Let’s cut straight to the chase, the prominence of the old Spyro titles may never return, but that may be for the better. Nostalgia can be so strong that it can blind gamers into thinking that games of their childhood have stood the test of the time. I’ll admit that a few of the Spyro titles in the past had charm, but they’ve never struck a chord of testing the boundaries for originality. So with that said, can Activision Blizzard turn the franchise around after several years of floundering? The short answer: no. The longer answer: The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon has its bright moments.
Joining Spyro in his adventure is a previous villain by the name of Cynder. Cynder, who also is a young dragon, can be controlled by a second player through cooperative mode. You’ll take control of both dragons if you have don’t have a friend to play with. In my case, I invited my girlfriend to play and she happily obliged so take note, this could be a game worthy of getting your significant other to play along with you. Back on track, Spyro and Cynder are bound together by a magical device and players will switch between both characters to solve puzzles via their unique abilities. Spyro will spit out Fire, Ice, Earth and Lightning powers while Cynder takes control of Shadow, Fear, Wind and Poison. Of the two, Spryo has the better set of abilities and will reign supreme as the favorite.
Since they are bound together, players can chain together attacks to execute combos. Performing grab maneuvers and stringing together attacks, players should be able to take care of the opposition in a hurry. Players should make use of their magical attacks if they want to make the game even easier since they’re the strongest in the game in comparison to the physical attacks. Maybe next time, the developer could even up the attacks in strength so players don’t resort to spamming the element attacks for the majority of the adventure.
The single-player quest should take 10-13 hours to complete. After that, there’s not much replay value to behold so it’s a one shot of fantasy adventure into your system and then it’s over before you know it. If you rushed through it, you could easily complete the title in a little less than eight hours. Sure, you can upgrade element attacks and equip your characters with better armor, but it won’t keep your attention for long enough to keep you playing after you finish the story.
Visually, Spyro isn’t anything out of the ordinary for a platforming-adventure title. On the other hand, the audio is spectacular. The score will immerse you within the adventure and have you itching to fight through the waves of enemies. Voice-acting is the best aspect of Dawn of the Dragon with superb talent such as Elijah Wood, Christina Ricci, Mark Hamill, Gary Oldman, and even Wayne Brady contributing. The audio resembles a Hollywood production and it serves its purpose well in drawing the player into the story.
Ambitious as it is, The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon does its job well with an admirable storyline and incredible audio department. It doesn’t exactly scream for players to come back and play through it again after they finish it, but their journey through the game is a pleasant one – especially, if they find a friend to play with. Its recommended purchase for gamers in the younger demographic as the dialogue is written with them in mind. While the franchise hasn’t been restored to its former glory, Dawn of the Dragon does come close to delivering a similar experience.
