The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon

When Spyro The Dragon debuted back on the original PlayStation way back in 1998, the Sony-published game was indicative of the manufacturer’s search for an iconic character for its console. Along with the likes of Crash Bandicoot, the purple fire-breather offered a fun platform experience to rival veteran hardware figureheads Mario and Sonic, and Insomniac’s efforts were praised. Fast-forward ten years, though, and the licence has changed hands a number of times, with numerous developers putting their own twist on the franchise’s sequels – these days Spyro is a very different beast indeed.

Dawn Of The Dragon is the final entry into The Legend Of Spyro trilogy, but Krome Studios, the developer behind PS2 prequels A New Beginning and The Eternal Night, is gone, so French outfit Etranges Libellules has been drafted in to end the series. As well as retaining the roaming platform action that Spyro’s reputation is built on, Dawn Of The Dragon unfortunately suffers many of the same shortcomings, especially the awkward combat and unimaginative puzzles of its two predecessors.

The title is obviously designed with younger gamers in mind, and the first thing you’ll notice about Dawn Of The Dragon is its crisp, colourful graphics. However, while the character designs have experienced a minor revision, as events unfold in the dungeon-like Mountain of Malefor, the visuals are initially underwhelming for a next-generation game.

Three years after The Eternal Night Spyro and Cynder emerge from their stasis, attached to each other by a magical bond. You can switch between them at will, but Cynder’s constant companionship also enables a second player to drop in and out of co-op mode. Objectives tend to revolve around gaining access to the next area of the map, or triggering a story-driven cut-scene. You’ll progress via a combination of combat against multiple enemies, and platforming puzzles. Unfortunately both elements are let down by a number of fundamental flaws.

Throughout the game Spyro and Cynder find themselves under attack from gangs of beasts; while there are various, albeit simplistic, combos available, dispatching foes is just a case of bashing buttons until they’re all gone. Both dragons have access to elemental powers, which provide fun, alternative ways to slay your opponents such as freezing, burning and electrocuting; however, with so much happening in a confined space, it’s generally impossible to tell what’s going on. Colourful power-ups bounce all over the place, visual effects accompany every attack and your elemental powers engulf everything. Battles also suffer from slowdown – one of a few bugs evident in the game – and despite breaking up the linearity of the game, boss fights and their QTEs offer little extra excitement.

The platforming sections fare little better. Dawn Of The Dragon is the first Spyro game to enable players to fly at any point, but this is frustratingly limited in certain areas, with your maximum altitude capped, forcing you to traverse the terrain as the game sees fit rather than just flying to the next waypoint. The camera is also poorly executed, with full control relinquished at seemingly random points. In co-op the camera also has a habit of sticking to either Spyro or Cynder, making it impossible for both players to get a good view of proceedings; this is particularly frustrating during the rare occasions when you’re required to work together, such as the imprecise mechanic employed when you use your shackle to help each other swing from one part of a cliff face to another.

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