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THE LEGEND OF SPYRO: THE ETERNAL NIGHT (PS2)
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Publisher: Sierra Entertainment.
Developer: Krome Studios. Released: November 2007. Genre: 3D Platformer. Other versions: WII; DS; GBA. Posted 29th May 2012. By Tom Clare © 2012 |
The Eternal Night proves an entirely prophetic name for what is undoubtedly Spyro’s darkest hour in gaming. With series creators Insomniac jumping ship after the original trilogy, expectations cooled somewhat . Nevertheless, Spyro’s fall has been simply cosmic. A New Beginning (the first LoS venture) was lacklustre, yet still showcased some encouraging concepts that could have revitalised the dragon’s fortunes. However, Krome Studios have taken a sizeable step backwards from their lukewarm starter. The Eternal Night is poorly programmed, severely repetitive and at times horribly frustrating; there’s barely a glimmer of enjoyment to be had from it.
Things kick off with Spyro reliving the conclusion of the previous game, as he defeats and then rescues dragonette Cynder. Before he can celebrate, things start looking ominous. It emerges the Ape King is trying to resurrect the spectacularly unoriginally named Dark Master, and that means trouble for our pint-sized purple protagonist. For the sake of gameplay development, he has conveniently lost his breath abilities from the last game and has to rediscover them at various points via a set of dream scenarios. In these he also shows off a new time-slowing ability, something of an oversubscribed feature these days if truth be told, though nevertheless useful in some fights and for tackling moving platforms. The training sections are less bloated and humdrum than in A New Beginning. However, hard as it is to believe, this is just about the only area of note that does make a move in the right direction.
Things kick off with Spyro reliving the conclusion of the previous game, as he defeats and then rescues dragonette Cynder. Before he can celebrate, things start looking ominous. It emerges the Ape King is trying to resurrect the spectacularly unoriginally named Dark Master, and that means trouble for our pint-sized purple protagonist. For the sake of gameplay development, he has conveniently lost his breath abilities from the last game and has to rediscover them at various points via a set of dream scenarios. In these he also shows off a new time-slowing ability, something of an oversubscribed feature these days if truth be told, though nevertheless useful in some fights and for tackling moving platforms. The training sections are less bloated and humdrum than in A New Beginning. However, hard as it is to believe, this is just about the only area of note that does make a move in the right direction.
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There afterwards, TEN is one long litany of mistakes. The health bar seems to have been noticeably reduced, as Spyro is now only able to withstand three or four hits before dying. This problem is exacerbated by enemies striking him to the ground and then repeatedly pummelling the dragon as he attempts to rise, leading to some rather sudden, undeserved deaths. These make getting to checkpoints amazingly frustrating at times. It’s a far cry from the perfect, chill-out platforming of Spyro’s nineties heyday.
There’s no freedom afforded to players who want to return to previously-visited locations, negating the potential replay value offered by the fifty feathers hidden throughout the game that, when collected, equate to some nice bonus material. The platforming elements are the limpest, most uninspired the series has ever known, showing so little creativity that the navigation serves as nothing more than a link between one tedious battle and the next, with only the (very) occasional use of the slow-time ability to break the monotony. Duff collision physics cause Spyro to do clumsy little half-jumps whenever he runs over a branch or awkwardly-shaped bit of scenery and this also prevents the battle-engine from being a success as bits of the environment frequently get in the way of executing a desired attack. Despite this, the developer ploughed on with their rather unhealthy obsession for boss fights.
There’s no freedom afforded to players who want to return to previously-visited locations, negating the potential replay value offered by the fifty feathers hidden throughout the game that, when collected, equate to some nice bonus material. The platforming elements are the limpest, most uninspired the series has ever known, showing so little creativity that the navigation serves as nothing more than a link between one tedious battle and the next, with only the (very) occasional use of the slow-time ability to break the monotony. Duff collision physics cause Spyro to do clumsy little half-jumps whenever he runs over a branch or awkwardly-shaped bit of scenery and this also prevents the battle-engine from being a success as bits of the environment frequently get in the way of executing a desired attack. Despite this, the developer ploughed on with their rather unhealthy obsession for boss fights.
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During the mid-part of the game, cut-scenes notwithstanding, you’ll face four bosses consecutively. Ironically, though it is patently obvious that you are shoe-horned towards a tactical way of thinking, this is usually less effective than simply charging at the bosses and button-bashing with maximum ferocity. A couple of early foes see Spyro limited to left/right strafing and launching fireballs, though fortunately these are soon cast aside, as they are completely horrible.
All of this means it’s sadly quite difficult to appreciate the relative successes of the game’s presentation. Significant characters look lovely, and are especially well-animated in the cute and colourful cut-scenes. The swamps and flying pirate ship levels indicate some creative flair, with the game’s best location being its beautiful training missions, which are set against a backdrop of space and the odd attractive, distant nebula. The visual pièce de résistance comes in the form of the Fury Attacks, of which there are four (fire, ice, thunder and earth). Activated by a simple tap of R2, the action spins around Spyro as he unleashes some remarkably destructive, room-cleaning pyrotechnics which look phenomenal. Sadly, in marked contrast to A New Beginning, the periods between being able to make use of Fury attacks are so lengthy that it’s easy to forget they are there at all.
All of this means it’s sadly quite difficult to appreciate the relative successes of the game’s presentation. Significant characters look lovely, and are especially well-animated in the cute and colourful cut-scenes. The swamps and flying pirate ship levels indicate some creative flair, with the game’s best location being its beautiful training missions, which are set against a backdrop of space and the odd attractive, distant nebula. The visual pièce de résistance comes in the form of the Fury Attacks, of which there are four (fire, ice, thunder and earth). Activated by a simple tap of R2, the action spins around Spyro as he unleashes some remarkably destructive, room-cleaning pyrotechnics which look phenomenal. Sadly, in marked contrast to A New Beginning, the periods between being able to make use of Fury attacks are so lengthy that it’s easy to forget they are there at all.
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Continuing the series move towards more cinematic overtones, Elijah Wood and Gary Oldman reprise their roles as Spyro and dragon elder Ignitus and once again do as sterling a job as their uninteresting dialogue allows them. Of greater interest is the arrival of Billy West, who voices Fry in Futurama, who takes over the role of Spyro’s sidekick Sparx and does a really good job. The dragonfly remains by some distance the most amusing and watchable character as he mocks the rest of the cast, his own cowardice and, to an extent, the game itself. The story remains depressingly clichéd however, no matter how many big names got themselves on the payroll.
The Eternal Night marks the culmination of Spyro’s sad decline. Its predecessor wasn’t great by any stretch of the imagination, but it did at least produce a bunch of promising ideas which, if built upon, might have seen the purple dragon returning to something like his former stature. As it is, TEN doesn’t make good on any of them. All that’s left is a frustrating, lacklustre title that, for all its pretty aesthetics and Hollywood name-dropping, is just a shell of a platformer.
The Eternal Night marks the culmination of Spyro’s sad decline. Its predecessor wasn’t great by any stretch of the imagination, but it did at least produce a bunch of promising ideas which, if built upon, might have seen the purple dragon returning to something like his former stature. As it is, TEN doesn’t make good on any of them. All that’s left is a frustrating, lacklustre title that, for all its pretty aesthetics and Hollywood name-dropping, is just a shell of a platformer.
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VERDICT
Visual: 8/10
Audio: 7/10 Gameplay: 3/10 Longevity: 3/10 OVERALL: 3/10 |