modeps
09-06-2010, 02:08 PM
Title: Gladiator Begins
Platform: PSP
Platform Reviewed: PSP
Developer: Acquire (http://www.acquire.co.jp), GOSHOW (http://www.goshow.co.jp)
Publisher: Aksys Games (http://www.aksysgames.com/)
MSRP: $39.99
Writer: James 'modeps' Hunter
Gladiator Begins Review
I sure hope you like grinding on this dance floor.
Picture this: You're a slave in ancient roman times and were just bought up by some dude who wants to make you a gladiator. You're given a sword, a loincloth, and thrown into an arena after learning a few basics, forced to fight for your life. Eventually, you work your way up and become a god among men, known for your ferocity, power, and courage. Sounds awesome right? Should make an awesome game too!
Gladiator Begins is exactly that thrown on top of a pseudo action role playing / fighting game. You start off customizing your slave character with a decent set of options and looks then get kicked into an arena after going through a bit of training by your new master. Primarily, that's all the game is. You fight a bunch of dudes (and ladies) in a few different arenas and level up over, and over, and over. I spent over a month of in-game time doing just that and finally called it quits when I was slain by a lady wearing all red and holding a spear. In between battles, there's some mild story injected that, like most ARPGs and fighting games, is completely throwaway dialog. Oh, don't you even try and tell me that Tekken's story is either deep or interesting.
http://evavhost.com/i/reviews/gladiator_1.jpg
I kept expecting something to change, and every once in a while it did for about 3 minutes. You can get put into scenario battles within the arena, asked to act out a historical battle but the bulk is spent in one of "five" modes: Duel, Battle Royale, Survival, Team Battle, and Two on Two (yes, they differentiate those last two). All of the modes feel pretty much the same as you always seem to be the one doing the bulk of the killing, no matter how many friends or foes you have. In team battles your AI partners do at least take the heat off of you for a bit and have been known to deal a bit of damage which is at least somewhat of a help.
The best part of the game is derived from the compulsion you'll feel to keep getting better and better gear for your gladiator. After each match, you're allowed to take a certain number of items out of the arena from your fallen foe and there's a fairly good number of different items to be had. Helmets, weapons, shields, leg, feet, and arm guards. Like any ARPG, most of the time they're throwaway items that you can sell off but the best gear will be found by taking out the bigger gladiators instead of buying it at a store.
http://evavhost.com/i/reviews/gladiator_2.jpg
Customization only goes so far though, as the combat itself is much more button mashy than I'd like. I found that to take down opponents quickly, you can just focus on their face. You'll knock off their helmet and then deal some serious damage. Sure there's some special moves that you'll earn each that consume stamina to activate, but when you're fighting a handful of bad guys you're best just going for jab moves for crowd control. The special moves are all gained through leveling up and are dependent upon which weapons you use so unlike typical fighting games, no one has anything right out of the gate. What's particularly cool in the arena is that once a weapon or piece of armor is knocked off, if you can get over to it you can pick it up. If you can't get over to the sword that was knocked out of your hand, maybe just grab a helmet for the time being and pummel your opponent with that. It's a nice touch, but armor doesn't degrade during a fight so it's possible for a particularly annoying AI opponent to keep grabbing his gear back up, making bouts last forever.
There's even an attempt at a little more of the glamor of the Colosseum with a sweet crowd meter that will fill up slowly depending on your fighting style. The higher the meter, the more the crowd gets pumped up and the more you're loved. In theory it sounds good, and you'll get monetary bonuses due to your performance, but even the 'special shops' you unlock for earning favor from big wigs don't carry anything better than what you find by slitting throats. Money is primarily used for healing your wounds in between fights, making it pretty worthless to keep gathering ALL the crap gear to sell off.
http://evavhost.com/i/reviews/gladiator_3.jpg
Missing is any sort of online multiplayer. You can setup local games with the same options present in the single player bringing your built fighter into the ring against friends, as well as send your gladiator to other friends for their use. It would have been really nice to have some Internet capable fighting, with that then I could at least show off my bumble bee looking helmet to random strangers around the world.
Conceptually, there are a lot of great ideas here which just don't come off super well in practice. Imagine Super Street Fighter IV with more customization, leveling up, and a gear collection mechanic. Yeah, it'd be a balance nightmare but it sure sounds cool! Gladiator Begins tries to be a fighting game and action RPG rolled into one, but doesn't do either particularly well... just satisfactory. Even though I did get somewhat addicted to getting more gear and updating my character, the button-mashy feeling combat in the same-looking arenas wore thin quickly and with no online multiplayer, the customization and cool gear just don't mean anything. Hey, at least you don't have to pay a monthly fee to grind in this game, amirite?
Score: 3 out of 5
http://evavhost.com/public/3.gif
The Good Pretty solid looking. Great customization options with tons of gear. Certainly does scratch the addictive nerve for gear collection.
The Bad There really isn't much to this game. Needs a lot more variety to the arena battles. No online multiplayer.
The Ugly Grind, grind, grind... Then when you're done? Grind some more.
Platform: PSP
Platform Reviewed: PSP
Developer: Acquire (http://www.acquire.co.jp), GOSHOW (http://www.goshow.co.jp)
Publisher: Aksys Games (http://www.aksysgames.com/)
MSRP: $39.99
Writer: James 'modeps' Hunter
Gladiator Begins Review
I sure hope you like grinding on this dance floor.
Picture this: You're a slave in ancient roman times and were just bought up by some dude who wants to make you a gladiator. You're given a sword, a loincloth, and thrown into an arena after learning a few basics, forced to fight for your life. Eventually, you work your way up and become a god among men, known for your ferocity, power, and courage. Sounds awesome right? Should make an awesome game too!
Gladiator Begins is exactly that thrown on top of a pseudo action role playing / fighting game. You start off customizing your slave character with a decent set of options and looks then get kicked into an arena after going through a bit of training by your new master. Primarily, that's all the game is. You fight a bunch of dudes (and ladies) in a few different arenas and level up over, and over, and over. I spent over a month of in-game time doing just that and finally called it quits when I was slain by a lady wearing all red and holding a spear. In between battles, there's some mild story injected that, like most ARPGs and fighting games, is completely throwaway dialog. Oh, don't you even try and tell me that Tekken's story is either deep or interesting.
http://evavhost.com/i/reviews/gladiator_1.jpg
I kept expecting something to change, and every once in a while it did for about 3 minutes. You can get put into scenario battles within the arena, asked to act out a historical battle but the bulk is spent in one of "five" modes: Duel, Battle Royale, Survival, Team Battle, and Two on Two (yes, they differentiate those last two). All of the modes feel pretty much the same as you always seem to be the one doing the bulk of the killing, no matter how many friends or foes you have. In team battles your AI partners do at least take the heat off of you for a bit and have been known to deal a bit of damage which is at least somewhat of a help.
The best part of the game is derived from the compulsion you'll feel to keep getting better and better gear for your gladiator. After each match, you're allowed to take a certain number of items out of the arena from your fallen foe and there's a fairly good number of different items to be had. Helmets, weapons, shields, leg, feet, and arm guards. Like any ARPG, most of the time they're throwaway items that you can sell off but the best gear will be found by taking out the bigger gladiators instead of buying it at a store.
http://evavhost.com/i/reviews/gladiator_2.jpg
Customization only goes so far though, as the combat itself is much more button mashy than I'd like. I found that to take down opponents quickly, you can just focus on their face. You'll knock off their helmet and then deal some serious damage. Sure there's some special moves that you'll earn each that consume stamina to activate, but when you're fighting a handful of bad guys you're best just going for jab moves for crowd control. The special moves are all gained through leveling up and are dependent upon which weapons you use so unlike typical fighting games, no one has anything right out of the gate. What's particularly cool in the arena is that once a weapon or piece of armor is knocked off, if you can get over to it you can pick it up. If you can't get over to the sword that was knocked out of your hand, maybe just grab a helmet for the time being and pummel your opponent with that. It's a nice touch, but armor doesn't degrade during a fight so it's possible for a particularly annoying AI opponent to keep grabbing his gear back up, making bouts last forever.
There's even an attempt at a little more of the glamor of the Colosseum with a sweet crowd meter that will fill up slowly depending on your fighting style. The higher the meter, the more the crowd gets pumped up and the more you're loved. In theory it sounds good, and you'll get monetary bonuses due to your performance, but even the 'special shops' you unlock for earning favor from big wigs don't carry anything better than what you find by slitting throats. Money is primarily used for healing your wounds in between fights, making it pretty worthless to keep gathering ALL the crap gear to sell off.
http://evavhost.com/i/reviews/gladiator_3.jpg
Missing is any sort of online multiplayer. You can setup local games with the same options present in the single player bringing your built fighter into the ring against friends, as well as send your gladiator to other friends for their use. It would have been really nice to have some Internet capable fighting, with that then I could at least show off my bumble bee looking helmet to random strangers around the world.
Conceptually, there are a lot of great ideas here which just don't come off super well in practice. Imagine Super Street Fighter IV with more customization, leveling up, and a gear collection mechanic. Yeah, it'd be a balance nightmare but it sure sounds cool! Gladiator Begins tries to be a fighting game and action RPG rolled into one, but doesn't do either particularly well... just satisfactory. Even though I did get somewhat addicted to getting more gear and updating my character, the button-mashy feeling combat in the same-looking arenas wore thin quickly and with no online multiplayer, the customization and cool gear just don't mean anything. Hey, at least you don't have to pay a monthly fee to grind in this game, amirite?
Score: 3 out of 5
http://evavhost.com/public/3.gif
The Good Pretty solid looking. Great customization options with tons of gear. Certainly does scratch the addictive nerve for gear collection.
The Bad There really isn't much to this game. Needs a lot more variety to the arena battles. No online multiplayer.
The Ugly Grind, grind, grind... Then when you're done? Grind some more.