Gauntlet 2014 – An OldSkooler’s Review
I have fond childhood memories of my sister and I multi-playing Gauntlet and Gauntlet II on our NES. I was Red Warrior. She was Blue Elf. We always needed food badly.
Here’s what I’m talking about.
So when we discovered that Gauntlet was getting a remake for the PC, we were both stoked and curious to see how it would turn out. Would the game have the same dungeon-crawling charm (if you could use that word) as the original? Would we still “Need food badly” and get chided for shooting the food? Would it also have enough of a modern feel to it that it would bring the classic alive to current-day gamers?
After 4 hours of playing, I can safely answer these questions with a solid and emphatic “yes!”
The remake went out of its way to capture the essence of the original Gauntlet, right down to the announcer narrating characters’ actions. I think those who are familiar with the old games will find a lot to like. Everywhere you look, the team makes nods to all the things that made the original so awesome.
There’s a lot of new, too, but done in ways that I feel enhances the original concepts. Not to mention all done in good humor. This game likes to laugh at itself… and at you… while encouraging you to laugh about your own mistakes (that probably got someone else on your team killed).
The first time you play, the game tosses you into a tutorial where you get to try out the four different characters and learn how they play. My companions were playing with mouse and keyboard while I was trying out my game pad. I found the game pad to be an excellent choice for Warrior and Valkyrie, a bit more tricky for the Elf, and somewhat annoying (but doable) for the Wizard.
In the end, I chose my standard Warrior, while my sister chose her Elf and Syn tackled the Wizard quite skillfully. We decided to start out on Easy mode just to learn the game, which we found was probably a good idea.
Before I go further, I want to note that each character has his or her own personality, which is really cool. During cutscenes, they’ll often talk to each other and to the “antagonist,” Morak. While playing, if one character does something cool, shoots the food, dies, revives from death, or something like that, one of the other characters will often comment on it. You can also use the arrow keys to make your character speak different phrases like “Thanks,” “Help,” or “Magnificient!” This all just adds to the fun and character of the game.
The Game
There isn’t a ton of story to the game. You’re a team of adventurers challenged to brave the dangers of the gauntlet in the quest to find three shards. You can play with up to four people – one for each class – by setting up a private game, or getting teamed up over Steam on public games.
While Gauntlet can be fun on its own, the real fun is when you’re playing with other people. That’s where some strategy comes into play… since if one of your team members gets stuck behind a wall, or starts walking the the opposite direction, no one is going anywhere.
Each class has its own skills and play style. The more that you use the character’s skills, the stronger they get. For example, as the elf kills enemies with his skills, such as dropping bombs on the ground, he can eventually upgrade to sticking that bomb on an arrow and firing into enemies. I noticed as we slowly began unlocking these kinds of skills, and began to understand the mechanics, Easy mode got a whole lot easier.
As you make your way through the levels, you’ll also earn treasure which you can use to purchase Runes. These are special skills that you equip, two at a time, and can only be used through the potions that you find in the dungeons.
You can also purchase upgraded equipment for your character, once you complete certain modes of the game. This mostly seems like stuff for Hard mode and above, so I’m not sure if I’ll ever see that far up.
Everything you do — from dropping the crown to shooting the food — works up towards some unlockable reward. At first, I thought these were you standard Steam achievements. But when I sat down and actually read them, I realized this was much more! It’s a strong nudge to keep you coming back for future sessions.
I like that some of the rooms have small puzzle elements to them, but nothing that was frustrating or brain-breaking. At the end of the night, the game is a fun, chaotic romp through the dungeons with friends. That’s all it needs to be.
Video below: not mine.