I thought I knew what to expect out of The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon, having played a number of the previous installments in the series. I expected a colorful, humorous storybook tale of a young purple dragon on a quest to release his fellow dragons from captivity. But Dawn of the Dragon is much more than that. Gone is the storybook feeling - or most of it at least. In this newest installment, Spyro undertakes a much bigger adventure, one that could easily be called epic.

The first thing you need to know about Dawn of the Dragon is that from the very start, you'll be controlling two dragons: Spyro and Cynder, a previous Spyro villain. The two are chained together via a magical device during the game's introductory cut scene, and spend the entirety of the game in this manner. What this means to you is that you'll often be switching back and forth between the two characters to work your way through puzzles, use their unique abilities, etc. It also means the game includes a two-player cooperative mode, something I always welcome with open arms.

My first impression of the multi-character control was "Oh no." It seemed gimmicky, unnecessary, and looked like it would shatter everything I knew and loved about the Spyro franchise. But after playing through the game, it's really not all that bad. While it is still pretty gimmicky and unnecessary, and often times frustrating, it doesn't stop the game's stronger points from shining through. That said, I think I would have preferred to simply control Spyro, and concentrate on one character's abilities. And because of this sentiment, I ended up controlling Spyro for the majority of the game.

Spyro and Cynder are, for the most part, identical. The main difference is their magical abilities; Spyro controls Fire, Ice, Lightning, and Earth, while Cynder controls a darker set of elements, including Shadow, Fear, Poison, and Wind. Besides these magical attacks, our protagonists can string together combos of weak and strong attacks, and perform grab maneuvers. And since our characters are dragons after all, these same attack maneuvers can be performed mid-flight as well as on land. It makes for a somewhat varied combat system, but I found myself relying heavily on the magical attacks. The physical attacks seemed to be extremely weak in comparison, almost to the point where I was forced to neglect them. On the contrary, the magical attacks can often take out a slew of enemies in a brief period of time. And since there are usually magic replenishing crystals nearby, there's not much stopping you from neglecting those measly physical attacks.

There is a nice pinch of RPG thrown into Dawn of the Dragon in that you are able to upgrade your elemental attacks using collected crystals, and also in that you can equip your characters with armor. Granted, there is a very limited selection of armor to be found, but like I said, it is just a pinch of RPG, and it's a nice touch. Character customization - no matter how minor - is usually a positive.

One of my favorite things about this game is that Spyro (and Cynder) now has the ability to fly as freely and as often as he likes. It's actually a bit surprising that this is the first game where you can traverse the environments by flying. It's a simple addition, but it makes exploration fun and exciting. The environments are not the most beautiful on Xbox, and could benefit from more defining texture and less contrast, but flying through them will surely make you say "wow" from time to time.

Earlier in this review I used the adjective "epic" to describe Spyro's adventure in Dawn of the Dragon, but you should not take that to mean that this is a long, drawn-out game. In fact, you should be able to complete the main quest in 10-15 hours. But what makes it epic are the extraordinary production values and the quality of the score and voice acting. The music ranges from memorable to beautiful to inspiring. Early in the game, when you emerge from the catacombs, there is an amazing segment where you control Spyro and Cynder in flight as they descend upon the forest. It is set to a gorgeous song, and it was at this point that I became immersed in Dawn of the Dragon. For the music (of all elements) to grab me like that was amazing, and speaks to its brilliance. The voice acting takes a slight backseat to the score, but it is also pretty impressive. Elijah Wood and Christina Ricci voice the protagonists and lead a cast of experienced Hollywood talent. Missing is the sense of humor from the first few Spyro games. The comic relief in Dawn of the Dragon comes from Sparx, Spyro's dragonfly friend, but it's unfortunately not all that comic, and not very relieving.

Spyro's newest adventure is certainly an ambitious one, and it has really taken the franchise in an interesting direction. What was once a level-by-level quest based on saving dragons is now a true adventure with RPG elements, a developing story line, and brilliant music and voice acting. And hey, it's a lot of fun too.

Gameplay: 7.5
Generally good, but the physical combat seems slow to respond. Elemental attacks, on the other hand, are a blast (no pun intended) and keep combat interesting. Flying controls can be a bit quirky but once you get the hang of it, you'll do most of your exploring by air.

Graphics: 6.7
One of the game's weaker areas. Colors are high contrast, high saturation, almost to the point of blinding. Character models are severely lacking in texture.

Sound: 9.0
Outstanding music and voice acting. When you take notice of a game's music, and it's not because it's annoying, it's a good sign. Amazing cast of Hollywood talent provide voiceovers for main and supporting characters.

Difficulty: Medium
Generally not all that tough, but you'll occasionally run into a difficult boss or group of enemies. The puzzles can sometimes be baffling, but once you get the game's basic mechanics down, they'll be less tricky. Certain optional "Elite" enemies are VERY tough, but thankfully you can avoid them.

Concept: 8.6 
I love the idea of turning Spyro's storybook tale into a full-fledged adventure. Is the next step a Spyro RPG? I'd say it's very unlikely, but the characters and universe would serve the idea well...

Multiplayer: N/A
Although I was unable to test the game with a friend, I imagine that it would be nice to concentrate on a single character instead of two. And having a buddy control the second character is just icing on the cake.

Overall: 8.5
I still think we could lose the multi-character idea, but even so, this is a successful game. It rarely feels repetitive, is often inspiring and immersive, and takes the Spyro franchise along an interesing path. I'm somewhat biased because of the nostalgic feelings I get from the Spyro franchise, but I will say I only stopped playing this game a few times from start to finish. I simply didn't want to stop playing. That should tell you something.