Shadow of Rome is a Good Game.
I shall be frank in saying Shadow of Rome has got to be one of the best gladiator type games of our time. This game is for the Playstation 2, and was released in 2005 by Capcom, and has been grossly underrated in my opinion. Never making it to platinum status, this game has been overlooked by many. In this game you play as a soldier gone gladiator along with Roman boy to find out who murdered the famous Julius Caesar in Rome, 44bc.
This game has a winding plot in it. In this game you play as a soldier gone gladiator along with Roman boy to find out who murdered the famous Julius Caesar in Rome, 44bc. It is, of course, all set around the murder of Julius Caesar. I will not reveal too much, but in this game you slowly find out who killed Caesar as you play as Octavianus and learn things in the senate, by use of disguise and deceit; and as you play as Agrippa in the arena where you kill for the crowd as you rise through the gladiator ranks. Agrippa's father is framed for Caesars murder, so this is what gets the plot going as Agrippa and Octavianus race against time to free him before execution. It has many twists and turns in the plot that keeps you on your toes. It includes a good amount of historical evidence (what you would normally expect from a game) to back it up so it is by no stretch what you would call 'boring for the history buffs'.
The characters in the game are great. There are only a few (around five or six main people in the game), but all have brilliant personalities, goals and methods. You play as two main characters in Shadow of Rome, Agrippa and Octavianus. Agrippa is a centurion in the Roman legions who becomes a gladiator in order to free his father, and Octavianus is the adopted nephew of the great Caesar who wants to know who killed his uncle and who helps Agrippa free his father.
I shall now talk a bit about the gladiator battles in Shadow of Rome. The battles are gruesome (as you would expect in this type of game). It is all normal hack and slash game play that most gamers would be familiar with, but they also have little aspects of the fights that makes the game unique. One of the most unique things about the game would have to be the weaponry. You can wield swords, maces, halberds and bows - all with their own strengths and weaknesses - but the twist is is that they break after too much use. This includes a nice strategy aspect in the game because it means you can not hold the same weapon throughout the whole fight, therefore making you more vulnerable. Some weapons break easier than others (like the scimitar, dagger) while some take longer to break (gladius, mace). Shadow of Rome is also unique because they have put a lot of effort into the way enemies die. You can kill them in many ways like 'Head Smashing' and 'Torso Slicing'. Their is also a funny aspect to all this as each move has a name like 'Juicy Tomato' and 'Red Volcano', which makes players enjoy the game more and motivates them to explore more gruesome ways of killing to win the crowd's support.
The other aspect of Shadow of Rome would be the Octavianus stealth sequences. This involves playing as Octavianus as he infiltrates the senate and other places in Rome to try and find 'Caesars will' and other documents to prove Agrippa's fathers innocence and reveal the true killers. Octavianus is not strong like Agrippa, so he has to use his brain to figure out situations. This can involve stealing guards/senators uniforms and clothing, distracting people or even sneaking around in a basements and boxes. Granted these sequences are not as intense and action packed as the gladiator fights - but they still have a nice feel to them. I like these sequences because they encourage players to use their brains to think out situations. There is usually one Octavianus sequence to every every 3 gladiator battles, I think that it is a good balance, and it is very well done how they have incorporated stealth in with action packed battles because they have a nice flow when you play the game. However many do not like these sequences as you can not kill anybody, or for that matter even fight. It is all stealth.
This game also has some chariot racing in it. It is an Agrippa battle and while it may not sound very gruesome - it actually is. You can use axes, spears, even whips to stop your opponents crossing the finish line before you. Everyone in the chariots is armed with a weapon and so a happy day at the races can soon turn into bloody mess very quickly. You can win in two ways with these races, either by crossing the finish line first, or killing all of your opponents. It is your choice, and you can do whatever is best for you. This is another aspect as to why Shadow of Rome is unique in my opinion, because it, like the Octavianus parts of the game, can be a refreshing change from could be called 'monotonous gladiator battles.'
There are also extras in Shadow of Rome. Some of the in-game ones are how Octavianus can pick up little silver/gold coins that can buy him things for his room and for himself. This can be quite fun to do and I even went back after I had finished the game to find all the extra coins I had missed. There are the challenges, which can be unlocked if you win trophies when you play as Agrippa in battles. My favorite challenge is the 'Last man Standing' where you face an endless stream of hostile gladiators and you have to last for as long as you can. There are quite a few challenges that even I have not un-locked (and I have been playing the game for years) and so it usually always has something that you can still complete which makes Shadow of Rome very re-playable as you try to finish all the un-lockables and extras.
But, like all games, there is a downside to Shadow of Rome. The graphics are not to die for. While I do not particularly mind, as it is an old game, anyone who has been playing newer games might find it hard to enjoy Shadow of Rome to its full. Its characters are all 'blocky' and clumsy. Everyone seems to be six foot five and all have biceps the size of a wrestler. But this is just a minor downside, and does not really conflict with the game play in any way unless you are a stickler for that sort of thing. It is just a funny part of the game that you can laugh at. Other than that, I do not believe there are any other downsides to Shadow of Rome worth mentioning.
So, I think that Shadow of Rome is a good game. It has memorable characters, game play (I came in just under 14 hours finishing it) and of course a great storyline. I would suggest it to all gamers who want to play a gruesome game or just want to have fun. It has one or two minor flaws in it, and some may find the Octavinanus sequences boring, but I believe it is a good game that has been overlooked by many gamers.
