When Activision and Sierra acquired the rights to publish games in the Spyro the Dragon franchise, gamers feared the worst. Their worries were confirmed when the Legend of Spyro series launched and the cute purple dragon went all Lord of the Rings on us, in more ways than one. The game was set to be a much needed reboot of the series, but instead it turned into a linear hack and slash game, which was fairly well received but disappointed those who enjoyed the heyday of Spyro on the PSOne. Now, after a sequel that achieved the near impossible of being even worse than the first instalment, The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon is here. Can this final part of the trilogy see a return to form for the ailing platform icon?

Dawn of the Dragon begins three years after the dramatic final confrontation with Gaul at the end of The Eternal Night, with Spyro and his arch nemesis Cynder trapped in a crystal that will keep them alive forever. Because of this jump forward in time, Spyro and Cynder are both older than they were last time around; they are freed from the crystal by an unknown force that uses magic to tie the two enemies together, increasing the tension between the purple beasts even further. The duo soon runs into Hunter, a bow-wielding cheetah who informs them of how the world has changed since their incarceration; the darkness of an oppressive force has enveloped the land, an obvious cue to the hero that it is up to him to set things right.

The prose in the Legend of Spyro series is as epic as it comes, and in this way the storyline is worth following to its conclusion. There are plenty of unexpected twists as the game progresses, which are much more surprising than most platformers or action adventures provide these days - you never really know what to expect from the next mission. While this is a good thing in some respects, the story is sometimes a bit too serious; platformers are meant to be light-hearted affairs with comedy moments and a cast of lovable characters. The opposite is the case in Dawn of the Dragon, where everything has a serious tone and message to convey. It's still a great story, but when compared to the likes of Ratchet & Clank and even the latest Crash release, it feels too serious for its own good at certain points.

Growing into an adult dragon obviously has its fair share of benefits, the most important being that flight is no longer limited to a short distance. In any case, that's what the developers promised back when the threequel was announced, something that hasn't quite turned out as it was intended. Many believed that Spyro would have the whole sky available to him, flying wherever he pleased; however, the flying is based on the wind direction instead - and whether the level designers actually want you to fly or not at any given point. When controlling either Cynder or Spyro, you can fly by pressing the X button three times in a row. The normal jump and glide skills are still here, but that one extra jump makes the dragon flap his wings and get a bit more momentum. If the conditions are right then you can fly across huge chasms with ease and reach otherwise inaccessible areas. The problem is that this occurs very infrequently; the action is primarily ground-based, with only a couple of confrontations requiring the use of your flying abilities. It doesn't help that landing from airborne activities is near impossible either, with no button that allows you to land. This becomes a problem every time you realise that flying isn't required, something that happens a lot throughout the game. The promise of a Spyro who can fly wherever he wants is here in part, but jumping and gliding is still what he does best.

One of the biggest problems with the previous Legend of Spyro games is that they feel more like a series of interlinked arenas where you fight wave after wave of enemies than a smoothly flowing experience. This has thankfully changed for Dawn of the Dragon - or to be more precise, has been altered to seem much more like an open-ended world. There's a lot more jumping and exploring to be done than in the last two games, although combat is still the primary focus. The quality and fun of exploration of the early Spyro releases is never quite realised here, but this element is still fun all the same. The combat hasn't changed much, so you're still hitting the Triangle and Square buttons to fight enemies, for strong and speedy attacks respectively, with your elemental breath ability returning as well. Both dragons have four elements available from the start, with Spyro using the power of Fire, Ice, Earth and Electricity, and Cynder's dark upbringing granting her control of Shadow, Wind, Poison and Fear. Which character you choose usually depends on your preference - whether you want an all-consuming tornado or some short bursts of icicles - with the damage of each elemental attack determined by its current level.

As with the recent Crash game - Mind Over Mutant - you collect blue gems that can be used to upgrade your abilities. Unlike Crash though, you actually have control over which ability you decide to upgrade, assigning your gems to each one individually. This allows you to learn new elemental skills and become a more powerful dragon, which is vital if you want to make it through the sheer volume of enemies that you must fend off at certain points in the game. The combat is enjoyable despite being very repetitive, helped by some platforming sections and a great levelling system.

With two dragons at your disposal, you'd think that the game would be very simple, but the AI of your computer-controlled counterpart isn't up to scratch, resulting in an ally that hinders more than he assists. You can switch between the characters with R2, allowing you to use both dragons' abilities and collect blue gems for each of them. While this system works fine, it's obvious that the game was designed with co-op in mind - and it's true to say that Dawn of the Dragon is a lot more fun with two players working together, mixing breath attacks for screen-filling assaults. Although this is a marginally better way to play, you can't help but think how much better this could have been with a couple of simple adjustments. Having the two characters locked together makes the multiplayer work well without resorting to a split screen display, but the lack of manual control over the game's camera was a mistake. Also, the fact that you can never leave your partner's side means that there are no team-based puzzles to work out, which is a big missed opportunity; neither the single player nor the co-op mode feels polished, so whichever way you play, the experience is slightly disappointing.

This isn't the only disappointment, either; the screenshots of the game look amazing, as though they're pushing even the PS3 to new heights - but in motion, the game suffers extreme lag and screen tearing throughout, at least on the PS3. If you took a still of the screen then it would look great, but as is the case with so many PS3 games, technical issues seriously mar the effort put into the graphics. Spyro looks better than ever and his skin is textured in such a way that the excellent lighting bounces off it in the cut scenes, but throw another player and ten enemies onto the screen and the result is a glitchy mess. At least the sound fares better, where star-studded voice work is used in conjunction with an assuredly epic score that fits with the feel of the game world and the story that takes place within it. The soundtrack never reaches the heights of the original games' musical scores, but it's still appropriate and enjoyable at the same time. The voice acting sees Elijah Wood reprising his role as Spyro once more, which makes it seem even more like the Lord of the Rings than it already does, with his accompanying cast of Gary Oldman and Christina Ricci holding the fort as the almighty dragons Ignitus and Cynder respectively. Their voice acting is just as epic as the score and this helps to counteract the graphical issues, but not enough that you can't help but feel what the problems are a real shame, and that with a little more time in development this could have been one of the best looking games on the system.

After two unspectacular portrayals of the Spyro series, The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon can be seen as a significant improvement. Unfortunately however, there is still a long way to go, with a number of issues that still need addressing. The camera for one makes clearing certain jumps next to impossible, while the heavy emphasis on combat makes for overly repetitive gameplay. The biggest disappointment though is the graphics, as this was set to be the best looking Spyro game ever but the technical flaws outweigh the positives, something that can be said for the game as a whole, as well as its visuals. These problems combine to make the game feel overhyped and underwhelming after a year's wait for a game that was shaping up to be something special. It's by no means a bad game and most Spyro fans will likely be able to look past the flaws to enjoy the game that lies beneath them, but when compared to other recent PS3 releases such as Ratchet & Clank and LittleBigPlanet, which look so wonderful and feature such appealing and entertaining gameplay, Spyro just cannot measure up. Dawn of the Dragon is the best Spyro game for years, but when the past few releases are average at best, this is hardly a praiseworthy accolade.

Reviewed by Sam Atkins for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).