This fall, don’t miss Elijah Wood,
Gary Oldman and Christina Ricci in … The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon!?
Those are not the names you’d expect to hear in a non-movie video game, but as
publishers look to expand their fan base, they’ve also been willing to expand
the voice talent within their games.
Elijah Wood is noticeably
comfortable portraying Spyro, the unofficial lovechild of Crash Bandicoot and
Puff the Magic Dragon. He brings a familiar, lighthearted voice to the purple
hero, while Christina Ricci brings her own sense of geniality to Cynder. The
acting is important because, while it is possible to skip each sequence, there
are quite a few of them. Younger kids are bound to watch, if only for the
colorful visuals alone, and will find that the story – no matter how simple – is
far more entertaining than the average Cartoon Network show.
This is not a TV series, however,
it’s a game – one that will dazzle young eyes with its cornucopia of rich
polygons and moderately entertain those seeking traditional beat-‘em-up actions.
But don’t let the visuals or prestigious Spyro name fool you into thinking this
is the perfect kid’s game. Don’t get me wrong – the gameplay is decent. But the
flight, camera, directional and level design problems could prevent most players
from caring.
With combo-based, button-mash
attacks, an upgrade system and various colored crystals used to buy those
upgrades (and heal Spyro, among other things), Dawn of the Dragon’s development
choices won’t astonish anyone. Everything you see in this game was retrieved
from other titles that, ironically, were mostly geared at a much older audience
than the Spyro franchise. The good news is that kids don’t really think about
the source of the gameplay so long as it’s fun. The bad news is that “fun” is
hard to achieve when you’re overly frustrated.
It makes sense that a Spyro game –
which stars a small dragon – would be filled with numerous off-the-ground
scenarios. For some reason or other, that has not been the case. While you can
glide through most of the Spyro titles, none of the previous releases have
allowed you to take flight at any time.
Dawn of the Dragon changes that by
allowing players to jump into the air, tap the X button a few times, and flap
Spyro’s (or Cynder’s, the other playable character) wings to no end. This is
great in theory but is immediately problematic due to the way that the levels
are structured. No matter where you are in the game – outside, in a cave,
hovering near a waterfall, etc. – Dawn of the Dragon’s camera is determined to
stay in one place. This creates an experience that isn’t quite 2D or 3D.
Technically, it is possible to fly in all directions of any particular level.
But in every portion of every level,
the game has a camera and flight lock that prevents you from going wherever the
eye can see. Spyro and Cynder are feasibly capable of flying over trees. But if
the game doesn’t want you to, an invisible wall will prevent that from
happening. How then, you’ll wonder, do you get to the other side? In some cases
you won’t. Some trees are not meant to be flown over; some walls are not meant
to be breached. But if you can see something specific on the other side (such as
a red crystal, which replenishes health), that area can be explored. The weird
part is how you get over there.
When this situation occurs, players
will likely have to climb their way up to the new the area. It may not be higher
than where you currently are, but you’ll have to climb up and around anyway. A
switch may have to be pulled, or you might have to grab an item and take it
somewhere. None of that sounds too weird for gaming, right?
Next up: the flight limitations and
camera shift. Spyro’s camera likes to hop around and nail itself to whatever
perspective it believes is appropriate to the area you’re currently exploring.
If hopping along a pillar, for example, it may shift 90 degrees every time you
jump to a new platform. This will compel players to leap into the air and fly to
the top of the pillar, reaching their destination.
But guess what: you can’t! Spyro’s
flight is prohibited by an invisible ceiling, forcing players to climb the
pillar (or any other structure) manually. So you’ll jump up, and then jump up
some more. Spyro has flight mechanics that are supposed to allow him to fly at
any time, but because of the invisible ceiling they are useless any time the
game doesn’t want you to use them.
The confusion is furthered by levels
that lack any sense of direction. I suppose the camera system was supposed to
take care of that, but just because it points in a particular direction doesn’t
mean the player will understand where they need to go or what they need to
accomplish in order to reach the next area. There were many times when I’d spend
five minutes walking in circles before the next step became clear. While I’m all
for non-linear stages, that isn’t the case with Dawn of the Dragon. Rather, they
are linear designs that confuse and mislead with unclear pathways.
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Gameplay: 5.4
Dawn of the Dragon gives way to new frustrations, none of which resemble the
joy or simplicity the Spyro series was once known for delivering.
Graphics: 7.9
Kids won’t be blown away but they will be impressed by Spyro and Cynder’s
animations, the detailed backgrounds and other colorful treats.
Sound: 7.0
A whimsical score with decent voice-overs from a few leading actors (and
some whose names you aren’t likely to recognize).
Difficulty: Easy
If you could eliminate every technical frustration within the game, Dawn of
the Dragon would be easy.
Concept: 5.0
Spyro used to be a series that anyone could pick up and play. Now it’s a
rehash of itself, a clone of other games and takes the fun out of flying.
Multiplayer: 5.4
The offline-only two-player co-op allows a second player to drop in and out
of the game at any time. Not a new concept by any means but still a good one for
any game to have. Unfortunately, the bad flying, camera and directional
mechanics still apply.
Overall: 5.4
The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon may be a kid’s game but there isn’t
much here for kids to enjoy. They’ll be amused by the story, visuals and music
but will be turned off by the gameplay’s many frustrations.
