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Published
by Capcom
Developed by Capcom
Release Date: Out Now
Price: £39.99
When
the creative mind behind the Onimusha series, Inafune-san,
creates a game you have to sit up and take notice. The Onimusha
series has been hugely popular and deservedly so but whilst
it looks like the series might be over (or not if fans of
the series are successful in their demands for another game)
our attentions must switch to ancient Rome for a game that's
somewhat different from the Onimusha series.
Shadow
of Rome places you in the year 44 BC. As Julius Caesar pushes
for drastic reform to control the turbulent behaviour in
Rome he is murdered. On hearing this devastating news a
centurion named Agrippa, who's been fighting on the edge
of the empire rushes back to Rome to the even more devastating
news that his father, Vipsanius, has been accused of the
murder. With justice in Rome being brutal his father is
to be executed by the winner of the upcoming gladiatorial
events. Agrippa, in an attempt to help his father, enlists
as a trainee gladiator in order to become the champion of
the gladiatorial events whilst his friend Octavianus attempts
to find out who really killed Caesar.
In
Shadow of Rome you'll play as both Agrippa and Octavianus
and as you can probably surmise this means that what you
have here are two game styles rolled into one. Whilst playing
as Agrippa combat is the name of the game and entertaining
it is too. Agrippa can use two weapons (or a weapon and
a shield) and he has armour too. To make things interesting
though all of these degrade through use so eventually a
weapon will be unusable and you'll have to look for another
one. Agrippa has some great special moves and can even slice
limbs off (yes the game is very gory). Its great being able
to throw your weapon and it's a nice touch that dirt/sand
can be thrown into an opponents eyes to break off their
attack. The varieties of fights you'll take part in are
equally impressive as you opponents range from giants to
animals and you'll also get to take part in brutal chariot
races. The only thing that lets the combat down to some
degree is that most enemies can be tackled in the same manner
of avoiding their attacks and then moving in quickly for
an effective strike. It's a small complaint though and hack
'n' slash fans will enjoy themselves with this part of the
game.
If
Agrippa is the brawn then Octavianus is the brains. Not
blessed with the same physique as Agrippa, Octavianus has
to use stealth in order to carry out his search for the
true murderer of Caesar. Sneaking is the name of the game
and keeping out of sight is definitely preferable. There
are times when you'll have no choice but to walk within
the vision of others though and thankfully Octavianus can
wear disguises to prevent himself from attracting unwanted
attention. As with all games that rely on stealth it can
get frustrating at times although, thankfully, you can access
your map which shows you the locations and movements of
your enemies which makes these parts of the game far less
of a problem than they could be. Octavianus is fragile though
and one hit is usually enough to take him out which will
mean that you'll have to do the level over again.
Capcom
have a tradition of creating great looking games and Shadow
of Rome will certainly go down as one of them. The character
models and the environments in which the game is set all
look great. It's also pleasing to see that the frame rate
never dips no matter how hectic the action gets. It's really
difficult to over-emphasize just how graphical the gore
is in Shadow of Rome. Enemies can be sliced in half and
limbs can be hacked off. With this kind of butchery on display
there's blood spills all over the place and the game fully
deserves its 18 rating because of this. However you can
turn off the gore if you want to which is good news if you
don't fancy witnessing such a carve up. Although the game
doesn't claim to be historically accurate in way it does
make you think how brutal some of the gladiatorial fights
would have been.
It
was pleasing to see Shadow of Rome subtitled and that the
subtitles were enabled by default. This means that the first
time you play the game you'll be able to enjoy the introductory
movie clip. All tutorial messages are shown in text too
which means you'll have no problem learning how to play
the game. All conversations are subtitled, as well as the
cutscenes, so you'll be able to enjoy the story the game
has to offer. Any objectives you are given are displayed
in text and these can be accessed from the Memo (on the
pause menu) at any time so you can remind yourself of what
needs to be done which is great. Stats and character profiles
can also be accessed at any time from the pause menu.
Your
opinion of Shadow of Rome will largely depend on whether
or not you enjoy the two very different gaming styles on
offer in the game. Gamers who like the full on battles will
enjoy the Agrippa sections of the game but might not enjoy
the stealthy, Octavianus parts of the game and vice versa.
Taken together the two styles of play are wrapped in a fairly
enjoyable story. Overall the game can definitely be called
a success although isn't quite up to standard of the Onimusha
games but then that was always going to be a tall order
anyway. However it's great to see a game that on the whole
feels original and there's definitely potential for sequels
to be created.
Overall
Game Rating: 7.9/10
The hack 'n' slash combat sections of the game are great
fun and make for some great entertainment. The stealth missions
are not of the same calibre though but overall it's still
a game many will appreciate.
Deaf
Gamers Classification:
(Click
the letter or here
for details)
No problems at all for deaf gamers
and it's great to see Shadow of Rome subtitled by default.
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