I thought I knew what to expect out
of The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon, having played a number of the
previous installments in the series. I expected a colorful, humorous storybook
tale of a young purple dragon on a quest to release his fellow dragons from
captivity. But Dawn of the Dragon is much more than that. Gone is the storybook
feeling – or most of it at least. In this newest installment, Spyro undertakes a
much bigger adventure, one that could easily be called epic.
The first thing you need to know
about Dawn of the Dragon is that from the very start, you’ll be controlling two
dragons: Spyro and Cynder, a previous Spyro villain. The two are chained
together via a magical device during the game’s introductory cut scene, and
spend the entirety of the game in this manner. What this means to you is that
you’ll often be switching back and forth between the two characters to work your
way through puzzles, use their unique abilities, etc. It also means the game
includes a two-player cooperative mode, something I always welcome with open
arms.
My first impression of the
multi-character control was "Oh no." It seemed gimmicky, unnecessary, and looked
like it would shatter everything I knew and loved about the Spyro franchise. But
after playing through the game, it’s really not all that bad. While it is still
pretty gimmicky and unnecessary, and often times frustrating, it doesn’t stop
the game’s stronger points from shining through. That said, I think I would have
preferred to simply control Spyro, and concentrate on one character’s abilities.
And because of this sentiment, I ended up controlling Spyro for the majority of
the game.
Spyro and Cynder are, for the most
part, identical. The main difference is their magical abilities; Spyro controls
Fire, Ice, Lightning, and Earth, while Cynder controls a darker set of elements,
including Shadow, Fear, Poison, and Wind. Besides these magical attacks, our
protagonists can string together combos of weak and strong attacks, and perform
grab maneuvers. And since our characters are dragons after all, these same
attack maneuvers can be performed mid-flight as well as on land. It makes for a
somewhat varied combat system, but I found myself relying heavily on the magical
attacks. The physical attacks seemed to be extremely weak in comparison, almost
to the point where I was forced to neglect them. On the contrary, the magical
attacks can often take out a slew of enemies in a brief period of time. And
since there are usually magic replenishing crystals nearby, there’s not much
stopping you from neglecting those measly physical attacks.
There is a nice pinch of RPG thrown
into Dawn of the Dragon in that you are able to upgrade your elemental attacks
using collected crystals, and also in that you can equip your characters with
armor. Granted, there is a very limited selection of armor to be found, but like
I said, it is just a pinch of RPG, and it’s a nice touch. Character
customization – no matter how minor – is usually a positive.
One of my favorite things about this
game is that Spyro (and Cynder) now has the ability to fly as freely and as
often as he likes. It’s actually a bit surprising that this is the first game
where you can traverse the environments by flying. It’s a simple addition, but
it makes exploration fun and exciting. The environments are not the most
beautiful on Xbox, and could benefit from more defining texture and less
contrast, but flying through them will surely make you say "wow" from time to
time.
Earlier in this review I used the
adjective "epic" to describe Spyro’s adventure in Dawn of the Dragon, but you
should not take that to mean that this is a long, drawn-out game. In fact, you
should be able to complete the main quest in 10-15 hours. But what makes it epic
are the extraordinary production values and the quality of the score and voice
acting. The music ranges from memorable to beautiful to inspiring. Early in the
game, when you emerge from the catacombs, there is an amazing segment where you
control Spyro and Cynder in flight as they descend upon the forest. It is set to
a gorgeous song, and it was at this point that I became immersed in Dawn of the
Dragon. For the music (of all elements) to grab me like that was amazing, and
speaks to its brilliance. The voice acting takes a slight backseat to the score,
but it is also pretty impressive. Elijah Wood and Christina Ricci voice the
protagonists and lead a cast of experienced Hollywood talent. Missing is the
sense of humor from the first few Spyro games. The comic relief in Dawn of the
Dragon comes from Sparx, Spyro’s dragonfly friend, but it’s unfortunately not
all that comic, and not very relieving.
Spyro’s newest adventure is
certainly an ambitious one, and it has really taken the franchise in an
interesting direction. What was once a level-by-level quest based on saving
dragons is now a true adventure with RPG elements, a developing story line, and
brilliant music and voice acting. And hey, it’s a lot of fun too.
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Gameplay: 7.5
Generally good, but the physical combat seems slow to respond. Elemental
attacks, on the other hand, are a blast (no pun intended) and keep combat
interesting. Flying controls can be a bit quirky but once you get the hang of
it, you’ll do most of your exploring by air.
Graphics: 6.7
One of the game’s weaker areas. Colors are high contrast, high saturation,
almost to the point of blinding. Character models are severely lacking in
texture.
Sound: 9.0
Outstanding music and voice acting. When you take notice of a game’s music,
and it’s not because it’s annoying, it’s a good sign. Amazing cast of Hollywood
talent provide voiceovers for main and supporting characters.
Difficulty: Medium
Generally not all that tough, but you’ll occasionally run into a difficult
boss or group of enemies. The puzzles can sometimes be baffling, but once you
get the game’s basic mechanics down, they’ll be less tricky. Certain optional
"Elite" enemies are VERY tough, but thankfully you can avoid them.
Concept: 8.6
I love the idea of turning Spyro’s storybook tale into a full-fledged
adventure. Is the next step a Spyro RPG? I’d say it’s very unlikely, but the
characters and universe would serve the idea well…
Multiplayer: N/A
Although I was unable to test the game
with a friend, I imagine that it would be nice to concentrate on a single
character instead of two. And having a buddy control the second character is
just icing on the cake.
Overall: 8.5
I still think we could lose the multi-character idea, but even so, this is a
successful game. It rarely feels repetitive, is often inspiring and immersive,
and takes the Spyro franchise along an interesing path. I’m somewhat biased
because of the nostalgic feelings I get from the Spyro franchise, but I will say
I only stopped playing this game a few times from start to finish. I simply
didn’t want to stop playing. That should tell you something.
