Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows Review

Many times since then, developers have attempted to recreate the magic of the Gauntlet franchise, with mixed results. The latest attempt is Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows, which in and of itself has quite a history. It was once the pet project of legendary developer John Romero before he left, and at one time it was reported that this would be the game to take the franchise into a bold new direction. It was, sources claimed, to have featured an in-depth story, more RPG-like elements than past Gauntlet titles, and an M-rating. Over the course of its development, however, many of the features were dropped and the game was apparently toned down. The result, surprisingly, feels a lot like a traditional Gauntlet game. That's a good thing.

Back To Basics

The story begins as the former Emperor of the oddly named Uricointi Empire decides to release the four immortal heroes -- the Warrior, Elf, Valkyrie and Wizard -- from their bondage. You see, thanks to some lousy advice from six shady sages with ulterior motives, the Emperor had his kingdom's heroes crucified to a great tree. Then, with them out of the way, the advisors attempted to become immortal and overthrow the Emperor, who then decided to make right and free the heroes. For that, he was killed, and now it is up to the heroes to defeat each of the six and restore peace to the world.

Yeah, it's pretty lame. But who cares? The gaming world is filled with plot-driven action RPGs. If that's what you're looking for, you'd be better off playing Secret of Mana or Shining Force NEO. That's not what the Gauntlet series is supposed to be about, and thankfully, Seven Sorrows doesn't stray far from the basic formula. Up to four players can pick one of four heroes, explore various levels, battle enemies, find food to recover health, and once again try to cheat death. Some things have changed, though. With a few exceptions, keys are no longer needed to open treasure chests or doors (save for a select few on each level) and the battle system has been tweaked for the better.

Beauty and Battle: A Winning Combination

In fact, on the whole, combat is better in this game than in any previous Gauntlet title. Again, the basics are the same -- endless swarms of enemies appear until you destroy their generators (although, in a curious move, some can respawn infinitely without generators), and you have to wade through a plethora of different types of foes to reach your destinations. Only this time, you have a lot more attacks at your disposal, as each face button on the controller represents an attack time, and advanced combos can be purchased that will allow you to chain together attacks to pull off some amazing moves.

Further, magic potions have been replaced with special moves that consume a portion of a character's new, regenerating mana gauge and are triggered by using the R1 button. Not to mention that there are attacks that can be assigned to the up, down, left and right positions on the directional pad. All of these attacks are handy when the party becomes surrounded or faces seemingly insurmountable odds. Another factor that adds to the improved feel of combat is the fact that the graphics are far superior to past Gauntlet titles. The environments are gorgeous, the enemies are well-rendered, and a few of the combination attacks or special moves are genuinely impressive. The only disappointment comes during the boss battles, which for some reason seem to lack the intensity of those in Gauntlet: Dark Legacy.

Run The Gauntlet

If anything plagues Seven Sorrows, it's the length. The game is shorter than your average Peter Jackson movie, and all 16 levels can easily be beaten by a dedicated gamer in a single sitting. It is great fun, though, and replay value is pretty high, considering that there are four different difficulty setting in addition to an online play feature. In many ways, it harkens back to classic titles like Streets of Rage 2 in that the game is short enough and fun enough to keep gamers coming back to play through it again and again. Rent first if you're not convinced, but ultimately, you should find Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows to be a refreshingly fun-to-play offering that harkens back to days of old -- only without the constant need for more quarters.