Drakan: The Ancients' Gates

Drakan: The Ancients' Gates
PAL version cover art
Developer(s)	Surreal Software
Publisher(s)	Sony Computer Entertainment
Designer(s)	Alan Patmore
Composer(s)	Erik Aho
Platform(s)	PlayStation 2
Release	NA: January 29, 2002 PAL: July 5, 2002
Genre(s)	Action-adventure
Mode(s)	Single-player

Drakan: The Ancients' Gates is a 2002 action-adventure video game developed by Surreal Software and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2. It is the sequel to Surreal Software's 1999 Windows game Drakan: Order of the Flame. which was published by SCE subsidiary Psygnosis. The game's name comes from the eponymous Ancients' Gates, which are the central focus of the story.

Gameplay

The gameplay of Drakan: The Ancients' Gates is virtually identical to its predecessor. It is a third-person action-adventure perspective that consists of two main parts of gameplay - in the air and on the ground.

When flying mounted on Arokh, a dragon, the duo is superior to any ground enemy, but on the other hand, facing flying enemies will require a lot of maneuver and aim. Arokh can target enemies and launch powerful fireballs in their direction or a powerful breath of fire, in addition to other powers that you can acquire in the game for him. When controlling Arokh, the player has free movement in three dimensions, up and down, left and right, forward and backward

Rynn casting a spell with a hand gesture, each spell has a unique gesture, so be practical when casting something.

In solo, the player directly controls the main character, Rynn. Players can focus on specific enemies and perform attacks, including combo moves. Apart from that Rynn can use several weapons, including swords, axes, bows, and blunt weapons. She can also use several spells, such as Fireball, Lightning Bolt, and others.

Plot

This game takes place sometime after the events in Order of the Flame. Rynn and Arokh answer a call from the city of Surdana. Lady Myschala of Surdana asks for Rynn and Arokh's assistance. An evil race of three-faced beings known as the Desert Lords has begun rallying the monsters from around the world (similar to how the Dark Union did in Order of the Flame) and have begun enslaving humans. Around the world, there exist four gateways that lead to the world where the dragon mother, Mala-Shae, and her brood have been slumbering since the Dark Wars. Only a Dragon of the Elder Breed can open the gates, and this is why Rynn and Arokh (more specifically, Arokh) are needed to open these gates, so that the humans can once again bond with dragons and fight back against the Desert Lords. Along the way, the two of them must go on various side quests to accomplish goals leading them to the ultimate goal.

Reception

The game received an aggregate score of 78/100 on Metacritic, based on 31 critic reviews. Tom Bramwell of Eurogamer gave the game a 4/10 score, praising the story, humor and combat, but he criticized the large amount of bugs and a lack of variety in gameplay. Doug Perry of IGN was more positive, giving it a 8.1/10 score; he praised the game for its expansive world and combat, while comparing it favorably to The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

In its first two weeks the game sold more than 20,000 copies.

External links

• Official website
• Drakan: The Ancients' Gates development Post-Mortem written by designer/programmer Richard Rouse III