Tag: Gauntlet

Warner Bros. Interactive Presents Gauntlet: Re-made for the 21st Century

by S.J. Borger

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, together with developer Arrowhead Games, is bringing back Gauntlet, a classic dear to of-a-certain-age gamers’ hearts. Gauntlet was unveiled at GDC last week (with all the bells and whistles, including renting out a bar near GDC and offering free turkey legs) and we had a chance to do a ten-minute dungeon crawl with some of the developers.

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A dungeon in Gauntlet.
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Interactive

Gauntlet saw its first iteration in 1985, as a  fantasy themed hack and slash arcade game that allowed up to four players at a time (emphasis added for those of you who don’t remember how freaking cool that was) and was ported out to the NES in ’87 as Gauntlet II; it was re-booted in 1989 as Gauntlet Legends across multiple platforms. In all of the versions, there were four main characters: the Warrior, the Wizard, the Archer and the Valkyrie, who had set attributes and abilities and ran through a world killing things and getting loot (perhaps most fondly remembered is the narration in the original games; “Red Warrior needs food” was voted one of the top video game lines ever–which says something about video game dialogue we don’t have time to go into here).

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Screenshot of one of the bosses in Warner Bros. Interactive and Arrowhead Game Studios version of Gauntlet.
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Interactive.

In the 2014 Gauntlet, those classic characters remain, and can be played single player or co-op. It also retains that hack-and-slash arcade feel, with a top-down camera view and dungeon crawls complete with waves of undead and other monsters.

It’s a solid, well-done game. The monsters are sufficiently threatening, the dungeons have the expected spawn/loot/spawn/loot rhythm (with an added layer of difficulty regarding the collection of keys to open doors, behind which a player could see loot, or live-saving food), and the four classes have been upgrade with abilities and skills, but maintain that Gauntlet-feel.

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A top down view of game play in Gauntlet–note the locked rooms. Players can only enter after collecting keys found in the dungeon.
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Interactive

However, while entertaining to play, (and to be fair we only got ten minutes on one class, warrior, which isn’t our preferred class to begin with), it didn’t feel much different than other dungeon procedurals out there. But if your looking to spend some time killing bad guys and clearing out dungeons, it’s definitely a solid bet.

Gauntlet is expected to be released this summer on Steam, for both PC and the upcoming Steam Machines. There is no price point as of yet.

What do you guys think? Do you remember the original? Sick of arcade hack-and-slash? Let us know in the comments!

You can check out the game play in the trailer below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wepHMRMYqTw

‘Gauntlet’ Reboot Hitting Steam This Summer, Watch The First Trailer!

by Derek Kraneveldt

Briefly: Yep, Gauntlet is coming back.

Warner Bros. Interactive announced a reboot of the series today, which will launch on Steam (with full Steam Box support) later this year.

The game is set to “Gauntlet will be the first title in the WB Games Vault portfolio, which will provide us with an opportunity to access emerging talent within the game development community and match unique skills and experience with our extensive library of properties.” Sounds good to me… Maybe we’ll see a new Rampart or Smash TV next.

In any case, you can watch the first trailer for Gauntlet below, and head further south for the press release in full. Excited? Sound out below!

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment today announced Gauntlet, a completely modernized action RPG version of the celebrated dungeon crawler, will be available this summer via Steam for PC, offering full support for SteamOS and the upcoming Steam Machines shipping the second half of this year. The game will lead the launch of WB Games Vault, a direct-to-digital portfolio that will deliver paid games based on popular Warner Bros. and Midway brands, plus original IP, across multiple digital networks.

 

“With Gauntlet we combined the arcade style of the original game with an entirely new look and feature set that includes emergent, local and online four-player gameplay,” said David Haddad, Senior Vice President, Digital Games, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. “Gauntlet will be the first title in the WB Games Vault portfolio, which will provide us with an opportunity to access emerging talent within the game development community and match unique skills and experience with our extensive library of properties.”

 

Gauntlet, developed by Arrowhead Game Studios, innovates on past titles while staying true to the brand’s legendary format. Players select from four classic fantasy-based characters: Warrior, Wizard, Valkyrie, or Elf. Each character has its own unique strengths and weaknesses. For example, the Warrior does the most damage in melee combat, the Wizard has the most powerful magic, the Valkyrie has the most armor and the Elf moves the fastest. Distinctive play styles, procedural dungeons and an impressive art style keep the gameplay fresh.

 

“To us at Arrowhead, Gauntlet is one of the most defining games from our childhoods, and it’s amazing to be able to work with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment on a brand new version,” said Johan Pilestedt, CEO of Arrowhead Game Studios. “Gauntlet is one of the original and best known video game properties and we are looking forward to creating a fresh, yet true to the original, take on a multiplayer masterpiece.”

 

Upon selecting a playable character, the gameplay is set within dungeons where the object is to fight through the chambers slaying evil creatures and completing challenges. An assortment of special items can be located in each dungeon that can restore the player’s health, unlock doors, and shift the odds in the player’s favor with magical relics which can aid the player in surviving longer in the Gauntlet. The enemies are a vast assortment of fantasy-based monsters, including ghosts, grunts, demons, spiders, sorcerers and skeleton warriors.