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Gladius
The movie “Gladiator” opened up
a new appreciation in me for not only the brute strength but also the
intelligence and strategy that was required to survive and be a champion
in the Roman Empire sporting arena. LucasArts will try to bring that
same appreciation to gamers next year with the action RPG scheduled for
release next spring, Gladius.
Known for its Star Wars line of games and adventure titles like Full
Throttle, Day of the Tentacle, Sam and Max, and Grim Fandango, LucasArts
is delving into developing into a new genre with Gladius. The game will
combine an RPG that follows the path of two heroes (Valens and Ursula)
who must recruit and train a team to compete with the actual action of
battling in the dangerous gladiatorial ring. Your units must learn new
skills to improve their abilities to become an efficient gladiator.
Victory in the arena will give you certificates that will help build
experience points and unlock new levels to progress through.
While the game will have many of its 16 races of characters based on
actual gladiator types who really fought in ancient Rome, it also mixes
in magical and mythical characters such as the witches of the Galdr
class, minotaurs, and other monstrous creatures of Roman mythology.
Graphically the game is shaping up nicely so far, with good character
models and sharply-detailed rendered environments.
There is over 100 customizable characters and 400 unique items of
weaponry and accessories like shields and helmets to equip your force.
Not only will the game
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follow your
gladiator arena combat, but there’s
also a side-story that has the heroes pursuing a band of rogues who are
intent on bringing a powerful dark god defeated by Valkyrie back to the
land of the living.
Most of the gameplay in the arena conflicts will use a turn-based battle
system, but with the inclusion of an arcade-style swing meter in
real-time you can enhance your attack’s power. Gladius will have a
multiplayer option for up to four players to fight in a cooperative
mode.
And don’t expect to finish Gladius with a weekend rental. With 20
arenas and another 12 locations to battle, LucasArts is promising an
estimated 36 hours worth of playing time to complete EACH single-player
storyline. Even after completing Gladius, the tournament system still
allows you to build up your characters and explore the territories that
comprise Gladius’ world. Another cool touch is that the crowds
cheering can actually increase the vigor of your team. Of course it also
works the reverse too. If you don’t perform well in the arena the
crowd will boo and your team will do worse.
If LucasArts can provide a rich interweaving storyline to interact
effectively within the gameplay, Gladius may indeed be interesting. I
personally don’t like turn-based RPGs versus real-time, but it works
for most of the Squaresoft games that define RPG quality. And Gladius
does allow for real-time interaction during battles, so it may satisfy
gameplayers like myself who aren’t really experienced with turn-based
gaming. It all sounds promising, and LucasArts usually comes to the
table with a solid product, so look for Gladius next spring if you are a
next-generation console RPG gamer.
