Ahh... ancient Rome. Who doesn't miss those times. Sometimes I wish I was in those ages. But, I can stop dreaming because Capcom just came out with a game based on ancient Rome history(though its modified quite alot). Thus, Shadow of Rome, one of the most bloodiest, most violence game I have ever played. Read on the review.
Story:
You'll be greeted to a CG cutscene right before you even reach the selection screen. It shows how Cesar is murdered in the Senate. Who is it? Well I won't give away anything as it is major spoilers. The main man, Agrippa is a Centurion. Long that he knows his father is mistaken for killing Cesar. Well, the story goes on from here which contains plot spoilers. So I won't go further.
Gameplay:
Bassically, there are 2 parts in this game. You will be able to control 2 different characters as the game goes on. Agrippa, is the bigger tough-nut warrior. While Octavianus, is a weak, skinny spy. You will control Agrippa about 65% in the game. The other 35%, you will control Octavianus.
Playing Agrippa is definitely the meat of the game. You have to compete in the gladiator games. Mostly, the objective of each stage is to please the crowd and earn salvo points. Infact, earn more and more salvo points and you will unlock armors which can be worn during matches. There are more than a dozen of different weapons in the game. From gladius to the great dual handed sword. Now keep in mind, cutting off your opponents limbs will earn huge amount of respect and reputation from the crowd. The more fun the crowd has, the better your chances of getting a better weapon when taunting.
Now Octavianus, the bad apple of the game. Its nice to have stealth missions once a while in the game. But for god-sakes... You have to use Octavianus everytime you finish an Agrippa's mission. Well fans of MGS and Splinter Cell should have no problem doing the missions for Octavianus, but others will have a hard time doing it. Sometimes, you can even lost your way while playing Octavianus. Though you cannot move like Snake, you can still crouch and sneak along walls. Thats pretty it, well Capcom... if you plan to have stealth missions in the game, please make it deeper next time.
Graphics:
Shadow of Rome graphics are bassically based off an improved graphic engine of Onimusha 3. But all in all, the graphics are good. All of the characters have good amount of deepness in them. The backgrounds are of course nicely designed as well, though it isn't anyhting that spectacular.
Sound:
The voice-acting is pretty good. But for some reason, I don't know why Agrippa's voice sound just like a weak young man. I mean, he is a warrior... he doesn't have that harsh and thunderous voice. But aside from that, all of the voice acting are good. The music are basically normal ancient Rome style music. Sounds good, but can be repetitive.
BuY It oR ReNt it??
Interms of long-lasting, this game isn't pretty long. It can be finished in about 2 days of intense gaming sessions. However, there are extra difficuly modes for you to complete once you finish the game for the first time. There also a Battle Selection mode where you will be able to to do all of the gladiator battles again. I'd say give this game a rent atleast. If you are expecting a story-book tale of Rome, look somewhere else as Shadow of Rome's story is actually modified pretty much.
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