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46 of 46 found the following review helpful:
 Great sword-swinging fun!Jan 29, 2004
By Ben
Gladius is a turn-based tactical strategy game. That is, your gladiators and your enemies each take turns moving and attacking in a grid-based arena. Gladius is very deep and can be complex if one does not take the time to learn how to really play it. I had this game for a month before I really discovered how great a game this is. I would reccomend the strategy guide as well, to help you spend your gladiator's earned Skill Points more effectively.
There is so much customization and character development - it is great! The gold you earn from battles is spent on better Weapons, Shields, Armor, Helmets, and Accessories. The graphics are very good, and the "paper doll" representation of your character looks great as you try on all the different equipment. Just like in Japanese RPG's, your character stats change colors, red or green, to indicate if the equipment will help or hinder your chance of success in the arena. You can also customize the color of your character's hair, skin color, armor, and clothes. They also have four different styles of outfits you can choose from for each character - you can make all your gladiators the same color (i.e. team colors) or just make them all individually completely different. It's really cool.
As you earn more Experience, your Level or stats goes up - Hit Points(HP), Defense(DEF), Power(PWR), Damage(DAM), Accuracy(ACC), Initiative(INI), Constitution(CON), and Move Rate(MOV). As these abilities go up, the better your gladiator will perform in the arena. Different equipment will also change these a bit. For instance, a certain sword might increase your DAM by 2, but reduce your DEF by 1 which might be good for your offensive-heavy Samnite, whereas your Archer might prefer a weapon that increases ACC but decreases MOV, or whatever. That's just two examples, but the customization is limitless.
Your gladiators are divided into 5 classes - Light, Medium, Heavy, Support, and Arcane . Combat works on a paper-scissors-rock style. Light beats Heavy, Heavy beats Medium, Medium beats Light. Support and Arcane classes are best used from a distance (arrows and lightning bolts, obviously.) As you go up in Level, you also earn Skill Points. These are used to customize your fighters even more! Each character has dozens of different Skills to potentially learn, but you will never earn enough Skill Points to learn them all, so you must select few that complement the gladiator to your liking the most. Once again, I recommend the Gladius strategy guide to help you choose the best Skills for each Class - there are so many branches to develop your character, it can get daunting and hard-earned Skill Points unwisely spent.The Swing Meter is what keeps the combat from getting boring and static. Just like in golfing games, it's a meter at the bottom of the screen. You have a normal hit(yellow), critical hit(red), and miss zone(blue). It's not too terribly difficult to score critical hits on a semi-regular basis, but it makes you pay attention and be involved in how your fighters do in battle. Enemy A.I. is actually OK. During the fights where the object is something other than all-out combat, (i.e. Points Battle, Barrel Break, Defend the Statue, or King of the Hill) the computer will do some dumb things, but during true battle the computer will stomp you if you don't employ the right tactics and appropriate gladiators (luckily, you can preview who your opponents will be beforehand, so that you may assemble your team with the best advantage.) You are the leader of a gladitorial School, so you are able to recruit a large variety of fighters to choose from. This game is HUGE. It will take a long time to go all the way through it. You must travel with your School through 4 different lands and compete in numerous Leagues and Tournaments, with the ultimate goal of being able to take on the best Schools in the High Tournament in Caltha.
Each land you travel through (Nordagh, Imperia, Windward Steppes, and Southern Expanse) all have an average of 3 to 7 towns. In each town, there are numerous Leagues and Tournaments to compete in. Please give this game a try. If you enjoy deep and involved games that can quickly consume hours of your free time, this is a game for you. I hope this game does well, so that we might be able to look forward to Gladius II.
14 of 15 found the following review helpful:
An extremely addictive game!Dec 16, 2003
By William Merrill
"eclecticist"
I've had more trouble pulling myself away from this game than anything since Gauntlet Dark Legacy. It is really more of an RPG and a strategy game than a fighting game. You lead a gladiator school in a long series of battles throughout 4 different lands. The fascination comes from the endless possible combinations of gladiator types, weapon types, different skills and moves, and other factors such as terrain and strengths/weaknesses. One of the many great things about this game is that it's good for a lot more hours of play than other games. Before starting this I was in the waning interest of a 4th complete run-through of Dungeons & Dragons Heroes, a good game that is way too short. I've spent more time on Gladius than in my 4 times through D&D, and I'm still only a little over halfway through! I thought it was fun that the lead character's voice was done by Michael Rosenbaum, who plays Lex Luthor on the Smallville TV show. I didn't recognize any other voices. There are a few minor flaws with Gladius. I'll just summarize them, although none has decreased my enjoyment of the game very much. The comments from the characters during battles are limited to a small number of phrases such as "For the Glory of the School!" Those same comments are repeated over and over, which does get annoying. Fortunately there is an option that lets you turn off the voices. I thought the graphics were pretty good, but there are some flaws, such as the very wooden and fake facial expressions and mouth movements when characters are speaking during the boring dialogue cut-aways. Also, there are times when the characters fall during battle and their bodies fall right through or into boulders, crates, etc. (instead of falling on top of them)! Last, there were many times where I wanted to intentionally have a "wilderness encounter" in traveling between towns. The encounters are good for experience points and loot. But the game makes it hard to have a wilderness encounter. You have to make your character wander around for several minutes before an encounter happens. As I said earlier, though, my complaints with the game are minor. Overall I can't get enough of Gladius!
9 of 9 found the following review helpful:
Outstanding Strategy RPGNov 20, 2003
By Fates Puppet
"lifespuppet"
My first thoughts playing this game were how repetitive it seemed. Admittedly, you will spend you first couple hours getting to know the combat system, and learning how best to use your main characters. If you can get beyond the training battles and allow the variety of the world to work its magic, you will find this game to be a wonderful diversion. I highly recommend this game to anyone that enjoys strategy over a fast pace. Combat is turn-based and actual attacks are carried out through timed button presses. At first this seems daunting, but the timing can be learned quickly. Any variants upon this routine are fully explained as they arise. The battles themselves can range anywhere from straight head-to-head all the way to points battles to king of the hill. This variety, coupled with the enormous array of fighters and styles lends a ton of playability. Learning the strengths and weaknesses of your warriors and those of your opponents is a never ending struggle. Just when you think you know how to handle them, they pull out a new skill that changes everything. Overall, Gladius is a well rounded way to burn away hours and hours of your day. If turn-based strategy RPGs are your thing, this is definitely for you. If not, then definitely stay away from this great game.
8 of 8 found the following review helpful:
GLADIUS! WHOOP WHOOP!Apr 23, 2005
By Captain K.
THIS IS BY FAR MY FAVORITE XBOX GAME!!! I bought this soon after I got my Xbox, and even after buying best sellers(such as Tony hawk Underground; Halo 2; Splinter Cell; Jedi Academy; 2 James bond games; Rainbow six; SW Battlefront etc...) I still find myself comeing back to this game! I've had it for like a year and a half... But it never gets old. The graphics are WONDERFUL and the gameplay EXTREMELY in depth. There are countless "easter-eggs" and secrets, well over 2 dozen side quests, and It is different every time. You get to manage you school of gladiators each by name. So if you win the game and start over again, you can still re-recruit your same dudes. There are like a million cities and a billion Random Encounters. You can never Truly be finished with the game. There is always a higher goal, ie get all dudes to highest rank; complete every city ; etc... You will attach yourself to this game like you never thought possible! There have been times when both me (15 yr old guy) and my sister (17 yr old girl) have litterally cried over losing a gladiator. You begin to feel on a personal level with your commrades.
This is a timeless classic and ANYONE WHO RATES IT LOWER THAN FOUR STARS IS A CRAZY LUNITIC!!!!!
10 of 11 found the following review helpful:
pure goodnessNov 02, 2003
this is a great game in the tradition of oger battle and final fantasy tactics but a step up from these games. Gladius is a blast to play and is not the same boring thing over and over again. there are several kinds of matches from a regular kill em all type match to king of the hill. The depth of this game is another great factor. If you enjoy a thinking mans game this is the one for you.
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