REVIEW OF STORY OF A GLADIATOR
In Story of a Gladiator, an unidentified gladiator travels to Greece in search of his destiny: to become a Roman arena champion. To complete this task, he'll have to overcome twelve waves of combatants, each wave becoming increasingly harder as more warriors swarm the small arena floor. The varied enemy kinds and weaponry contribute to the increased difficulty: swords, spears, slamming shields, and all foes wearing different armor depending on their speciality. The objectives (apart from defeating the other gladiators) are to three-star each stage and collect as much XP and money as possible.
You can buy armor, stronger weapons, and perks with the money you earn. With each level, your gladiator has access to new stores and structures where he can acquire blessings, food-based medicine, and eventually a pet trainer, all of which will aid you in the arena. With each rank increase, you will receive further aid. A new level offers an additional point that can be used to buy a skill or level up an existing skill. These points can be altered before each fight, allowing for alternative tactics depending on the enemy types and weapons you're up against.
The quantity of XP required to advance and the amount of gold required to purchase better gear increases as the complexity of the game increases. It's not difficult to level at first, but eventually things stall. You'll have to spend more time re-fighting the same arenas to earn the XP and gold you'll need to advance, only to repeat the process.
This isn't always a terrible thing in and of itself. Some well-known games, such as Diablo, make the grind an integral part of the experience. However, because the surroundings aren't varied enough to keep the grind interesting, Story of a Gladiator seemed like a slog as I neared the boss battle, especially knowing that Greece was only the first of three locations to visit (the other two were Carthage and Egypt). The Story of a Gladiator is divided into 36 stages spread over three towns.
Aside from the enemy varieties, the game increases the number of adversaries you'll face on each level. The arena takes on the feel of a shoot 'em up with gladiators charging, wielding swords, shooting spears, and roaming all over. Knowing where I was and how the enemies were behaving was just as crucial as killing them. Story of a Gladiator is a fast-paced game of attrition, with small opportunities for healing as a (hopefully) thrilled crowd throws fruit into the arena. If a level was not cleared, the amount of XP and money I received dropped to a fraction of what I could have earned on even one-staring, which meant more grinding. Despite these problems, I still loved Story of a Gladiator, albeit my interest diminished as I proceeded farther into it unless I played in shorter bursts; otherwise, it became too boring.
CONCLUSION
The pixelated aesthetic of Story of a Gladiator is appealing, and the unique concept of fighting in the arena is intriguing. It's a lot of fun, and it only outstays its welcome in the later levels when the game's development becomes stagnant. I recommend wearing both sandals when you enter.
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