Story of a Gladiator review on Xbox

Story of a Gladiator is best described as a arena experience, with a fun 2d cartoon art style. The developers Brain Seal LTD, have gone with an all out, arena hack n slash which add’s some light RPG elements to change things up.

The premise of the game is simple yet effective. You are a common man who has lost everything in the war against the Roman empire. Your family is dead, your friends are dead, your house has been burned down and your land is now under Roman rule. Despite such misfortune you have managed to escape slavery or worse. You spend much of your time in the streets of Rome looking for some sort of meaning in your life and wondering why the gods have spared you. One day fate finally reveals itself, as a brutal gladiator with the word ‘don’t lose’ ringing in your ear.

Gameplay

You start of by choosing you character, which there are three off, and each has a unique special starter bonus, like one extra skill or 5% more health. Once chosen you are taken to the games main HUB called ‘’city’’, which will become your main zone for character development.

Here you get to visit different NPCs that each provide you with their particular items, you will need to succeed in the arena.  For instance, the Combat Trainer is where you can learn and upgrade active and passive skills and you get one per level. You can change any skill on the fly should you find you have made a mistake or need to take advantage of a particular attack. One recommendation I would say, is get your dodge and stamina up as soon as possible.

The next main NPC you will be visiting is the Blacksmith, who will be providing you with a plethora of weapons, shields and armour. You also have the possibility to chance to customize the skins of the equipment a little bit, which really helps in making your gladiator your own. The store next door provides you with Amulets, which provide you a constant buff as long as you wear it, and one I would recommend in taking. These are upgraded by the number of stars you earn in fights.

The butcher provides you with consumables you can eat to buff yourself prior to a match, and the shopkeeper provides you with one hit items, like spears. The animal trainer provides you with a AI animal to join you in your fights, whilst the Temple gives you the chance to appropriate support from the deity during the battle if the audience in the arena likes your murderous skills. 

After you have buffed, preyed, and upgraded your character, its time for you to move into the arena itself. There are three sequential “campaigns". At first we fight against the Greeks, then against the Africans and finally against the Romans. In the beginning, the fights start of pretty easy and simple, but they soon become more difficult and will require you to adapt your tactics and skills to survive. By the time you start fighting the Africans, levels and characters have become more varied. The games boasts, over 80 enemy gladiators and 20 ferocious animals each with unique fighting strategy. Arenas themselves also change from your standard pit, to zones filled with spear traps and pits. Furthermore, there are boss fights, who again have their own special difficulty.

Now whilst this may look like a simple Hack n Slash, combos and well timed dodges are essential. Attacks and defence need to be carefully planned, as your stamina is limited. Also you have to remember you are here to thrill the audience, which is recommended, as in doing so they show some support in the form of things thrown into the arena. These range from extra health, money and even rocks to stun and daze your opponents. Doing well in combat and showing off brutal attacks will not only satisfy the audience, but in turn also keeps your deity happy, who also when sated, allow you to generate a arena wide special attack.

After you win a fight, you are given a star rating, coin and experience that depends on how much health you have left and damage you did. The better you do, the more stars you get, which in turn helps upgrade your amulets. Now don’t worry if you don't win a fight, as you still get something, just heavily reduced. All fights can be repeated at any time and its essential to do this to farm for money and level ups. With the money and experience, you can then improve your equipment and skills.

 Now this may seem a bit of a grind, but because there is something you are always looking to buy or upgrade, it doesn’t feel like it, and I can say without doubt, the fights themselves are fun. However, there are some issues. One aspect is that once you have won a fight you are instantly taken back to the city, which is a pain if you want to just continue farming. In my opinion, the difficulty level is a bit steep, mostly due to the enemy AI attacks. There are no invincibility frames, which can be an instant death when the enemy will surrounds you, and spam attacks. 

Graphics

The hand drawn art style is nice and vibrant, and works well when there is a multitude of enemies on the screen. I saw no frame drops and the level design was well crafted to provide a feeling of substance over content recycling. Being able to change your character and AI companion is a lovely touch, but I do hope more variations are added later on to help keep this game feeling fresh.

Sound

The general music of the game is nice, and ramps up when your in a fight, which only heightens your tension. The city sounds however, are abit on the repetitive side and can get on your nerves abit after awhile. Enemy AI and weapon sounds have a nice weighty oomph to them and help sell the sound of metal on metal. Voice work is limited as the character doesn’t speak, however, I can say it sound fantastic when telling of the story. I really thought they had got some Hollywood actor to deliver the lines, as the voice really conveys well what has happened. 

Verdict

This leads me onto the rating of the game:-

Now I rate games in order of, avoid, on sale, great purchase and must own. My rating for Story of a Gladiator is "Great Purchase’’.

The game is fun to play, challenging, and can easily suck you in with its addictive progression. I can see some looking at the art style as simplistic and forgoing it without even playing it, but if you do, I think your find this as a bit of a hidden gem and maybe to your liking. It also boasts a Rogue-like mode for replay ability.

The game is currently priced on Xbox at £9.19 or approx $12, and depending on skill and patience would give you about 20 hours worth of gameplay to get through all campaigns. 

More gladiator games are needed and Brain Seal LTD have given it a good shot with their visual style, light rpg elements and simple but effective combat. This is a developer to keep an eye on and a game most will enjoy.