Warner Bros announces shiny new Gauntlet

Warrior needs food badly… the classic arcade hack’n slash Gauntlet is reborn for new audiences as an action/RPG with an eye towards Steam Machines.

Publisher Warner Bros has big plans for Gauntlet. The game will not only offer “full support” for Steam OS and the oncoming wave of living room-centric Steam Machines, but it’ll also be the first offering in the company’s WB Games Vault line. The Games Vault will see the inclusion of new games based on “Warner Bros. and Midway brands, plus original IP, across multiple digital networks”.

“With Gauntlet we combined the arcade style of the original game with an entirely new look and feature set that includes emergent, local and online four-player gameplay,” said David Haddad, Senior Vice President, Digital Games, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. “Gauntlet will be the first title in the WB Games Vault portfolio, which will provide us with an opportunity to access emerging talent within the game development community and match unique skills and experience with our extensive library of properties.”

Even though this relaunch of the brand is a whole new ballgame so to speak, that doesn’t mean that developer Arrowhead is tossing all the old out in favor of the new. Gauntlet will still feature four playable heroes (Elf, Warrior, Valkyrie, and Wizard) and will still set those heroes up against a legion of nasties. Other than that (and the piles of loot you’ll be grabbing), this is a whole new experience though.

“To us at Arrowhead, Gauntlet is one of the most defining games from our childhoods, and it’s amazing to be able to work with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment on a brand new version,” said Johan Pilestedt, CEO of Arrowhead Game Studios. “Gauntle t is one of the original and best known video game properties and we are looking forward to creating a fresh, yet true to the original, take on a multiplayer masterpiece.”

Other than the original, which was a great fast-playing arcade title, my favorite Gauntlet was Gauntlet Legends on the N64 (though I’m pretty sure it was on the PSOne as well). There was an actual story to it and the play control was awesome- almost like a straight-up action game instead of a simple button-masher. From that, you can probably tell I’m not a purist when it comes to this one, so I’m pretty pumped to see what Arrowhead does with the IP. Cross your fingers, Gauntlet hits the PC via Steam this Summer.