Gauntlet: Dark Legacy
Published by: Jeff McCloy on 2004-04-26
Page Views: 5319
Rating: 5/10
Find two to four friends. Hack. Slash. Repeat.
Again. And again, and again.
And that's the problem with Gauntlet: Dark Legacy. There's a certain charm to some mindless 'kill 'em all' gameplay, especially when there's up to four players doing it at the same time on-screen.
But the problem is too much of a good thing. It's rare when I complain that a game is too long: Dark Legacy sports an impressive amount of levels and character types, but the variety is only impressive at first glance. After you're twelve hours in, you realize the different environments have very little impact on gameplay, other than a few minor specific elements: an abundance of toxic gas clouds in one area, some falling rocks to dodge in another. There's not much difference to the characters, other than slight differences in speed and other attributes that don't make any major alterations in how you play. And the enemies can be broken down to about a half-dozen different types: the visuals change from area to area, annoying little rats that can be killed by merely walking over them in one level (although dangerous in huge swarms, particularly when you're concentrating attacks on a much tougher enemy) and in another, they've been replaced by snakes – same enemy, no specific attacks or defenses, only the graphics change.
A nice array of power-ups that can be collected and saved until you need them does add some flavor to gameplay, and having the right ones can be crucial in certain areas when you get completely overwhelmed and are being attacked from every conceivable direction. Some puzzle elements also break up the monotony, as you'll not only need to clear a level by reaching the exit to open the next level, but locate mystic runestones to unlock more areas and legendary weapons to use against the level bosses. Strategy against the bosses is simple: just replay a few easy, quick levels, build up some cash so you can jack up your health, and keep pounding away at the bosses until you win.
Graphics aren't terrible, but nothing really memorable, either – there's not too much that's 'next gen' about any of the three multiplatform versions, and the same applies with the sound: some nice, appropriate background music to go with the on screen genocide as you and your buddies exterminate every living creature in the level and horde every item that's not nailed down. The game, for the most part, looks and sounds pretty dated compared to many of its peers, no matter what console you're talking about.
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