Gladius
review by Don't Feed the Dead

I sold my soul for the XBox.

Actually, I was just gettin real tired of playing the same titles on PS2 with no satisfaction. Now, I'm not gonna say that XBox is better, but les just say I've got the lowdown on the longevity of each system and the future ain't bright for those of you not on the Microsoft bandwagon. Anyways, Gladius is available on all 3 major platforms and I do suggest that ALL roleplay fanatics go out and grab a copy.

Gladius suffered a bit of under-advertising due to Lucas Arts' release of the stellar Star Wars: KOTOR (review is coming!). However, this lil' gem was waited on by yours truly for a good amount of time before the greasy paws could straddle the controller and sever some heads. There are two "playable" main characters, Ursula and Valens, whom hail from the regions of Nordagh and Imperia, respectively. Your goal is to travel the four lands and amass a diverse school of gladiators to win the high tournaments at Caltha. The two main characters also have separate storylines which constantly take form throughout your progressions in the various regions.

Quite possibly the greatest aspect of this game is the ridiculous amount of gladiator classes available for recruitment. As you travel each land, one can recruit gladiators such as summoners, the undead, minotaurs, cyclops and multiple human forms of fighters. Level restrictions place a stranglehold on the amount of gladiators your school can hold at any given moment, but fear not - when you find the elusive minotaur that you've wanted you can boot that suck ass bandit right outta yer school to get 'em.

By way of gore, Lucas Arts falls short with severing limbs and such, and rather opts for the pussy approach of a pool of blood under your slain comrade or opponent. The audio is quite impressive when you have one foe to go and the crowd roars approval as you strike that last fatal blow. Quite invigorating! The control is a basic swing meter, where you gotta nail the swing in the critical or you risk the chance of missing or having an attack blocked. For those of you that want to leave it to chance, you can turn the swing meter off. In addition to basic sword attacks, gladiators posses the power to summon the elements to aid their attack, otherwise known as affinity charges.

To call this game addictive would be an understatement. I have played a total of 66 hours between the two characters and I can't seem to stop playing. I've shunned my copy of Madden '04 and GTA Vice City justs seems like a horrible drug memory. Quite possibly the most novel area of this game is the sidequest options. If you choose to do favors for certain shopkeepers you're given the opportunity to fight in "hidden" tournaments. Once you manage to beat these tournaments you're given the opportunity to recruit a very rare gladiator. So take some advice from the Dead, talk often and revisit the different shops after you've beaten all 4 regions. There's plenty o' gladiators willing to rip people apart in order to fight for your school.

Unfortunately, there are certain drawbacks to Gladius. For one, if you want to play in a beginner mode, you have to suffer as Ursula being your main character. masculine folks like myself don't take kindly to wielding the sword as a barbarian princess. Secondly, the game has a handful arenas where if too much is going on, the game will lag. This sucks a whole bunch cuz it affects the speed of the swing meter. Very frustrating when you really wanna kick the shit outta somebody quickly.

Overall, I give the big thumbs up to a title that will hopefully receive a sequel. But knowing Lucas Arts, they'll probably follow up on their Star Wars hit and leave this lil' gem as a relic in the Gamestops across America.