PlayStation 2

Spartan: Total Warrior

Spartan: Total Warrior on läpikotaisen tyylikäs paketti ja ehdoton valinta toimintapelien ystävälle. Audiovisuaalinen vyörytys on jatkuvaa nautintoa, kun pelaajan pitää olla samaan aikaan kolmessa eri paikassa tappelemassa. Ares saakoon osansa - armoa ei anneta.

The first of its kind and hopefully the first of many, Spartan: Total Warrior is an exciting, brutal game of war. Most games lose their luster after you've killed the 999th warrior, but Total Warrior keeps things fresh throughout the journey. Part of the freshness comes from the variety of tasks that you have to complete along the way (quick tasks like setting fire to a bridge that burns to the ground in under 15 seconds). The other part of Total Warrior's undying freshness comes from its challenge because you never know what the enemy is going to do next.

Creative Assembly's first console effort is a satisfying, action-filled hack-and-slash. If you feel the urge to slaughter countless waves of enemies, it comes highly recommended, improving upon the formulas of similar games such as Koei's Dynasty Warriors or Capcom's Devil Kings. However, certain things could really be more polished and the exclusion of a few key options is a little sloppy. As a sort of counterpart to the developer's PC game, Rome: Total War, it'd be nice to see other console games from them in the future based upon their other titles, Medieval: Total War and Shogun: Total War.

To deal with the inevitable question, no, it's not as good as God of War. There's no shame in that, given that God of War is going to top a fair few sites' Game of the Year lists. However, luckily for Spartan, they're also such different games that direct comparisons don't reveal much. There's none of God of War's puzzling or platforming or combos or badly-rendered polygon bosoms here. Just a whole lot of slick, entertaining violence.

Spartan: Total Warrior does so many things right that it genuinely pains us to see the experience get bogged down by a handful of major annoyances. Creative Assembly crafted a marvelous game engine, too, one that affords spectacular encounters filled with more action, blood and “Holy crap did you see that!?” moments than we’d care to mention. It’s therefore unfortunate that the unrefined targeting system, cheap boss battles and generally unhelpful friendly AI make the experience a mixed bag of exhilarating and exasperating moments. Still, Total Warrior is a good (almost great) action game that fans of the genre should definitely considering purchasing.

These flaws, along with the fact that the fighting never really changes despite some new weapons and enemies, are enough to bring Spartan down out of the "great" category. It sure beats the hell out another Dynasty Warriors retread, though.

If you're looking for a great way to knock some heads, you could honestly do a heck of a lot worse than Spartan: Total Warrior. It tends to shift between greatness and mediocrity with the frequency of your average rollercoaster ride, but the great parts are easily worth a look by anyone who enjoys beat-'em-ups. This stands side-by-side with Genji as Rental of the Year, but due to the Arena Mode, as well as the thrill of playing through older missions with newfound skills, buying it's not a bad idea, either.

The numerous weapons and spells add some dimensions to the combat, but this is no God of War. Heck, Kratos wouldn't even waste his time slaughtering Spartan's poser protagonist named - wait for it - the Spartan. Clever.

Spartan: Total Warrior is a straightforward action game from Sega and developer Creative Assembly. As you might guess from the title, the game is set during the conflict between the Spartans and the massive Roman Empire. This is pretty familiar territory for Creative Assembly, the team behind last year's PC strategy game Rome: Total War. However, the game itself is a massive departure for a studio best known for its historically authentic and complex strategy games. For the most part, Spartan: Total Warrior is a pretty good action effort. Unfortunately, the high production values and engaging gameplay of the Total War games are nowhere to be found here.

Mêlant histoire et légendes gréco-romaines, Spartan possède un background particulièrement accrocheur, laissant libre cours à des interprétations fantaisistes mais s'incrustant assez bien dans la trame générale. Epique, très accessible et dynamique, le titre de Sega pèche néanmoins dans les domaines graphiques et techniques. Avec un peu plus d'imagination et des schémas de jeu plus développés, Spartan aurait pu faire bien plus de chemin. Espérons qu'un prochain volet aille au bout de cette quête homérique.

Will man also in die griechische Mythologie abtauchen und dabei noch massig Gegner zu Hackfleisch verarbeiten, sind die beiden God of War Teile die erste Wahl. Hat man danach immer noch Lust, kann man sich Spartan: Total Warrior ansehen, allerdings eben nicht mit all zu hohen Erwartungen.

Spartan: Total Warrior isn't a classic and many people will bemoan the relentless action and uncomplicated combat, but they're the game's two best features. This isn't a game for elitists who turn their noses up at anyone who can't beat Ninja Gaiden - it's for everyone else. It's a fun, simplistic hack 'n' slash that offers a lot of enjoyment, tarnished by the odd bad design choice.

It's tempting to be lenient with Total Warrior's flaws, because even though "difficulty" seems like a simple concept, it's actually a very, very delicate thing to balance. And at the base, the game is very likeable idea, controls brilliantly and does a lot of stuff right. But when the balance shifts from "I'm going to keep trying because I know I can get better" to "I'm going to keep trying to justify the $50 I just spent," then there's a problem.