Comic-Con 07: Hands on with DS Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night
Don't worry, we had our asbestos gloves on
Rockstars and athletes spend a lifetime becoming legends but all it takes for a video game character is a decade of decent titles. Of course, inherent in that statement is that not every appearance of Spyro has resulted in classic gameplay, but with a return to form in 2006's The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning, the little purple dragon seems likely to build on his reputation with The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night, which is also being made by top developer Amaze.
And going hands-on with the platform-action sequel of a planned trilogy during Comic-Con 2007, we were pleased to see the direction the game is heading in.
As before, Spyro can issue a basic melee attack via the Y button, which deals a small damage to enemies. He can also breathe fire by holding down the X button. While not initially powerful, timed melee attacks can add up to massive damage. Moreover, we were able to juggle enemies – beat-'em-up style – by perfectly sequencing a series of attacks.
Well-timed blows result in an enemy being thrown into the air, commencing a juggling mini-game. Instead of attacking with the face buttons, touchscreen prompts have you keeping the foe airborne for an instant kill. It's rather difficult to do this, yet we couldn't help but enjoy the challenge of getting a one-hit kill.
And as you defeat enemies, they drop fury gems. These purple prizes fill up a small circular gauge at the bottom of the touchscreen. When activated, these boost Spyro's attack and defence power. Filling up the fury gauge takes time, but it's well worth the added sting.
New in The Eternal Night are attacks based on four elements: ice, electricity, earth, and fire. In total there are eight elemental offensive moves – four magic and four melee. Spyro unlocks these throughout the course of the game, which naturally make it easier to take out enemies. For instance, comet dash allows out dragon chum to blitz an enemy with an electric attack at close range.
Aside from the main adventure, The Eternal Night offers an exclusive DS puzzle attack mode – just as A New Beginning did. Using the touchscreen, puzzles require beams of light to be redirected through obstacle-ridden maps using movable and rotational mirrors. Each puzzle provides you with a specific number of mirrors that you set on the screen via the stylus.
And after attempting one of the earliest puzzles, it's clear these will be more challenging than in the previous game.
So, The Eternal Night doesn't look as though it will reinvent the wheel in terms of action-adventure, but it does at least seem keen to continue the well-designed revival of the Spyro franchise.
The game is due for release sometime this autumn.
