Gauntlet: Slayer Edition

Score - 26

Release: 2015

Platform Played: PlayStation 4

Developer: Arrowhead Game Studios

Overview

Gauntlet: Slayer edition revives a classic dungeon-crawling arcade formula in an attempt to attract the modern audience. The game gives you a choice between 4 classes - Warrior, Valkyrie, Elf, and Wizard. The game offers a rare couch coop capability so you and your friends can battle through hordes of enemies while collecting gold and surviving encounters.

The Good

For starters having couch coop is always a huge plus. Chaotic battles and friendly competition for end level leaderboards. Racing each other for gold or cheering for your friend as he’s the last one alive during a fight can create some unforgettable memories. The game recreates the original arcade experience, and you don’t even have to ask your parents for money to revive your character.

Another positive note is the character roles having defined stat differences. The warrior is a jack of all trades the Valkyrie is a tank the elf is a mobile archer, and the wizard is a nuker. You can play through the game multiple times as different classes with different groups of friends and have a unique experience each time.

The games simplicity is another strength it possesses. The difference between the performance of someone like me and someone like my wife isn’t as extreme as it would be in a more complex game.

The Bad

The biggest issues with the game are #1 It’s barely an RPG. No real story, no meaningful equipment upgrades, no character interactions, just a marathon Esque dungeon crawler. Which leads to issue #2, the game is actually unplayablely boring if you’re playing it solo. The entire experience is based on the people around you and for that reason it will not be earning the highest marks.

The game is very repetitive by nature. Attack dungeon, complete or die and on to the next dungeon. It’s like if diablo didn’t have a story, equipment or interesting bosses and halved its character pool.

Final Verdict

Gauntlet: Slayer Edition has potential to provide you with a cool experience IF you have the right group of people to play with, but the fun comes from the players not the game itself. Quite frankly even with that being said the odds of you and your group sticking through the full 40-hour experience is pretty low anyways. It’s a shallow arcade dungeon crawler at its base.