Gauntlet: Dark Legacy PS2 Review @ Gaming Target

Written by John Scalzo on July 30, 2001

Full Review: In Booming Gauntlet Announcer Voice: Gauntlet has gone up a level.

Gauntlet is one of those video game legends (did you think it was coincidence that the last Gauntlet game was called Gauntlet Legends?). Along with those other giants of the 80s gaming age, Gauntlet has a part in influencing games then, now, and who knows how far into the future. And now, Gauntlet is given the next generation home treatment in the form of Gauntlet: Dark Legacy.

The heart of Gauntlet is beating strongly in Gauntlet: Dark Legacy. The evil Skorne has unleashed monsters on the land. And just like Gauntlet Legends before it and all the other Gauntlet games you are one of 4 classes of warriors needed to stop him: Valkyrie, Wizard, Dwarf, or an Archer. But Dark Legacy introduces four more classes: Warrior, Jester, Sorceress, and Knight. After you choose your character you enter the world of Gauntlet where monsters are everywhere, and you need to find the keys, magic items, and food that will get you to the next level. You also have to collect crystals that will break down the barriers keeping you out of the more advanced levels.

Plain and simple, this is Gauntlet. So that means there are monsters everywhere. They come out of the ground, the walls, and thin air. And if you don't destroy the doorway, they'll keep coming until you're dead. And that's exactly the way Gauntlet should be. Whether I'm 9 or 19, it's great fun to be wailing away at all these monsters with the Archer (my personal favorite). The problem is that that's all you do. Wave after wave of monsters come at you and you kill them, then repeat, then repeat again. This is not a game you'll play for hours on end, because it just gets too repetitive, but for shorts bursts, Gauntlet: Dark Legacy definitely has that old school blast everything in sight feel.

But Dark Legacy definitely has something on the old Gauntlet. The graphics are recreated on your PS2 almost exactly as they appeared on the arcade version of Gauntlet Legends that is still probably at your local mall. The worlds are colorful and unique. As you battle your way through the eight different worlds (Mountain, Desert, Forest, Castle, Ice, Town, Sky, and Dream) each has their own little personality, which shines through in the graphics. Magic spells and special moves light up the screen before everything gets dark and the smoking ground where the monsters were just standing is revealed. And the bosses are all very detailed and appear very menacing in their giant monster way.

And then there's the sound. Or more precisely The Voice. The Gauntlet voice that mocked you when you were about to die ("Blue Archer is about to die") and when you were hungry ("Red Wizard needs food badly") now can mock you in the presence of your own home. You have to love the Gauntlet voice as it basically gives a running commentary of everything you do in the game. And we're also treated to a halfway decent swelling hero theme in the background. As a lot of games push the orchestral arrangements aside for a techno futuristic sound, it's nice to hear a return to the classics.

But there are a few minor gameplay problems. The control isn't as responsive as a game like this needs to be. You need precision controls to blast everything in your way, and sometimes that just doesn't happen as you get hung up in the wrong direction or turn too slow, and the next thing you know, you're monster food. The control is tolerable, but it should be better. Also the camera sometimes wedges itself into a weird angle and the wall obscures a good part of the screen. This doesn't happen often, but it's frustrating when the wall covers up items that might help you or might kill you if you pick them up. You need to know these things and the camera needs to cooperate.

And one major complaint I have is that unlike the arcade version, additional players can't just press start and jump right into the middle of the game. You have to quit and start all over again with the new people. If I'm fighting a boss, why can't one of my friends jump in and help me?

On the bonus side, there is a bunch of hidden rooms and characters that can be found all over Gauntlet: Dark Legacy. What's really nice is that some of these little bonuses are found through original Gauntlet style mini games. It's a bonus within a bonus. And like a lot of PlayStation 2 games, Gauntlet: Dark Legacy features very quick load times.