→ August 20, 2015
When IGN first reviewed Gauntlet on PC in 2014, we gave it a score of 6.8 for “Okay.” Here’s what we said then:
“Gauntlet can’t quite strike the balance between the nostalgic arcade experience and a modern-day replay-friendly adventure. It’s cool that there’s such a varied experience amongst the iconic quartet of heroes, and four-player co-op is almost always fun with the right crew, but its repetitive structure works against its longevity.”
For all of the improvements that come with Gauntlet: Slayer Edition (a free update for the PC version and a standalone $20 release on the PlayStation 4), repetition is still this demon’s greatest weakness, though it’s not quite as big a killer as it was before. The core campaign is still the same set of levels leading up to a boss battle, though many bonus levels have been added to freshen the experience should you seek more gold. While it’s purely aesthetic, the icon-based map (think Super Mario Bros. 3) that lowers deeper and deeper into the underworld actually adds some personality to the drab hub area of the original release.
There’s also a few new modes like Endless, where you can take on waves of enemies until you die (collecting much gold in the process) and a daily Colosseum challenge that earns you even more gold, as well as new clothing for your character. Endless is a bit of a treat — there’s some nice decision making at play, as you can buy spells and healing items on each floor if you don’t mind paying a premium. Since the floors are doled out randomly, there’s a bit more intrigue and variety when tackling Endless in comparison to the campaign’s sameyness.
The combat itself is a bit more diverse than it was a year ago, now that each character has additional specific powers that change when you buy a new weapon. For example, you can buy a variant of the Elf’s potion bomb where he drops a weaker bomb but does an acrobatic flip over enemies in the process. The one downside to these great new cooldown-based moves is that they must be purchased individually with hard-earned gold, you never quite know what you’re getting due to the sparse in-game explanations. Having the ability to test the new combat skills in some sort of tutorial arena out before buying would have lessened my buyer’s remorse for some of the less-impressive powers.
Speaking of less-impressive, The Wizard remains the black sheep of the quartet and still has a steep learning curve when adventuring alone; the other three characters included in the purchase are balanced enough to use solo. Fortunately, Gauntlet is great fun when it comes to couch co-op where you know the folks you’re stealing potions from, though online campaigning is still entertaining (and most importantly, stable).
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While the Endless and Colosseum modes are nice additions, they still can’t completely make up for the shortness of the campaign which will take 5 or so hours (and less if you’re playing with a skilled group). Increasing the difficulty doesn’t make for any drastic change beyond the enemies taking (and dealing) more damage, so Gauntlet: Slayer Edition will likely only become a long-term dungeon crawl for those looking to buy every possible weapon, ability, and article of clothing for their chosen hero.
