Hey kids, do you have endless hours of free time?  Is there a gaping void in your life that could be filled if you just had the right piece of the puzzle?  Are your eyes so good that they need to stare at a TV for hours on end in order to make them on par with everyone else?  If you answered ‘Yes’ to any of these questions and are a fan of tactical RPGs, then the epic turn-based Gladius from LucasArts will help solve your boredom and 20/20 vision at the same time. 

In a rare break from continuing successful franchises, LucasArts (proprietors of the Star Wars franchises to name one) branched out and created Gladius, a tactical turn-based gladiator RPG set in an alternate reality.  Fans looking for flowing fountains of blood, beastly beheadings, and limbs falling faster than the Roman Empire will be disappointed.  Gladius isn’t an action-packed hacker, it’s a rich, deep, and lengthy RPG that favors brains over brawn. 

Gladius takes place in a time imagined.  It’s a world that mirrors our ancient past, but takes in several elements of mythology.  It may look like the Roman gladiator games, but there’s no Nero dropping his thumb to extinguish the life of a peasant gladiator, no lions gnawing on Christians, and no gluttonous orgies for the privileged.  Instead, we see many nation-states after many years of warring, exhausted to the point of desperation.  Peace is declared across the land and differences are settled in the arena, mano y mano.  At the onset of the game, players can choose between two characters, the manly Valens or barbarian princess Ursula. These two will come to uncover information about the games, the “Dark Lord”, and themselves while on the way to becoming the most powerful gladiator in the land.  Or something like that.  The story of the game really isn’t that important, nor does it factor greatly in the enjoyment of the game.  The real fun comes in fighting and building your characters up. 

Did someone say fighting!?  Gladius is squarely focused on fighting, and there’s plenty of it in the game.  Gladius is a turn-based tactical RPG, meaning the fighting is done in turns (I go, you go, I go, you go…) and positioning and spell casting effect fighting dramatically.  This style of gaming is a glorified version of Chess that is often incredibly entertaining for some and equally boring for others, kind of like MTV’s new programming.  The first thing you need to fight is a fighter.  Valens and Ursula both start off with a companion, and can fight themselves (although they probably won’t be the most powerful in your group).  Gladiators breakdown into six main classes: Heavy, Medium, Light, Support (fighters with long-range attacks), Arcane (spell casters), and Beasts.  Gladius really integrates the class system into the game for much added depth.  Heavy gladiators have advantages over mediums, mediums over light, and light over heavies.  Support and Arcane classes have no advantages and beasts have heavy, medium, and light subclasses.  Gladius also features mythological creatures such as minotaurs, satyrs, and others, each with their own spells and abilities.  Unlike other RPGs, Gladius allows you to build up a school of gladiators, so it’s important to have a variety of fighters spanning all the classes. 

Once you’re ready to fight, it’s time to hit the local arena for a little bloodshed.  The world map is made up of towns, each with its own arena and equipment shop.  Traveling to different towns is simply a matter of walking there, but entering competitions often requires proving yourself elsewhere.  Each arena has several battles to fight, and after slaughtering several opponents in battles, your school can participate in the town’s tournament and move one step closer to the goal of the game, the toughest gladiator league in the land.  Battles involve two teams of gladiators, each team participating with two or more gladiators.  Restrictions and varied enemies keep the battles interesting by forcing gamers to play with less skilled gladiators of different types or outnumbering the player.  For example, some battles may restrict heavy gladiators forcing the player to bench his juggernaut in favor of a wee light gladiator.  Other battles may pit three of your gladiators versus six spear-chucking Support troops.  It’s incredibly important to choose the correct gladiators from your school in order to gain any advantage you can. 

Movement is based on several factors.  The land is divided into a grid, and the player’s movement rating determines how many squares he (or she) can run across.  Smaller gladiators will often get more turns because of their nimbleness, and heavy gladiators move slower because of their bulk.  Spells and attacks can also effect a player’s movement.  Dirty fighters (if they possess the skill) can throw dirt in opponents’ eyes, blinding them or paralyzing them for a turn.  Others can focus an attack at a fighter’s leg, rendering them immobile.  There are countless ways to boost or lower an opponent’s mobility, and it can easily sway the match in one team’s favor.

Various factors can affect battle and gamers must use these instances wisely.  Certain arenas will have elevated ground that can be used as an advantage.  Fighters on higher elevation have bonuses to their accuracy and damage ratings, where fighters on lower ground will have penalties to those ratings.  Facing is also an important factor in the game.  A character facing an attacker has a better chance to dodge the attack or take less damage from the attacker, but a fighter facing away from an attacker will incur a severe damage penalty.  These things should all be taken into consideration when fighting, particularly when outmatched. 

Speaking of spells and special actions, Gladius has more spells than a Harry Potter convention and more special actions than Inspector Gadget at a brothel.  It will be nearly impossible to see every single action and spell in the game, which is what makes Gladius such a great find.  Spells can affect multiple players or single targets and enemies as well as allies.  These goodies aren’t only for spell casters, so listen up swordsmen.  Each class has special abilities to beef up their prowess on the battlefield that do an incredible variety of things such as knock an enemy down, paralyze foes, or even empower themselves or friends with a statistical boost.  Spells and special abilities are attained by spending ‘job points’. These job points are acquired by leveling up, and each spell costs a certain amount of points, depending on its potency.

The only action in the game comes in the innovative swing meter.  Similar to the swing meter in most golf games, the Gladius swing meter requires gamers to press the button when a cursor reaches a specific area in order to get a critical hit, except this time your swinging at an opponents vital organs instead of a Titleist golf ball.  Special combo attacks and certain spells require gamers to do multiple swings, punch off combos with different buttons, or just push the buttons quicker than a gladiator’s lifespan.  This element of the game adds a touch of excitement to Gladius, which will be a bit of a relief for action fans. 

Even if you lose a fighter in battle on one of the arenas, they aren’t dead forever.  The game explains that healers are on the scene to bring your player back to health in no time.  A little eye of newt and some leeches goes a long way.  However, if you lose a fighter in a random encounter outside of the town, that gladiator is lost forever (cue sad music).  But remember, immortality for your party is only a save away. 

A game that uses turn-based fighting better have some great graphics.  LucasArts knows this and responded accordingly.  The arenas are all texturally splendid, and differ greatly.  It’s quite a relief to play in different arenas and fight through different obstacles.  The fighters all look great, thanks to a full 360-degree zoom camera.  The cutscenes, though few and far between, are better than average, although the lip synching isn’t even Milli Vanilli quality.  Unfortunately, the spells aren’t animated as well as they should be and the deaths are very much in the vain of a school play.  A lot more gusto on spells with glowing hands or large explosions ala Baldur’s Gate would make the game much more enjoyable, as would some severed limbs and a little bloodshed here and there. All in all, Gladius is a great looking game, as it should be.

The sound of the game doesn’t go much further beyond the classically triumphant music.  The occasional remark from the fighters adds a bit to the battle as they scream “For the glory of the school!” or something equally inspiring.  Beating up a wolf is enjoyable as its painful yelps make gamers thirst for more. 

Gladius is one of the best strategic turn-based RPGs out there, and its length (40 hours?) makes its value skyrocket.  If you’ve always been interested in testing out the turn-based RPG market, Gladius would be a great starting point.  Fans of Final Fantasy Tactics and similar games should also take a peek at Gladius as it is a solid RPG all-around. 

Gladius is rated T for Teen with elements of Blood, Gore, Comic Mischief, and Violence.

Gameplay: 8.5

He game is full of move/counter move type of gameplay, and takes a lot of planning ahead.  All the various factors in the game really add a lot of depth the gameplay. 

Graphics: 8.7

For an RPG, the graphics aren’t at all disappointing.  The limited customization helps gamers get a little attached to their players, and the fighters’ motions are adequately modeled.  The arenas are pretty much all the landscape in the game (aside from the wilderness encounters) but have their own character. 

Sound: 7.0

Nothing too special in here, but what would you expect from an RPG?

Difficulty: Medium

Gamers will go from scared private to four star general in no time… however, the battles get tougher and tougher as the game progresses, which keeps the challenge fresh.

Concept: 9.0

The gladiator RPG is a great idea for a game.  But I’m still waiting for an RTS with Gladiators.  Developers, are you with me? 

Multiplayer: 7.0

The multiplayer modes allow gamers to play each other or play the game co-operatively.  However, it’s not much more fun unless the player are prepared to spend 40 hours together in front of a TV.

Overall: 8.5

Tactical and strategy RPG’s will never reap a lion’s share of the market in the video game industry, but to those who love them, Gladius will be a warm welcome to their library.