The Good:
- Tight animations
- Mixed combat options (spells/heavy-light-med. weapon types/etc.)
- Nice variety as far as armor sets/weapons
- Different enemy types
- Cool crowd excitement meter and solid implementation
- A clear sign of attention to detail: item names/crowd and npc animations/fame system/etc.
- Well-developed stat system
- Persistent unlocks
The Bad:
- The game is much too long considering how little the gameplay varies: enter arena, stun lock opponents, don't get flanked unless you've got a death wish, mash spell button, chug potion, repeat. thirty-six times.
- It is more or less necessary to fill up on health potions before each damned match
- Speaking of which, the three vendors could easily have fit inside the arena's armory area, along the back wall. The extra walking to each vendor just prolongs in-between gameplay. It might as well be a loading screen for all it does.
- The combat has no way to engage multiple enemies besides maneuvering them to line up on one side and, sadly, maneuvering is very clumsy and dodging is excessively difficult. The quake spell is a helpful addition, but not enough to compensate.
- The training area feels useless.
- The necessity of moving my right hand from arrow keys to mouse and back again is a pain in the ass.
- The delay between killing an enemy and collecting the coins, as well as the fact that the coins spread out across the ground, is a terrible implementation of a money system in an arena fighting game.
Verdict:
This game includes some good ideas and executes them well enough, despite its undeniable flaws. It's worth a look, and the prospect of a sequel is worth considering. When playing this game, it's important to drop any sense of historical integrity and view this as solely a fighting game with a loose gladiator theme. It'll be much less jarring that way.
Rating: Good
What if...
- The training area granted experience or some other reward of that sort.
- The vendors are all together in the armory, where they belong.
- The outdoor area is repurposed, or scrapped entirely.
- The controls definitely need to be reconfigured. Ideally, a dodge or side-step option would be added, and the item/spell buttons should be switched. I used the spell button much more often and wanted it closer to the other buttons.
- It would be cool for the power attack to be redone (have a charge attack variation added) since at the present it offers nothing that the stun-lock quick attack doesn't already offer.
- The money system could be revamped so the player is paid after each match in the armory. Losses would see a penalty to returns and the quality of the combat or the entertainment level of the crowd would depend the extent of the pay. There's a lot of potential there, especially with the crowd meter.