Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon Hands On

NZGamer was fortunate enough to attend Activate ’08 – a three day over-view of Activision / Blizzard’s gaming titles set for launch leading up to Xmas. This is what we saw...

A lot has changed since we last saw Spyro. Now in his teenage years, the little purple dragon has mastered the art of flight and can certainly hold his own in battle thanks to his knowledge of the elements.

Dawn of the Dragon was a pleasant surprise in the Activate ’08 line-up, especially after the last title failed to spark any captivation with it’s rehashed gameplay. Immediately in the first demonstration we got to see Spyro soaring above grassy knolls, trees swaying in the winds and crystal clear waterfalls flowing into glistening rivers. The game was instantly mesmerising and the bright colours attracted gamers like moths. But as we found out in our hands-on session, Spyro isn’t just a beautiful looking game either.

On top of the new ability of flight, Spyro has a massive array of attacks at his disposal too, making the combat aspects of the game enjoyable. Having the unusual birth defect of being a purple reptile means that Spyro was not only mocked as a baby dragon – but can harness the power of all four elements to his advantage. Red dragons have fire abilities, blue dragons are known to have water abilities and so fourth. Spyro can chose from a mixture of fire, water, earth and electricity at any point – however he will need to learn these skills along the way. This adds an RPG element to Spyro as the player can decide which elements to level up through-out the game, each one having their own advantages for different situations.

Another welcome addition to the game is the ability to play as Cynder. Many fans of Spyro will remember her as the arch-nemesis of our winged hero, however things have changed now and both these dragons have teamed up against a greater evil - Mark Hamill ! Well, actually against the Dark Master – but he is voiced by Mr. Hamill. Cynder is a second playable character and this opens the doors to brilliant co-operative play as a friend can leap in and play as her (or Spyro) at any point. When in single-player mode, the second dragon is AI controlled allowing you to switch between the two at any time as well. Cynder has her own attacks and special abilities giving the game that little bit of extra longevity.

However, many people remember Spyro as a platforming title – as it has been for years. Now that Spyro can flap his wings and take to the air – the frustrating jumps to reach higher places seems a thing of the past. But the developers have cleverly (and sneakily) kept elements of the platform origins intact. For example, sometimes Spyro will need to pick up an object and carry it to another area. Like any logical dragon – he picks the item up in his gob, thus rendering him unable to fly when he is holding something in his mouth. Other areas of the game have strong wind currents that mean that flying is almost impossible, so running around and leaping is the safer option.

Dawn of the Dragon is a debut for the PS3 and the graphics are fairly worthy of the hardware, but is also available on the 360, PS2 and the Wii. Those who have been disappointed with some of the previous games in the series will be impressed with the numerous improvements and should pencil the 24th October into their diaries.

For more from Activate '08, visit our Activate '08: Full Coverage Feature.

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