Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows

"A new hack'n'slash beat-em-up style Gauntlet. Fun but not as good as previous Gauntlets."

Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows is the follow-up to the impressive Gauntlet: Dark Legacy. Dark Legacy wasn't much fun on your own but had an unforgettable multiplayer that was worth getting the game for alone. This is pretty much the case with Seven Sorrows. Dark Legacy functioned like a shoot-em-up where you controlled these medieval characters and you used mostly projectile weapons to eliminate the enemies. Seven Sorrows is a different take as projectile weapons are almost useless in this game and requires the player to kill enemies using close combat, therefore Seven Sorrows functions like a beat-em-up. Anyone who has played Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King will notice many similarities in this because Seven Sorrows is a medieval fantasy fighting game that has pretty much the same concept.

Graphics 9/10

One thing that let Dark Legacy down was the poor, blocky, Playstation One like graphics. Seven Sorrows is a massive improvement on this and is far more realistic than Dark Legacy. It feels more like watching a war epic and although there are some moments when the characters look a little blocky and unrealistic, this is a great looking game. It is not far off from the breathtaking graphics in LOTR: Return Of The King.

Sound 7/10

I actually thought the sound was better in Seven Sorrows than it was in Dark Legacy. The sound is more realistic and there are more satisfying explosion and slicing sound effects as you attack the enemies with your swords and magic. The narrator's voice and character voices I thought added a good atmosphere and the sound effects I thought were overall impressive. The music though, not really catchy to listen to, suits the game well as it is more like film music than it was in Dark Legacy. This enhances the feel of the war epic that this game has.

Gameplay 8/10

This is definitely not as much fun as previous Gauntlets. This doesn't mean that this is not fun though and although the single player can be dull, the multiplayer is great. I thought this game was better than LOTR: Return Of The King because this game can be played co-operatively with four players and not just two and has the benefit of allowing you to play with friends online which previous Gauntlets didn't have. Compared to Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King, the fighting system is better and has more moves and less aggravating gameplay. So, if you liked that game you may like this. However, if you hate games that are repetitive and involve a lot of button-bashing, avoid this like the plague!

Replay Value 6/10

This game is short. Only 14 levels while Dark Legacy had tons and was lengthy. This game will take most people only a few hours to complete and if you play on the Beginner difficulty, you have infinite lives and can start at the nearest checkpoint when you die and even on normal, I doubt many keen gamers will struggle to beat this game. There are no unlockables either, just the higher difficulty levels to do when you complete the game. It's a bit too easy really unless you play on the amusingly titled Impossible difficulty

Overall, this game needs an improvement as it could have been better and it actually had the potential to be awesome. Still, maybe next time! This Gauntlet was obviously made to appeal to more casual gamers but it's still worth a go (especially if you're a Gauntlet fan) mainly for the multiplayer. Good but definitely not for everyone.

Michael Joseph

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 09/06/07

Game Release: Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows (EU, 03/24/06)