Cut, slash, and stab the plot
�No, look at this combo.� A splash of pirate bodies flail in the air, exposing a barbaric warrior in the wake charging for more combat. Feeling outdone, I rise in a green aura, weeding the remaining pirates to my suspended form and with a whirling cut of an archaic green sword, the invisible shackles shatter expelling broken bodies. On the surrounding edges, more persistent pirates climb the cliffs and a futile scenario urges our weapons to part a headway for an escape.
Midway forged combat into the soul of the action-rpg �Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows.�
By Stephen Puff,
Staff Writer
�No, look at this combo.� A splash of pirate bodies flail in the air, exposing a barbaric warrior in the wake charging for more combat. Feeling outdone, I rise in a green aura, weeding the remaining pirates to my suspended form and with a whirling cut of an archaic green sword, the invisible shackles shatter expelling broken bodies. On the surrounding edges, more persistent pirates climb the cliffs and a futile scenario urges our weapons to part a headway for an escape.
Midway forged combat into the soul of the action-rpg �Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows.�
The game’s four character classes, each with unique button smashing combos, paraphrase the enjoyment of Mortal Kombat. �Seven Sorrows� expands combat diversity from the previous titles in the Gauntlet series; only one button on the Xbox controller is not used in the game. A notable, and easily unnoticed feature is the lack of blood-splattering hits and corpse bodies. Midway grounds a greater importance on gameplay with this feature, or lack of feature, as gaming defaults gore as a necessity for �hot� titles.
�Stop running ahead. Your hoarding all the gold!� the coffee table jolts from the shove of his heel.
�Well, you take all the turkeys.�
�That’s because I�m actually fighting while you take all the money.�
The screen continues to flood with scorpions and Romanesque soldiers, so with a coy smile, the button thrashing continues.
The last alluring feature of �Seven Sorrows� is its multiplayer rivalry. It can be played online, but that would make it challenging to fully enjoy the mockery of its flimsy narrative. Including the slow panning picture frame cut scenes, the game lasts about three to four hours depending upon the amount of players. More players result in a faster game.
The four difficulty settings can be beaten by a starting character, so there is little incentive of beating the game on anything but the hardest difficulty; of course we do not know this until after the game is over. And when we prevail as heroes, there are no extras, no Easter eggs, and no hidden characters.
�Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows� is Xbox’s most fun letdown yet.
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