Gauntlet: Slayer Edition Review

Let's face it, those who grew up with Gauntlet either in the Arcade or on the NES will surely be interested to see a modern take on the franchise. Arrowhead did a splendid job with revitalizing the game, while keeing the core of the gameplay still very familiar. Sure, there's a whole lot more to the game than simply having one attack, but the fundamentals remain.

There is a lot of customization in terms of the various equipment you can outfit each character with, but it doesn't come close to the variety of builds that would have been available had the game employed a traditional loot system. Alas, Gauntlet isn't that game. Diablo 3 on the other hand is very much a "Gauntlet-like" game and in a lot of cases does a lot of the same things Gauntlet does, but adds in a ton of depth.

If depth isn't what you're looking for though, and you're simply itching to get three of your buddies together online and slay hordes of monsters ad infitum, Gauntlet provides this in troves. The local play option makes it even better for those who might not have three other friends who are willing to purchase the game, but wouldn't mind coming over and play on a single console.

The Positives

• It's an absolute blast when playing with others. The game was certainly designed with multiple players in mind, which shows even more considering that each time you create a new game, you can also automatically make a joinable lobby.

• A lot of the upgrades do fundamentally change your character's playstyle, despite there only being four characters. These can be unlocked using Gold that's picked up in any Mode.

• You can make creative combos mixing and matching various equipment such as each character's main weapon, talisman and relic. Weapons change out your main skills, both the light and heavy attack, Talismans change your L1 ability which deals with consumables and Relics change your R1 abilities which are special skills on cooldown.

• Every descent into the Gauntlet, despite replaying levels, procedurally mixes up rooms and changes the layout. Giving a slightly fresh experience even when repeating rooms.

• The Wizard is a standout class, since he's easily the most complex yet fun character to play. Channeling Arrowhead's earlier game, Magicka, he's able to pull off a variety of spells depending on the button combinations.

• Endless Mode is awesome! Just as its name implies, it's a never ending supply of levels to trek through to see how far you can get. (Always better with friends)

• Colloseum is fun, but easily one of the hardest modes in the game. Seriously, don't try it unless you have better gear unlocked and are definitely planning on playing with friends or strangers. This is also how you unlock those cool looking capes!

• Co-operative competition is still at heart of Gauntlet, as the end result screen tallies up the amount of kills, gold and other factors to see which player comes out on top.

The Negatives

• THAT DAMN GRIM REAPER! Seriously, what an asshole. This enemy chases you in random levels and instantly kills you on contact. God I hate it!

• It's not that much fun playing on your own. Helldivers, another of Arrowhead's games suffers from the same exact issue. While the game certainly makes it easy to connect to strangers, some prefer to play solo, or with friends. If your friends don't have the game and you're not comfortable playing with strangers, you might have a pretty bad time.

• It seems like the game isn't all that well balanced for single players either. There are three difficulty settings, but new players playing by themselves essentially need to start on Easy, since the game is so overwhelming with various enemies.

• Necromancer DLC. Seriously, it's already in the game, and you expect me to shell out another $4.99 for it? As cool as that character sounds, no thank you.

Gauntlet has been refreshed a few times for newer generations; Once on the Nintendo 64 / PlayStation / Dreamcast and then a few games on the PlayStation 2. All of these have kept the formula quite similar to the original, giving players four classes to choose from and unleash them on levels filled to the brim with baddies.

The latest Gauntlet refresh first came out on PC in 2014, and now made its way to the PS4 courtesy of the Slayer Edition, which introduces some new abilities and monsters, while still retaining the classic Gauntlet formula. If anything the latest refresh from Arrowhead Studios is quite easily the closest thing to the original, while still employing modern mechanics.

Arrowhead's designs shine through especially in the Wizard who has combo spells similar to the ones from Magicka, and the lavish capes that can be unlocked through the Collosseum, an aspect that would carry over to another PS4 exclusive from Arrowhead, Helldivers.

But the question is, do we need another Gauntlet when Diablo 3 has essentially become that game, but on a much deeper level? Let's check out our list!

The Positives / The Negatives

The Verdict