by  Galacticdramon
from , , | Dec 17, 2006 |
Instead of continuing where we left off in the story arc of A Hero's Tail and Shadow Legacy, this game brings us back to Spyro's origins. None of the classic Spyro characters you may remember, such as Hunter, Ripto and Moneybags, are present.
Your main foe is yet again a dragon, but this time, it isn't a big red one who freezes people and turns things into robots for fun. The main antagonist this time is Cynder, a huge black dragon serving under the mysterious "Dark Master". The story begins with said Dark Master attacking the Dragon World, with the four Dragon Guardians having to send Spyro's egg floating down a river to safety.
Picking up a few years later, Spyro and Sparx are out playing when Sparx gets himself captured by a big bad monkey thing. Cue fight scene, in which a panicking Spyro unleashes his fire breath to eliminate the beast. In complete disbelief, Spyro and Sparx head home, where they learn that Spyro is not a dragonfly at all, but is in fact a dragon. And so begins the storyline as Spyro sets out to learn about his origins, along the way learning that the entire Dragon World needs him to stop Cynder from taking over.
The game doesn't have a massive number of levels, but the levels it does have are massive. In previous Spyro installments, the average level could be completed fully in a matter of minutes. In this game, even if you do everything perfectly without being killed and you don't take the time to explore the area, you're looking at roughly an hour per level. There are a few main levels with arena battles and flying sections between them, and all are well-designed as well as massive.
As if these sprawling worlds weren't enough to keep you in the game, the breathtaking scenery extends for miles into the background, with erupting volcanoes and energy fields visible on the horizon. The graphics are amazing, and many effects are used without causing any lag. It's obvious that some incredible work has gone into the graphics engine of this game to achieve amazing effects while still maintaining a smooth frame rate.
Gameplay is executed by performing combos of melee attacks and breath abilities, which can be upgraded as the game goes on, enabling you to choose which abilities you upgrade. Other than that, controlling Spyro is very similar to how it always was, with running, jumping and gliding executed brilliantly.
The story is often forwarded by an impressive array of cut-scenes and FMVs, with a spectacular voiceover cast including Elijah Wood as Spyro, David Spade as Sparx and Gary Oldman as Ignitus. Even characters with few speaking parts are given amazing voiceovers. The whole game is backed up by a superb orchestral soundtrack, which fits the various events of the game perfectly.
Despite going for a much more epic approach to the storyline than previous games (where the storyline just unfolded without build-up as you go along), the developers have still managed to keep the classic Spyro humour present and correct. That might sound like a difficult task without the dim-witted Hunter, the vertically-challenged Ripto or the just-barely-on-your-side Moneybags to hand, but the game manages it effortlessly.
In and of itself, it could have done with being a bit longer, but if this is going to serve as the starting platform for a whole new series, it is definitely a top-quality start. |
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