Dawn of the Dragon is great, but it's God of War with wings (and a tail).
First off you're thrown in a battle with some fiery crossbreed of wyrm and golem that very conveniently lays its hand (yes, it has a hand) on the battlefield so that you can slash it indefinitely. The fact that you're thrown into thrilling action right at the beggining of the game, when you always feel powerless sure gives you the creeps, but adds to the general immersion.
After some jumps, double jumps and triple jumps (as you're used to do if you've played previous installments of the game) you find out that you're actually able to fly. For a moment, just as in a dream, the Shadow of the Colossus giant in flames just merges itself with the background (believe me... it's not hard) and you forget about everything and set your wings to fly high. Bad idea. You can't go very far up. In time you learn you can only go where the ground or the game allows you. And then you're forced into taking your sorry little tail back to hell to face the monster and the subsequent hordes of enemies. Trust me, you just won't see the action the way you'd like to. Spyro has some chain moves, yes, but they're easily forgotten because it's just easier to torch your enemies, then fly away and wait for the green crystal to reappear (it does magically reappear).
Despite this little mishap, you'll easily manage your way through the boss and the subsequent minor fights.
One of the neatest additions to Dawn of the Dragon is the ability to, if you're not playing with your friend in co-op mode, change your dragon at the tap of a button, immediately taking control of Cynder, that same old little black she-dragon who wanted your head on a plate the day before yesterday.
Cynder's moves work much like Spyro's. They slightly differ in stats and powers. While Spyro's slightly slower-stronger, Cynder's slightly more agile-powerful spell-wise. Cynder's powers are different as well. Spyro has elemental powers and Cynder has dark-side powers (like poison and some sort of banshee-scream-in-a-ball).
These powers can be upgraded at any time by accessing the start menu and spending blue gems you get through the game (think God of War. The menu's almost the same).
Of course, the dragon's powers had to be put to balance so that they wouldn't overhaul you and turn you into the most destructive teenager dragon in history. So, as you've seen before, you'll need to collect green gems in order to fill your power gauge. So if you're thinking you're just going to grab this game like you did Spyro the Dragon for the PlayStation and flame your way out of the most awkward situations, think again. You'll have to use your mana with care as it seems Spyro hasn't got an invisible inexpendable petrol backpack anymore.
After the first level, (which is sort of a tutorial for people who didn't see enough merchandise to notice there were two other games before this one) you get to follow a waterfall down to a forest during the night. That will surely give you a great flight simulation sensation, similar to the ones you get while riding your own rollercoasters in Rollercoaster Tycoon 3. The flight engine and animations are tremendously well done. You have to flap your wings in order to keep speed (curiously not height) and if you do a sudden turn, Spyro will just perform an acrobatic wing guided turn very Nazgûl style. Although it's preety fun to watch yourself fly through the battlefield blazing your enemies to ashes, I think spyro fankids have been waiting a long time for the moment that Spyro would finally learn to gain the skies. This moment seemed to appear in this game, but was cut down by the limited flight. So if you can hear me, Estranges Libellules, DO give us the chance to ACTUALLY FLY next time and we promise we'll fill your pockets and learn to speak your name.
The plot in Dawn of the Dragon follows up the previous games' (which I haven't played), bringing you to the brink of the destruction of your planet by Malefor, well voiced by Mark "Luke Skywalker" Hamill after he salvaged Darth Vader's 'evil low-robotic voice changing device'). Speaking of which, the game delivers us an outstanding job with characters voiced by none other than Elijah Wood, Christina Ricci and Gary Oldman. It's very fun to think of Frodo Baggins, Sirius Black and Luke Skywalker in the same set, it's almost a geek trap.
Ultimately, The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon is a very good game, with excellent graphics (even the tuned-down PS2 version), exhilarating artistic design (concept art is available as a bonus), masterful soundtrack and voice acting that experiences some flaws (like the lack of the long waited ability to fly independently) that aren't enough to keep you from playing it.