User Reviews (11 - 21 of 30)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

Good game, not best but good

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: November 15, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This is a pretty good game, and the accusations made by some are not well carried.

First off, turn-based games are not BAD, its a system you either like or don't like, and if you don't like it don't buy the game.

Second, the "historical" aspect has nothing to do with it. History would make it limited and if they had fooled with it some how it would annoy the history fanboys out there. Imagine if Julius Caesar had come out and fought your character...then Alexander the Great came out and put the smack down on Caesar...then Rainbow Brite and Pikachu came out and tag-teamed Alexander, then...

The only thing I don't like is the leveling system. It makes it some what cheap, and I think they could have made a better excuse.

Overall, a pretty fun game. If you liked Finaly Fantasy Tactics, you will like this game. It does take some patience at the beginning, but once you get into it it is very rewarding. If you have a short attention span (45 minutes) do not play this game.

A dying genre...

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: December 05, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Well I remeber playing many many turn based games on my PC when I was younger...now everything is RTS or just pressing lots of buttons mindlessly. Its hard to find any turn based tactical/strategy games anymore...that why I picked up Gladius.

Gladius is all about combat and character development. As stated its not for kids looking for button mashing killing madness. There is some degree of planning necessary to win battles - although I did find it to be somewhat too easy. Even so, this game will keep you busy for a long time and has a nice amount of variety built into its combat system with an amazing amount of weapons to choose from and an interesting group of characters to recruit for your gladiator school.

On the negative side, it does get repetative fairly fast. There are a few side quests, but this game is centered on combat in the arena. The in game dialouge to get to the side quests is very lengthy and not worth reading page after page after page...

An overall good tactical game that will give you your moneys worth in time spent completing this game!

Good fun, but not enough choices!

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: August 03, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I was looking forward to playing this game for some time... and when I finally did, I was pleased with the graphics and the voice acting was certainly much better then in most games. But I was disappointed with how little variation there was in the game, regardless of which characters you played.

SPOILER:
If you happen to be "lucky" enough to obtain the Hell's Gate skill, turn it off. You can run through the end of the game using this skill once, and I mean once, on everyone and everything. No fun...

I bought it - I'm playing it

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: January 12, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I read Lifespuppet's review and I would have to agree with him:

"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, too, felt some initial pangs of dread when I first started playing this game. It was a little hard to get into, but after about 12 hours of non-stop play I realized that I'd been hooked.

There are weaknesses with this game, but my experience thus far with console games is that there are shortcomings with every game. You just have to take the good with the bad.

First off, I disagree with most people who say that Gladius has a "wealth" of weapons and armor. I'm an old AD&D campaigner (pencil, paper and dice) from the early 80's. Trust me, there are millions of other items of military gear that didn't make it to this game. That being said, it's one of the games biggest challenges to get all your gladiators properly equipped - and kept that way as they advance in levels. See? That's a majorly important part of the game. Also, I disagree with the "wealth" of spells and abilities. I found Gladius lacking there, too. But, again, it's still a challange to see that your team is well-rounded. At first I tended to keep all my gladiators the same, but found that I could only compete well in certain situations. I became forced to try the "weaker" classes and "odd" abilities in order to have a chance to win in all the battles. I wasn't happy about it - I like to win every time! But I appreciate the challenge. It's very gratifying to lose a certain battle 3 or 4 times in a row, then finally find the right combination of gladiators and skills to kick butt!

I guess my biggest complaint is that the turns seem to start taking A LONG LONG TIME, making you wait for everybody to do their thing. Too bad there wasn't some sort of speed setting built in so that more experienced players could rip through battles quicker. Oh well... the good with the bad...

Here's my summation: If you like fast paced games - you might not get into Gladius. If you like slow paced strategy building games - you should enjoy Gladius.

Mediocre at Best

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 7
Date: October 30, 2003
Author: Amazon User

The graphics are very good, there's no doubting that. However, you do the same think over and over and over. There is no real plot until much later in the game. It gets boring after an hour or two of playing. You march from arena to arena fighting the same fights (very little variance). It is misleading to think you can create your character. You cannot. You must choose one of two preselected characters and recruit various different people/creatures.

Suprisingly Good!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 5
Date: January 20, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I rented this game on a whim and was completely surprised at how hooked I became on it. The game is basically a suped up pokemon game with different classes that do different damage against other classes, which have different powers. In this however you have a team that competes and it really helps equip them properly and use different characters in the varying fights. Sounded a little boring to me. After a few hours of game play though I really enjoy it. The main thing that I don't' like about this game is that when fighting large battles against two other teams of 4 or more. It takes FOREVER to get through everyone's turn. I would definitely try this game out for a weekend. You'll be surprised!

Mediocre at best

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 5
Date: August 26, 2004
Author: Amazon User

As I said in the title, this game is mediocre at best. In the beginning it starts off fun, but once you immerse yourself into the "expansive" lands, you find that there isn't all that much you can do other than participate in these games that get outrageously repetitive. The weapons are accurate, but the shields are horrible, and there's too many attempted "twists" in the plot that just become annoying and can even screw you over, for example, losing 30 hours of gameplay in less than 5 minutes.

Great turned based RPG!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: March 10, 2004
Author: Amazon User

If you like turned based RPG's, then get this. I've put in about 15 hours and am still loving it!

I can dig it

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: April 29, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Fun. Great RPG. Cool graphics, finished both storylines.

Doesn't recieve the credit it deserves...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: July 06, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I rented Gladius by chance the first time I played it. The day I had to return it, I went and bought it.

Gladius is first and foremost a strategy game, and the way it is put together -- every type of fighter can best another type (sort of Rock Paper Scissors) -- makes it challenging. The graphics, the settings, and the player depth are all wonderful. There is a great number of types of fighters, all of whose appearances and skills are customizeable. The game is very addictive, and most aspects of the game deserve thumbs up. Great game all-around.

I would have liked to have seen more animation cut-scenes with more action (the character poses were always the same) and less text -- not that I'm against reading, it just takes away from the game.

I do suggest that if you purchase Gladius, you also get the strategy guide... unless this is only game you own. It will take quite a while to complete even with the strategy guide. Also, the strategy guide may clue you in on things you might have otherwise missed.

Review Page: 1 2 3 Next 

Actions