Drakan can be pretty fun if you dont take it seriously.
Not that I went into Drakan expecting a bad game, but i've always been in the mindset that its NOT just graphics that evolve over time, and I truely believe that the average modern game is a lot more fun than the recognised classics of the 90s. This means that usually when I play an old game, I recognise its pros for the time it was released, but i'm spoiled by the advancements of modern gaming and it doesn't hold my interest long enough. Drakan is actually a fairly unknown game, but its mechanics, although basic, were fun enough to keep me going; and as much as I may nitpick in the coming paragraphs, I mostly enjoyed it until the end, and it deserves commendation for still being fun 9 years later to a Gears Of War era gamer like myself.
The combat being basic keeps things simple and accessable, but it could still be better. The block button is pretty useless, especially against the tougher enemies that start appearing a bit later on. You'll get into a routine of attacking, running away, running back, attacking, repeat; until the baddie falls. Its a bit repetitive. Rynn's flips and rolls dont help you either and are entirely for show. Its actually a very challenging game, which isn't suprising because most games from the last decade were extremely difficult (another thing i'm glad gaming has grown out of.) Its certainly not as hard as some other old games though, and as long as you have some patience with it and work out the best way to take out the bigger enemies it shouldn't be too frustrating to any seasoned gamer.
The combat is always fairly satisfying though, enemies can be gibbed and also have individual body parts chopped off. Its actually very bloody, and despite the aged graphics I wouldn't recommend playing this if you're squeamish. At one point a big giant i'd just killed was blocking my path so I actually had to chop him up into little bits to get through. Combat while flying Arok, your dragon, is by far the most entertaining, though. This is due partly to being able to set enemies on fire, and shoot fireballs; and also because you're free to go anywhere in the air instead of being restricted to the ground. You can engage in some very epic aerial fights with other dragons, and also get around much quicker, and theres a great feeling of speed. The only thing that lets it down somewhat is distance fogging, which is kind of overdone, and was scowled at even at the time of its release.
I didn't like how the game doesn't pause when you need to go into your inventory, I always hate that in games, but its not a huge annoyance in Drakan because usually you'll not be in the middle of a fight when you need to do it.
Now, the voice acting... Oh my god. Not quite "House Of The Dead" bad, but certainly not far off. Rynn sounds permanently clueless and amateurish, like they didn't want to pay a professional so just used someone from the design team. All the other voices are equally terrible with not a single good voice actor in the list. Luckilly you don't hear voices that much as generally you only run into a cutscene every few hours. So its bearable. But bad voice acting is a big gripe of mine, so it lost some points from me for that area.
Drakan obviously attempts to give the sense of a big game world, but your travel is mostly linear. There are a number of different environments though, which keeps things interesting.
The story ISN'T very interesting though, and you'll not really care about it, or worry much about paying attention to the cutscenes. The voice acting obviously doesn't help. The ending is bad too.
Overall, Drakan can be pretty fun if you don't take it seriously, and is a game that can appeal to any gamer, new or old, as long as you like action games. If you can find this somewhere cheap you should pick it up.