Spartacus Legends (PSN): "First Impressions"

When it comes to Roman mythology, and history I'm a diehard fan. I have spent hours upon hours of my life at the schools' libraries as well as local libraries reading up on Spartan conquests, gladiators, and all the gory details associated with both. It seems to me though that as interesting as these subjects are, and have been in the past to people that the hype about them did not increase until films such as "300", and television series like "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" came into being. Speaking of which, I can't help but think of the phrase that Gerard Butler so brilliantly quoted in the film "300" ("THIS IS SPAAARTA!!!" xD) every time I hear something with the word "Sparta" in it. In fact this morning I came up with my own parody version of the quote, and it goes something like this, "THIS IS SPAAARTA-CUS!!!". As cheesy as that likely sounds I can't help, but quote it every time I get into a "Spartacus Legends" match. For those of you who are unaware of it, Spartacus Legends (a Free-to-Play) game was released today on the PSN store. This means PS3 owners get first dibs at sampling the new fighting experience. Xbox 360 owners will get their chance tomorrow.

Spartacus Legends is surprisingly a solid experience that does not play too heavily on actual content purchases. You'll find that the coin system associated with the gladiator marketplace (Ludus) features items that can easily be obtained through the earnings of offline, and online gladiator combat without having to spend actual money on purchases of gold, and silver coins. Some of you may be wondering about how easy it is to gain said currency, and you'll be glad to know that money earned in in-game fights accumulates rather quickly. If you are good enough, and use all the features associated with a fight to your advantage you can even rack up some hard to earn gold coins that can be used to buy higher end weapons, armor, and new recruits.

The core fighting system of "Spartacus Legends" plays a lot like the "Deadliest Warrior" game series. The only real difference being the fact that it's solely a gladiator based experience. There are a select number of gladiator classes to recruit later on in the game assuming you have the currency to do so. These slave hopefuls include an interesting selection of dual dagger wielders, dual sword wielders, sword & shield wielders, and even trident wielders whom all have their own unique RPG-like stats. Initially though you are gifted a random slave with a random name who is a sword & shield fighter. As such you start your journey to glory in the slave quarters of the Roman world with only the basics working your way up the ranks while earning coin, and equipping your new found hero with the latest weaponry.

Like any true gladiator experience "Kung Fu Factory (The Developer)" has implemented a "Guts & Glory" type of recognition system that rewards the player for their overall performance. If you are able to impress the audience with your battle skills, fatalities, and taunts you will be rewarded with a slew of extras including, but not limited to fame points, silver coins, gold coins, perks, and even newly unlocked equipment in the Ludus (gladiator store). Should you want to surpass any of the earnings, and gain extras the easy way the in-game bank is a place where you can purchase such coin for the exchange of actual money. Of course bank coins do come in different amounts, and will cost the player accordingly.

Spartacus Legends features an extensive offline battle system as well as an online system for quick bouts with random online gamers. The offline mode, or "Legend Mode" as it is known is a map of sorts that is divided into different sections. Initially you'll have access to the slave market/arena, and will have to gain fame & fortune there in order to be able to advance into the more difficult regions of the map. Ranking up your gladiator/s through fights will unlock not only the fights found within each given region, but will also gain you access to newer regions themselves. Each region has a threat based assessment depicted through a certain number of skull images. The more skulls there are the more difficult the fighters of that region will be. The same goes for the monetary value associated with each region. As with the skull markers you'll find that the coin markers also depict the offerings associated with any given region. The more coin markers there are the more you are able to win for your victories.

Equipping your gladiator through the offerings of the Ludus (in-game market) is a major part of what Spartacus Legends is all about. As I mentioned earlier you will gain coins (gold & silver) for use within the Ludus. This earned money can then in turn be used to purchase items to build up the stats, and ranking of your currently selected gladiator. Being the gladiator game that it is, "Spartacus Legends" allows the player to not only equip/buy weapons, and shields, but also allows the player to suit up their gladiators with the best armor available (Head to Toe). The higher end items will cost you significantly more than the lower end ones, but there are shortcuts to getting the good stuff ahead of the ranking requirements. If you have enough gold coins in pocket you can purchase the better equipment earlier on, specifically a rank ahead of the one you currently possess. I should note that the Ludus (in-game store) only sells items to you that are within your rank limits. As you can likely guess higher ranks are achieved through multiple victories, and having such a high rank will allow you to be better equipped for the more serious fights.

As it stands "Spartacus Legends" is a fairly decent "Free-to-Play" fighter. It has it's obvious perks, but it also has some significant flaws. On the plus side of things the game is "Free-to-Play". Not only is it free to play, but it's in-game offerings are substantially greater than those of the previously released "Tekken Revolution". The replay value for example is greatly enhanced by lesser play time restrictions (yes, there are restrictions on replaying certain areas), and in-game coinage is easily obtainable. This alone makes it a game worth spending some quality time on. Sure there will be guys, and gals who splurge real hard earned money to get the best weapons, and equipment, but it's not that hard to catch up simply by playing through the game.

Now for the downside. Graphically "Spartacus Legends" is not an amazing feat of visual prowess. The characters, and settings all look a little to simplistic in design to be otherwise. Only the special blood effects, and blurry nature of the fight scenes manage to ease of the cheap quality of it all. The action blur visuals that accompany each fight do have that signature "Spartacus" television flair though. Aside from that you'll find that offline, and online gameplay is often times plagued by significant lag issues that honestly should not be happening considering the overall quality of the game's graphic presentation. As surprising as what I'm about to say may sound though I found more lag offline than I did in the single online match that I played. As far as the audio goes both Stars Media, and Kung Fu factory have obviously tried to give the game an epic feeling through various in-game taunts, cheers, and announcer quotes. Sadly though, they have failed in their attempt. Often times the announcer in a fight will repeat themselves, and say things that do not match the action that is taking place. This flawed live commentary gets annoying at times, and feels totally out of place within the game.

When it comes to the "mature" portion of the game the blood, and gore is about all that fits into that adult themed category. The initial intro, and end of match cutscenes quotations that are given are all filled with lackluster verbal assaults that seem less professional, and more like something spouted out of the mouths of a "B" ranked movie actor. Sure there's the occasional "This is what I call a fucking gladiator!", but the tone of it makes it seem less serious than what the game was intended to be. At this point in time I'm on the fence about what I think of the game. It has some fun points to it, but at the same time it does have it's downsides. All I can do is spend some more time with the game, so I can deliver a more definitive verdict later on. I will spend some more time with it for sure, and will get back to you guys, and gals with my final verdict later on. I might even do a PSN, and XBLA comparison as well. Until that time be sure to give the game a proper chance by downloading either the PSN version or the XBLA version when it is released.