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E3 2008: Golden Axe: Beast Rider Hands-On

By Tom Mc Shea, GameSpotPosted Jul 15, 2008 8:29 pm PT

We hack off limbs and ride fire-breathing dragons in the new Golden Axe.

Golden Axe's triumphant return to the modern era is a vision largely unchanged from the classic medieval brawler. You still run around with a huge sword, unleash magic attacks, and beat up sack-wielding gnomes for goodies. The biggest difference is that cooperative play has been left out entirely; you'll have to slay these dragons alone. We went hands-on with the first level of Golden Axe: Beast Rider today, and it retains the fun, grizzly feel of the original.

Combat is slightly deeper than in the arcade versions of the game. You have two moves for attacks, which can be strung together to unleash combos. You also have a button to block and another to parry. Enemy attacks have a specific color trail that tells you which button to use to counter them. If you can nail the timing, you can dish out some quick, brutal justice.

Magic also makes the transition intact. We came across two different fire spells that made killing much easier. One of them was a fireball that could flow through a line of combatants, lighting them all on fire in the process. The other spat out a circular flame, toasting everyone close to you. Magic is revitalized by sporadically placed portals, so you'll have to use this option wisely lest you run out in the heat of an important battle.

Fire makes another appearance when you ride your dinosaur pal. Like in the original Golden Axe games, you can commandeer a docile beast to help with the killing. You can whip its tail around, charge at unsuspecting foes, and let out a stream of fire. The fire move is particularly satisfying, quickly disposing of enemies who dare try to unseat you from your dino friend.

There is only one playable character in Golden Axe: a woman clad in the type of leather that hides only the necessities. We were told that the designers were going for a "Heavy Metal vibe", and the violent themes combined with the miniscule clothes certainly exemplify this goal. This game does not shy away from gore. You can hack off limbs with ease and even find your own torso cleaved in two if get too low on health.

There is no online play (or multiplayer of any kind), but there are a few extras beyond the main quest. You can unlock different outfits and weapons to use in Arena Mode, which is a nonstop assault against raging enemy forces. From what we played so far, Golden Axe fits nicely in the mindless-violence niche, where extreme violence is unleashed with a minimal amount of effort. Look for the final version this fall on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

57 Comments

  • Zerosumgame

    Posted Oct 23, 2008 10:33 pm PT

    I won't play this game even you are paying me to.

  • icym

    Posted Oct 17, 2008 11:16 am PT

    To see the makers of this game call it "Golden Axe" is just wrong. Without the multiplayer, its just a average common single player game.

  • Zionborn

    Posted Oct 13, 2008 6:08 pm PT

    Looks fun to me :p

  • irilthor

    Posted Oct 12, 2008 4:26 pm PT

    "Man, look at the box art from a distance and I bet you won't believe able to tell what game it is."
    well.. i can still read golden axe on top :p unless i look from a distance where the entire picture becomes a blurr, Then sir, you are right :p

  • irilthor

    Posted Oct 12, 2008 4:25 pm PT

    i think if they would add co-op this would sell alot more.. right now it just seems like another conan / viking / god of war wannabe game. Dont these guys get it, its the age of co-op!!

  • Zerosumgame

    Posted Oct 5, 2008 12:22 am PT

    Man, look at the box art from a distance and I bet you won't believe able to tell what game it is. Thats the uninspiring part. The gameplay video indicate it got very uncreative gameplay. I think I still have a blast playing the old version.

  • c0c41n3

    Posted Oct 1, 2008 8:14 am PT

    they just had a 'hands on' preview of this game on a video game station on television, G4TV.. and it looks horrible. They didn't even mention multiplayer, figures it's not in the game. And the *WHOLE* time, the guy who was on the station representing the game was talking about the dumb creatures you get to ride around on, that's the selling point for this game.. I don't even know if I'm going to waste my time with this title now..

  • mikebyu

    Posted Sep 29, 2008 10:41 pm PT

    One more thing. I think a complete gaming website with talking heads that represent the gaming community should be a little more investigative.Guys like Crispin and others should recognize, like we all have, that this game is missing several essential features. There needs to be "hot seat" type interviews with these developers to explain the lack of obvious features and an oppertunity for the gaming community to hear the answers. The only interviews I see are journal logs from developers about their games, how they were made, and why the game is so great. That's all nice and fine, but seriously were is the journalism? That's my rant. Thank you.

  • mikebyu

    Posted Sep 29, 2008 10:31 pm PT

    Agreed. This game had so much potential. You don't mess with a perfect recipe. This game may look cool but we are all used to "next gen" graphics and we are ready for game play. No co-op was a HUGE HUGE mistake. I expect this game to go in to the archives with Megaman X or any of the several Sonic the Hedgehog releases in the last 10 years. I just don't understand it. Why would a seeminglyrespectable company mess with success? Stick to the old formula, it was a winner. Oppertunity lost.

  • satreed

    Posted Sep 29, 2008 10:48 am PT

    This game has the potential to be one of the greatest games of all time. but I think they have already messed it up. I mean wats up with nt having alot of different attacks. and also there are only three different types of magic. and dont even get me started on the whole no coop stuff. i mean they shud hav atleast made online play or online arena or something. or maybe even made it possible to play against ur friends in arena mode.
    and i think the biggest mistake is that u only get to use a single character. they shud hav made it possible to unlock the other two after u beat the game or something. But who knows maybe the game will prove me wrong and be really good. well it remains to be seen.

  • kvan33

    Posted Sep 29, 2008 10:26 am PT

    I was going to say this game seemed lame, then I read that there was no co-op! What a disaster.

  • rickrugby

    Posted Sep 29, 2008 4:03 am PT

    there´s one game I´d really like to see remade ... Chakan was awesome back in the day .. Btw, are technical limitations so absurd that developers can´t make Golden Axe multiplayer? Or is it just a dumb developer decision?

  • Psilyocybin

    Posted Sep 27, 2008 2:11 pm PT

    Well my guess on this game is this, It's going to get bad reviews and it's going to suck. Putting it simply, No mutliplayer(like chakan2 said this game was good because of multiplayer you get to bash monsters with your buddies) and I'm pretty sure unless this game just has an amazing story or unique gameplay it's going to be another button mashing 22 dollar special at gamestop. Come on one character and what do I get for beaing the game..New clothes and swords...I'll prolly avoid this one.

  • SaruKenshin

    Posted Sep 26, 2008 4:11 am PT

    Sounds cool, but I'll pass unless they add multiplayer.

  • Vasot

    Posted Sep 24, 2008 4:03 pm PT

    From the screenshots it looks pretty nice

  • chakan2

    Posted Sep 22, 2008 9:13 am PT

    As per usual, the remake leaves out the most important element...multi-player. Idiots. Had it not been for multi-player, I don't think I would have given the original game much more than a passing glance. But due to multiplayer, I'd have 2 or 3 friends constantly dropping 5 bucks to play this all afternoon.

  • Iqen

    Posted Sep 22, 2008 8:45 am PT

    No multiplayer?! At least enable it on the same console??!

  • acer_062

    Posted Sep 21, 2008 10:10 pm PT

    Bring it on

  • DemonRaptor

    Posted Sep 20, 2008 1:16 pm PT

    I know it's already been said about 37 times, but...No co-op?!

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