Review: Should You Buy Gauntlet: Slayer Edition for PC?
Last Updated on October 11, 2024 by Michael Brockbank
Is Gauntlet: Slayer Edition worth buying for the PC? I’ve been a fan of Gauntlet since my days on the Commodore 64. Throughout the years, there have been many versions to grace computers and game consoles. And although I love the version released on the Dreamcast, the Slayer Edition is among my favorites.
Although it was released on Steam in 2014, it’s still among my favorite games for a fun party night with friends.
What is Gauntlet: Slayer Edition?
Gauntlet is a hack-and-slash dungeon crawler with a few puzzles thrown into the mix. It’s a non-stop action game where the only objectives are to survive the hordes of various creatures while looting as much as you can to be the greediest hero at the end of each level.
The puzzles aren’t exactly mind-benders, such as using explosive barrels to blow up certain hidden walls or saving keys for specific treasure rooms. Some of the bosses, on the other hand, take a bit of finesse to figure out how to kill them.
Gauntlet has an overhead view of the battlefield, which only scrolls so far when you’re in multiplayer mode. That means your party needs to stay relatively close to one another to progress in the game.
I can’t count the number of times I was killed by spikes because my teammate was too far for the screen to scroll past the trap.
Pros and Cons of Gauntlet: Slayer Edition
As hard as I tried, I really couldn’t think of many Cons to Gauntlet. For $20, it’s a well-rounded game that can get addicting rather quickly. It’s reminiscent of the games of old and can play into a bit of nostalgia bait.
Because Gauntlet: Slayer Edition is available on Steam, it supports a very wide scope of resolutions. So, even newer and larger monitors can play it with ease.
Gauntlet also follows the “Rule of the Cosmos.” This means that only one player can select a specific class. In other words, you can’t have a party of nothing but elves. The game purposely creates a balanced party.
Several Ways to Play
You have a few different modes of play in Gauntlet: Slayer Edition. You have the Campaign, Endless, and Colosseum modes.
The Campaign mode takes you through the story of Gauntlet, diving ever deeper into the ground with each level. Endless involves an endless progression of levels where the goal is to go as high as you can while collecting the most gold possible. This is actually part of the Steam leaderboard, but level 8192 is the highest you can go.
Then there is the daily Colosseum mode where you can earn more gold for your characters for buying new gear for customization. I’ll go over that in a moment.
Great Replayability
As long as you don’t mind the challenge of grinding out gold or achievements, Gauntlet has great replayability. I’ll go over the Masteries in a moment, but in order to collect them all, you’ll need to do a lot of dungeon crawling.
Not to mention that it’s a great game for four people to get together to have some casual fun.
Creating Custom Builds
As you progress through the game, you collect as much gold as you can. Then, you can use that gold to buy new equipment, abilities, and appearance items. Different items may give you bonuses or new abilities.
For example, I purchased an Enchanted Willow Branch for my Elf. This gives him the ability to summon three forest spirits that fire arrows at nearby enemies for a limited time.
Each class in the game comes with a variety of potions, talismans, and spells. That way, you can develop a customized strategy for playing throughout the game.
This is the biggest reason why you want to be the greediest hero and collect as much gold as possible. You’ll unlock all kinds of goodies.
Adaptive Difficulty
Gauntlet: Slayer Edition will get more difficult with the more players you add. Essentially, the game continues to add more creatures that are in your path as your party gets larger. This is in addition to changing the difficulty level.
However, it can get extremely chaotic with four players, which is part of what makes the game fun for me. This is especially true when you start competing for gold and food.
Doesn’t Require Much to Play
The PC requirements for Gauntlet are exceptionally low, according to the standards of today. The minimum requirements are a dual-core processor and 4GB of memory.
So, if you have a much older computer lying around or haven’t had the chance to upgrade, Gauntlet: Slayer Edition can run on virtually any computer made in the last 15 years!
Masteries (Achievements)
One of my favorite highlights of Gauntlet is the Masteries list. These are essentially achievements you can get in the game for everything from collecting X amount of food to the kill-count of specific monsters.
These Masteries are also available as Steam achievements.
The Masteries are more like challenges to keep players interested in the game. This is part of the replayability I mentioned earlier. If you want to collect them all, it’ll take a bit of time to rack up the numbers.
Keyboard and Mouse Controls Take Getting Used To
While most people will play Gauntlet with a controller, I use the keyboard and mouse for just about everything. And although it’s not impossible, it does take a few moments to get used to the awkwardness.
For instance, you move around the screen with the WASD keys, but you’ll aim and fire with the mouse. When there are a ton of monsters around, it can get a bit confusing at times.
Once you master the controls, though, it’s smooth sailing.
Where Can You Get Gauntlet: Slayer Edition?
Personally, I bought my copy of Gauntlet from Steam when the company was doing one of its sales. And I tell you, it was the best $4.99 I’ve spent in a long time. Normally, the game is $19.99, but I got lucky during the beginning of the year sale.
You can also pick it up for the PlayStation 4 as a digital download.
It’s important to note that Gauntlet: Slayer Edition also has a DLC in the form of adding the Necromancer as a playable character. Currently, the DLC for Lilith is $4.99 on both platforms.
Would I Suggest Gauntlet: Slayer Edition?
I’m a bit biased, here. I’ve been a fan of Gauntlet for many, many years. But this one is a lot of fun and ranks right up there with my favorites in the franchise.
My greatest love is the Gauntlet version on the Sega Dreamcast.
Regardless, Slayer Edition has a lot of fun features that keep me coming back to the game more than eight years after buying it. From customizing my characters with gear and appearance items to racking up the kill count on the Masteries, it’s a game I can enjoy by myself or in a group.
For achievement hunters like myself, there are more than 40 available.
Being able to customize the weapons, talismans, potions, and appearance also gives the game a bit extra compared to previous versions of Gauntlet. Through trial and error, you can come up with the best build for each individual character to fit your play style.
While playing, you earn Skull Coins for yourself and your party. These fill up a meter on the top right, and once full, you and your party get an extra life. Once all of the lives are taken, then you fail the dungeon. That means if someone in your party is prone to death, it can screw everyone later on.
I know it may sound kind of messed up for some, but for me, it adds to the chaos of a friendly party game.
The only real gripe I have is when playing the wizard. You have access to a variety of spells, but the keyboard controls make it a bit wonky to select certain spells you’ll use throughout the dungeon. This is easily remedied by learning how to play Gauntlet using the controller, but I would rather get good with the keyboard and mouse.
In any case, the game is easily worth the $19.99 price tag. And if you buy a 4-pack for yourself and three friends, it’s only $59.99, which saves you $20 overall.
What’s Your Favorite Gauntlet Version?
Although I am a fan of Gauntlet: Slayer Edition, my favorite will always be the version on the Dreamcast. That’s probably because I have a lot of fond memories of playing it with my kids and having some incredible bonding moments.
So, out of all the Gauntlet games I’ve played thus far, Slayer Edition probably ranks a close second on my list. It’s a solid game with a great soundtrack, good voice acting, great sound effects, and enjoyable banter. If you don’t have it yet, you’re missing out.
Elf needs food, badly!
- Butterfly Pavilion in Westminster, CO – A Beautiful Display - January 21, 2025
- 11 Pros and Cons of Starting a YouTube Gaming Channel - January 16, 2025
- Review: Is the Early Access of Valheim Worth Buying? - January 14, 2025
