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IGN Review of Gladiator Begins
I often like to start my reviews by mentioning a moment from the game that really nails my point home. So here goes.
The random name generator for Gladiator Begins dubbed me "Genitanus." And so my journey into the romantic world of the gladiator began.
Gladiator Begins is a third-person game that occupies some bizarre middle ground between character action titles like God of War and fighters like Tekken (give me a second, and I'll explain). You'll be presented with myriad weapons and armor options, with generally total freedom to arm yourself as you please. Want to use two swords? Go for it. A spear and shield? Cool story, bro. The full range of gladiator weaponry is present, including punch daggers and the like.
Each weapon type and combination has particular combos and special moves, and using weapon combinations will unlock new abilities for that loadout. Combat at its most basic level is about attacking on the right or left, or high and low (see, previous Tekken reference). Since armor is mostly piecemeal and weight limits usually prevent enemies from marching into battle like walking tanks (usually), you'll want to prioritize hitting your opponent where they're weakest.
As mentioned before, there's actually quite a bit of strategy involved in Gladiator Begins' combat, which is good -- that's all there is in this game. Gladiator Begins' problem is that it's reliant on a mechanic that shows signs of strain later on in the game. Eventually, my two sword fighter didn't even need to rely on meaningful strategic choices to butcher most of his opponents. I would just viciously combo their heads, back up to let my stamina recover, and then cartwheel forward again in an attack that my victims would never block. Or maybe they just couldn't -- cheesing my way through battles had a certain appeal until I found myself subjected to the same tactics by enemies whose attacks seemed unblockable (unsurprising, given how inconsistent blocking in Gladiator Begins is) and was pounded into a bloody mess in the corner of the "arena" until I was fighting the impulse to throw my PSPGo across my desk. And at least once, I may not have successfully fought that impulse.
Maybe things would have been different if the arenas had actually felt like the epic bloodsport theatres of old. Instead, they felt like fighting in a small studio apartment with a sunroof. This is sort of indicative of Gladiator Begins, actually: there's a giant list of "features" in the game, but most of them are ultimately pointless. Every arena feels the same. The leveling mechanic is aimless -- if you try to emphasize any one skill over the others, then you'll likely find yourself pounded at the next match and you'll scramble to load an old save to undo the foolish decision to try to make your gladiator excel at any one thing.
At least the game looks pretty good, most of the time. You've got a fair amount of visual customization options, though these are superficial and honestly a little puzzling -- going by Gladiator Begins' character generator, the difference between an "average" female and a "muscular" female is primarily the latter's larger breasts, and the difference between an "average" male and a "muscular" male is primarily the latter's larger breasts. Fights are bloody and well animated.
However, there's a weird lack of voice in the game. This might be a blessing in disguise, though. Much like my experience with the Name Generator's attempt to give me an "authentic" sounding gladiator name, the dialogue in Gladiator Begins tries to sound serious and comes off as ridiculous. There are long stretches of banal text that references the glory of the arena and Roman politics (or, at least, what movies from the past thirty years have had to say about those things) without actually saying anything. These sections will occasionally give you a choice of helping a patron or turning them down, but these relationships never develop; it's just another fight.
©2010-10-20, IGN Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved
The random name generator for Gladiator Begins dubbed me "Genitanus." And so my journey into the romantic world of the gladiator began.
Gladiator Begins is a third-person game that occupies some bizarre middle ground between character action titles like God of War and fighters like Tekken (give me a second, and I'll explain). You'll be presented with myriad weapons and armor options, with generally total freedom to arm yourself as you please. Want to use two swords? Go for it. A spear and shield? Cool story, bro. The full range of gladiator weaponry is present, including punch daggers and the like.
Each weapon type and combination has particular combos and special moves, and using weapon combinations will unlock new abilities for that loadout. Combat at its most basic level is about attacking on the right or left, or high and low (see, previous Tekken reference). Since armor is mostly piecemeal and weight limits usually prevent enemies from marching into battle like walking tanks (usually), you'll want to prioritize hitting your opponent where they're weakest.
As mentioned before, there's actually quite a bit of strategy involved in Gladiator Begins' combat, which is good -- that's all there is in this game. Gladiator Begins' problem is that it's reliant on a mechanic that shows signs of strain later on in the game. Eventually, my two sword fighter didn't even need to rely on meaningful strategic choices to butcher most of his opponents. I would just viciously combo their heads, back up to let my stamina recover, and then cartwheel forward again in an attack that my victims would never block. Or maybe they just couldn't -- cheesing my way through battles had a certain appeal until I found myself subjected to the same tactics by enemies whose attacks seemed unblockable (unsurprising, given how inconsistent blocking in Gladiator Begins is) and was pounded into a bloody mess in the corner of the "arena" until I was fighting the impulse to throw my PSPGo across my desk. And at least once, I may not have successfully fought that impulse.
Maybe things would have been different if the arenas had actually felt like the epic bloodsport theatres of old. Instead, they felt like fighting in a small studio apartment with a sunroof. This is sort of indicative of Gladiator Begins, actually: there's a giant list of "features" in the game, but most of them are ultimately pointless. Every arena feels the same. The leveling mechanic is aimless -- if you try to emphasize any one skill over the others, then you'll likely find yourself pounded at the next match and you'll scramble to load an old save to undo the foolish decision to try to make your gladiator excel at any one thing.
At least the game looks pretty good, most of the time. You've got a fair amount of visual customization options, though these are superficial and honestly a little puzzling -- going by Gladiator Begins' character generator, the difference between an "average" female and a "muscular" female is primarily the latter's larger breasts, and the difference between an "average" male and a "muscular" male is primarily the latter's larger breasts. Fights are bloody and well animated.
However, there's a weird lack of voice in the game. This might be a blessing in disguise, though. Much like my experience with the Name Generator's attempt to give me an "authentic" sounding gladiator name, the dialogue in Gladiator Begins tries to sound serious and comes off as ridiculous. There are long stretches of banal text that references the glory of the arena and Roman politics (or, at least, what movies from the past thirty years have had to say about those things) without actually saying anything. These sections will occasionally give you a choice of helping a patron or turning them down, but these relationships never develop; it's just another fight.
©2010-10-20, IGN Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved