10

I did want to finish it but once I did, I didn't want to play it again in a hurry but then again that was on the single player mode. If you have friends, you will be playing this loads. It's true that this is one of those games that is only really good with 3 or 4 players so if you want a great and simple party game that everyone can enjoy, this is a great choice. Although, I did beat this pretty easily first time, it did give me just over 14 hours of play so there are loads of levels to keep you occupied. Highly recommended.

Overall 8/10

Michael Joseph

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/16/07