E3 '07: The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night First Look

The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night is the second game in Sierra's planned trilogy for the Legend of Spyro series, following Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning. Eternal Night is a continuation of the story in New Beginning, and is now featured on the Nintendo Wii, in addition to the PS2, GBA, and DS.

Most of the familiar characters from New Beginning are returning, with Elijah Wood and Gary Oldman both coming back to reprise their voice acting roles from the first game. The game will be shifted a bit in emphasis, however, with the developer apparently intent on breaking up some of the monotony that was a complaint with the first game by interspersing the combat with more puzzle and platforming sequences.

We managed to get our hands on the Wii version of the game and tried out some of Spyro's advanced moves. He's capable of controlling four elements, each of which will have a special breath attack, as well as a melee-oriented attack; both will drain your magical meter. What's more, most of Spyro's new attack abilities revolve around juggle combos, in which you thrust your opponents up into the air and start pounding them before they hit the ground.

In addition to the new combat moves, Spyro also earns the right to enter "dragon time" in Eternal Night, which will allow him to slow the world down while he remains moving at full speed. As in games like God of War II, this will let you solve puzzles more easily, such as by depressing a switch to open a door, then freezing time and dashing through before the door closes.

While Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night doesn't look like it's going to reinvent the wheel, it seems like Sierra is intending to fix some of the problems with A New Beginning in the new title. GameSpot will have more information on Eternal Night as it nears its release date.