Reviewed: November 13, 2008
Reviewed by: Megan Dyer

Publisher
Activision

Developer
Etranges Libellules

Released: October 21, 2008
Genre: Action
Players: 1-2

7
7
8
8
7.5

Supported Features:

Dawn of the Dragon picks up at the end of the previous game, The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night. Spyro is teamed up with the former dark dragon Cynder, who has changed her ways and is helping him and his ever present, vaguely annoying sidekick Sparx the dragonfly to defeat the Dark Master, Malefor. The game features a two player cooperative mode between Spyro and Cynder, as well as a one-player mode where players can (and at some points, will have to) switch between the two dragons.

Spyro can cast magic spells relating to fire, electricity, ice, and earth, while Cynder (the faster but weaker of the two) specializes in poison, shadow, fear and wind attacks, which are often accompanied by status ailments. The two have been tethered together by a magical cord around the neck (for both logistical and story-related purposes) making it impossible to stray too far from one another, which means cooperation between the characters a must.

There are various types of crystals and spheres conveniently placed throughout the game, some which replenish or increase health or magic, and some which allow the dragons to gain experience points which can be used to enhance and update each character's magic abilities. Spyro and Cynder can also find and equip armor to enhance gameplay, and execute various different moves depending on what buttons are pushed. An addition to the Wii version of Dawn of the Dragon is the ability to execute powerful moves with a wave of the Wii-mote in one direction or another, instead of having to use button combos.

This mechanic works well enough—it's only somewhat accurate, but the sheer visual confusion of combat in this game means that it usually does something good for the player, even if it's hard to see what. Occasionally, Cynder and Spyro have to be switched between in order to activate and decipher puzzles or fight an enemy more efficiently. The dragons can also fly at anytime they want (which is way cool) though there is a limit to the heights that they can reach and the mysterious invisible wall that occasionally pops up and lets you know that you're not supposed to go there.

These features and the cooperative modes make for a nice variety of gameplay in Dawn of the Dragon, which keeps things nice and interesting and from becoming too repetitive. There are some glaring problems with the controls however, a few of which took me a ridiculously long time get over and made the game momentarily unplayable at certain points, even rather early on. The first problem arrived when I was instructed to climb a series of vines hanging from the cliffs of a cavern that I couldn't simply fly through because of air currents that prevent you from doing so.

At one point, you must wall-run and then jump onto a platform. Try as I might, both in one player mode and with a friend in two player mode, both dragons simply stopped running halfway to the platform, curled up into a ball, and did a cannonball to the ground below. It took me more than thirty frustrating minutes to finally figure out how to do this, since the game's tips for new or difficult moves often leave out crucial advice that is necessary in order to utilize the move effectively.

At another point, a raft must be ridden down stream with one dragon clutching to the raft and the other pulling as he or she flies using the magical tether around Cynder and Spyro's neck in order to drag it through the water. The game offers no indication that this is what needs to be done, leaving me (and, from the looks of various internet message boards, many other players) frustrated. While it could be argued that this is merely a puzzle that the player is supposed to figure out, it comes off as a cheap gimmick.

Between loose controls, often-useless advice, and sometimes no advice at all, there are several points throughout Dawn of the Dragon where I felt limited more by bad design choices on the part of Sierra than by my own ability as a gamer. Other control issues include characters that are being controlled by the AI sinking uselessly while flying and getting caught on ledges. These glitches are even more annoying due to the fact that when the game is doing what it is actually supposed to, it is a lot of fun. It's quite a killjoy to have otherwise great gameplay hampered by shoddy controls.

Still, when Dawn of the Dragon works, it really is quite a bit of fun. Even just flying around an area and exploring is fun. There's a lot to see, secrets and hidden things to discover and the game just looks so darn cool, it's hard to not enjoy it. The storyline is perhaps a bit formulaic, but hey, it is a traditional fantasy game, and while it might not be the most innovative story out there, it does what it does quite well anyway. Fans won't be disappointed, and fantasy fans should be intrigued enough to get into older installments of the game series.

I have one word for Dawn of the Dragon's graphics: pretty. Colors are bright and vibrant and constantly surrounded by a glow giving the game the appropriate ethereal fantasy atmosphere. In game graphics are so similar to the CG cut scenes that it's often difficult to tell much of a difference between the two. Level designs are varied, detailed and expansive, and character designs look fluid, natural and expressive. Watching Spyro and Cynder fly around is pretty cool as the game's graphics allows them to actually look rather graceful while up in the sky. All in all, the game is a serious piece of eye candy.

However, there are some problems. As neat as the glowing bloom effect that pretty much covers everything in the game, it also creates issues during battles. Between all the glowing graphics, movement and effects that casting magic spells generates, more often than not there is simply too much going on to tell just what the heck is going on at all. This graphic overload reduces the fighting sequences to mere button mashing at many points, a system that basically operates on blind hope that Spyro and Cynder will pull through since you can hardly tell what's going on, let alone if your character is fighting efficiently. If both Spyro and Cynder are casting a spell at the same time, the spells take over the screen almost entirely, and things get lost is a blur of color and sparkle. This can be quite frustrating to say the least, and makes a mess of the game's battle system, which was already only a notch above a button-mashing stomp fest anyway.

Another issue that comes up on occasion is pop-in, especially of items in the near distance, though it doesn't happen often. An occasional runtime hiccup in some areas also happened once or twice, but mostly, these technical glitches were at a minimum. Dawn of the Dragon's biggest graphical issue is that bloom and effects should have been toned down when it came to the ooh’s and ahh’s of its glowing, twinkling, magical rainbow battle sequences. I enjoy great looking graphics just as much as the next gamer, but not at the expense of the actual gameplay.

With voice acting from professional, big name Hollywood actors such as Gary Oldman, Elijah Wood, Christina Ricci and Wayne Brady, it is nearly impossible to find sub-par voice work in Dawn of the Dragon. Elijah Wood reprises his role as Spyro and does an excellent job, if anything better than his work on the past two installments in the series. Intonations, expression and delivery are all superbly done and each actor fits their character well. Wayne Brady's Sparx also manages to be thankfully less annoying than his predecessor.

However, for some reason, more than half the time, the characters sound as though they are standing in a tunnel. With such superb production value when it comes to voice acting, it seems rather bizarre that this of all things should be an issue, but, here it is. I had to turn the volume up a few notches more than I usually would to hear each line clearly, even though I opted to keep the game's subtitles running.

The music in Dawn of the Dragon however, is perfectly audible and very cool. The sweeping, fantasy soundtrack is always befitting of the scenery and action going on onscreen, and the calmer, more relaxing pieces (such as moments when your dragons are flying gracefully over a serene meadow, complete with waterfalls) are a treat to hear as well. This is a game whose soundtrack would actually be worth getting to have on its own, gamer or not.

With more hidden items and secrets to find, multi-stepped goals and decently challenging gameplay, Dawn of the Dragon is a game that doesn't exactly warrant burning through. There is plenty to do and plenty of storyline to see. The two player option adds another layer to this game, making it fun enough on your own or with a friend, though sometimes the game makes unnecessary issues that warrant switching between one and two players in order to keep the game from making you both want to strangle yourselves with the nunchuck controllers (the climbing/wall running incident mentioned earlier come to mind). Plus, if you are already a Spyro fan, you're probably going to want to pick up the third installment of a trilogy anyway. Dawn of the Dragon should not disappoint when it comes to getting your money and time's worth out of the game.

While there are some glaring flaws that should not have been overlooked, The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon is a pretty decent game that will satisfy Spyro fans and capture the attention and interest of new fans as well. While controls and graphics could have been tightened up here and there, Dawn of the Dragon is still fun to play and fun to look at.