Shadow of Rome - Review

Warning: Historical nutters this is not a game you'd like if the sole purpose of buying it was about how accurate the game is.

Warning: Lengthy post.There may be spoilers contained in this post, so stay away if you don't want to know. Just incase i bolded the important parts for easier reading, you might wanna skip some so check the bolded parts first.

Ok lets start. I managed to get this game by the shop, i had not intention to buy it, but since i saw it and hide a pile of money in my hand to waste i took the oppertuinity to buy it. Let me tell you, THIS GAME IS AWESOME!!. I will list the pros and cons in categories:

Graphics: Not the games strong point, but its pretty decent, especially the water effects, they are pretty realistic, the architecture and the city of rome is pretty detailed also. Generally the environments are pretty pleasing to the eyes.

Gameplay: There is some good news, and some bad news, before stating them i'll let you know that you play 2 heroes in this game, one is Agrippa and the other is Octavianus i'll explain more about them shorty, right now i'll go right into the meat of the gameplay, Agrippa is a tough gladiator and Octavianus is a wimpy spy, both have their own special stages and such, i'll start with Agrippa which is where the game shines, and is generally considered the good news, you are pitted in gladiator matches throughout the game when playing as Agrippa, the fighting system is very very awesome, i'll tell you this you can literally shred your enemy to peices using whatever weapon you have, like stab them with a gladius, slice them with a scimitar or bludgeon them with a mace, you can even use your bare hands to punch them to death or throw them or use them as a human shield, also there are 2 handed weapons like halberds and mauls that also have special executions like cutting a person in half or smashing his head into tomato juice, (warning: weapons have a durability rate, once its depleted the weapon breaks) you are rated by the people(also a point system called Salvo which a very crucial part of the game), the bloodier you are the more excited the people become, once they are excited you can whip them into a frenzy by shouting a victory cry and they might drop you a very powerful weapon that is twice as powerful as the 2 handed ones. The gladiator matches are varied and fun, some of the matches are battle royal (kill everyone in site, classical gladiator fights), Elmination (you against a team of enemies), Seige (storming a fortified position, using a catapult or whatever means to break the gates while wading through enemies to kill the leader), Dominatus (or something.. :p where another gladiator challenges you to a massacre fight, the most efficient killer wins, of course you can't hurt him, and niether does he), Team (you and a bunch of guys in a break the statue game, the enemy has statues and so do you, and you must break them before they break yours) and a wider pelothra of other matches. The stages are very well done, sometimes they are devided into rooms or are elevated to allow archers to attack and such, some of them also have traps that you could use to kill unsuspecting enemies in them, like a falling ceiling sort of trap and a flame pillar trap. On the enemies, they are pretty varied, there are big, medium, small gladiators and also female gladiators(who are rather annoying) all of these can be shredded in whatever way you like, they also come in different variations(equipment, armor and such). Also thrown in are animals and bosses, i won't spoil the bosses, but their are only 3 animals in the game unfortunately, there are tigers, an elephans and vultures, the developers also went as far as giving you a salvo combo called animal cruelty (there is an aerial variation too)

Ok now onto the bad news, while enjoying agrippas rampage the game is interrupted between every 2 stages or so and throws you into the shoes of octavianous, i'll make a long story short, its Metal Gear Solid but not as complicated, its basically the "story" mode of the game, you can talk to people, buy stuff to decorate your room and do stealth missions to uncover more of the plot, becuase agrippas side of the game doesn't have much of the story save for a few cutscenes in between matches or when you are resting in your stable. On to the exploration part, its a pretty decent part of the game, you can talk to people and also buy stuff for your room, you can also travel to other parts of rome. The stealth part involves you sneaking into important government buildings, which are usually heavily gaurded by legionnaires, in these parts you have to stay pretty well hidden or disguised as an official(or other types like a legionnaire or even a maid, since Octavianous looks a bit "pretty" ) as there is 0 (yes zero) combat in this mode of the game, if you are spotted you better run, as 1 hit kills you..

Generally the gameplay is excellent, even octavianous missions are not as dull or boring(for me) and it also serves as stress releif after a hard match.

Sound/Music: Its so-so, there is very few accented voice, and generally most of them talk in an american accent. The enemies screams and cries are not bad either. The music is nice to listen to, its pretty good actually (imho).

Story:The game devs took a bit of a liberal approach with the story(very inaccurate), but the story is rather good, it starts with ceasars death and the framing of Agrippas father vipspanius, Octavianous happens to be the nephew of Ceasar and doesn't beleive his best friend's father murdered ceasar and thus he squirms himself in the plot by helping agrippa uncover the conspiracy behind ceasars death and proving his dad innocent, while agrippa is stuck in germania slapping germans silly (you get to fight some levels their as a centurion, before becoming a gladiator).

Anyways early on in the game you fight a very huge german commander, after defeating him(not killing him, you'll encounter him later on) the report arrives that ceasars dead and you have to head to rome immediatly. I won't reveal much of the plot, but Agrippa later on is helped by a mysterious woman who then offers him a job as a gladiator, at first he shows no interest, but after revealing the prize (which happens to be his father, the champion gets to execute him) he immeditaly joins. Anyways thats the gist of the introduction story, the rest is up to you if you want to try the game.

History: Well, its made in japan so you have to expect some inaccuracies, (just like inaccuracies in japanese games made in the west, ie Shogun Total War ).

First of all, the legionnaires are all equipped with a lorica segmentbreastplatata (yes i made this word up ) it looks like the lorica segmentata on the shoulder parts, but not the chest peice itself, the chest peice is a 6-pac breastplate, also the pilum only makes an appearance in cutscenes, never used in combat or anything else besides decoration to gaurds (again in cutscenes only). The Germans and later on enemy gladiators are rather well made, germans have that scale mail shirt (also seen in RTW) and are pretty heavy on furs, the helmets are rather well done too (except the leader whose helmet has horns, makes sense when he rushes in like a bull). on the other hand the gladiators come in various forms and sizes, and also of different races, there are african, egyptian, northern and samnites.

Also their is a germanian axe that is only found (the only one handed axe in the game too) in the german levels, looks rather cool. The gladius in the game looks a bit chunky and the scutum is pretty well done (nice texture too), the game tries to be historical but as the plot advances it pretty much becomes ahistorical (ie in the chariot races portion, you get to fight a boss whose in a spanish bull fighters garb).

Generally history fans, stay away if your annoyed by historical inaccuracies, its not only the armour, but the story is well is pretty much made up.

Replay Value: Lots of replay value, besides the various difficulties, you can unlock secrets like an art gallery and also a mod called Battles of Rome, its basically every gladiator match thrown in, you can play these battles when you have unlocked them and beaten them in story mode(they help in unlocking additional secrets based on your rating), there is also a secret survival mode, which pits you against an endless number of enemies and their is also an art gallery. Their is additonal secrets unlocked in story mode like costumes and such.

Lifespan: It took me 24 hours of playtime to finish the game the first run, which is a decent amount for an action game. You later unlock Extreme difficulty mode, which is a toughr version of the game that unlocks cheats (not secrets).

Overall: Buy the game now, if you have a PS2 don't miss it!Its a great game to add to your library of games, seriously its a very fun game(if you ignore the historical inaccuracies), the plot is decent and the action is fun, don't hesitate buy it!

Whew took me a while to write it down, so excuse me if i got some typos in there

If you have anything to discuss about the game, a question perhaps or anything you have on your mind post it here, i'll try my best helping.

thanks for the review, Faisal. While it doesn't sound like the kind of thing one would get stuck on for weeks, it sure looks like something you could do for fun during a short break or somesuch.

Yes its a pretty short game, but its rather good. Its pretty long if you consider unlocking the extras, becuase every match is ranked so getting a certain number on a certain difculty for gold for every match will unlock a secret level or so, and so on.

And btw the end was pretty surprising:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

you get to fight macedonian looking troops at Actium , they are armed with a Kopis looking sword (not so different than the gladius) and the very small shield carried by the agryraspides

If any Americans are interested, run over to your nearest GameStop and ask if they still have the demo. They might have it and they might even give it to you. Under no circumstances imply that a GameStop employee told you to do this. Whether or not you get the demo depends on a whole plethora of things (who you talk to, what you're buying etc.) It helps if you do this right after you reserve a game or get the discount card/magazine subscription package.