Gauntlet Reviews

The start of the workweek brings us a fresh new batch of reviews for Arrowhead’s take on the venerable Gauntlet legacy, though the mixed verdicts on the title were probably not what the Swedish developers were hoping for.

Eurogamer, 6/10.

Sadly, the biggest problem with this whole package may be that Arrowhead has already made a truly great Gauntlet tribute anyway, and it was Magicka. There was a game with the freedom to choose its own first principles, while still having Gauntlet’s mean-spirited playfulness baked into it. The difference, I suspect, is between being creatively inspired by the spirit and ethos of a legendary design, and being cast as a kind of well-intentioned caretaker.

GameTrailers, 7.9/10.

Gauntlet is an accessible co-op dungeon crawler that’s at its best with a group of friends. It may be on the shorter side, but while it lasts it’s an unpredictable and memorable experience. Hopefully this is only the first of many steps into the perilous Gauntlet.

Ars Technica, scoreless.

Gauntlet has a respect for the series’ long history, but it does nothing to add to its legacy. The food is still there, but this time, it feels like someone shot it.

Metro, 5/10.

The, purposefully encouraged, backstabbing of the original is all still intact (you can loot an ally’s corpse, so shooting food so they can’t heal themselves now has a very tangible reward) and Arrowhead clearly have a genuine fondness for the original game, but they like so many before them have failed to find a way to make it relevant for the modern era.

Arcade Sushi, 7.5/10.

If you want an old-school adventure that will let you hack, slash and steal stuff from your buddies, Gauntlet’s for you. The dungeons may be a bit repetitive and could have more variety, but the fun is there. It’s true that similar games like Diablo 3 and Torchlight 2 have more to offer by way of content, but there’s no denying that playing local co-op with three of your buddies in Gauntlet makes for a good time. You only have to decide whether or not you need another multiplayer action role-playing game that badly.

GameRanx, 7/10.

Gauntlet is good and fun, but I don’t think about it much between sessions. And that’s about it. I feel like I’ve said more than is necessary at this point, really. It’s competently made and enjoyable and you might forget you have it if you don’t play it for a week.

GameInformer, 7/10.

A few boss fights change things up a bit, and they are quite enjoyable, but there aren’t enough of them. While Gauntlet offers higher difficulty modes and some cool looking gear unlocks after you finish the three area hubs, my group wasn’t inspired to continue further. There’s definitely a charming old-school spark to this reboot, but without anything beyond the constant monster mashing and levels that seem to blend together, you may find yourself needing excitement badly.

We Got This Covered, 3.5/5.

Gauntlet scratches the nostalgic itch perfectly and does right by its predecessors, but outside of a long slow grind there’s nothing here to demand that you keep coming back once you’ve completed your quest.

Technology Tell, B.

Gauntlet is amazingly fun. I loved every minute I spent with the game. The action is tight, the level design is excellent, the graphics look fantastic. It is easy to learn and get good at, even if the Wizard takes a concerted effort to master. Gauntlet is the kind of game that makes me yearn for the days of everyone sitting playing together on the couch. This would be an awesome party game. It’s just too bad that it has so little content to offer. No amount of fun makes up for having seen everything the game has to offer in a couple of hours. I fear that after a few weeks, playing online will be nigh impossible. Everyone will complete the game and move on, leaving Gauntlet virtually unplayable. If ever there was an argument to be made for DLC, this is it. I still think Gauntlet is worth buying. I just hope for either more content or a bigger sequel from Arrowhead post-haste.

Nerd Reactor, 3.5/5.

Overall I feel the game was fun for the mindless, button mashing, hack and slash good times that some gamers like to have, just not alone. The omission of health potions was a let down and some of the levels felts like they dragged on so to get the most out of this game you will definitely need a group of your friends, because going alone just wont cut it.

Comics Gaming Magazine, 7/10.

The thing is that, this could be a fun arcade-style homage to the original game and a worthy game in its own right, but its lack of variation kills it. Difficulty increases mean more gold and those with achievement fever might want to collect all the items, cosmetic pieces, and special goals, but they’d have to grind over the same levels to do it. The potential is there for some rather ingenious puzzles, for some challenging enemy situations and even some more stage hazards other than the three presented. As such, it feels like you repeat slightly harder versions of the same level three times before you fight a boss, and that doesn’t do the game justice. It also needs some work with the co-op making it easier to join other players would greatly help, and an option to anchor the camera to your player (or at least enable better, more distinct markers) would be fantastic.