Gladius (2003)
Genres:Role-playing (RPG), Strategy, Turn-based strategy (TBS)
Themes:Action, Fantasy
Game modes:Single player, Split screen
Story:Gladius is a turn-based gladiatorial RPG. Players try to build a championship gladiator school by gaining experience through fighting battles in the arenas and recruiting new members.
Vote to bring this game to GOG and help preserve it.242
(as of this writing those two first person screenshots are NOT from this game)
A real hidden gem of its time, Gladius is a cherished experience for me. Has a real KOTOR 1 tone to its story full of character and dramatic moments through one of two chosen routes that eventually converge. Either the son of a war hero from Imperia (fantasy rome) or the daughter descended from the King of the warrior nation of Nordagh (fantasy germanic tribes).
Beyond its actual plot, it has a kind of emergent story telling similar to XCOM with its recruitable gladiators, ranging from more traditional warriors like secutors, archers, and axe wielding barbarians, to witches, assorted animals, a few unique fantasy creatures, and the undead.
Serwacy the secutor sounds like every other male secutor, but through their successes, failures, and a few voice lines, units tended to take a life of their own for me (and although the armor gear slot doesnt change the visual, you can customize hair, skin, and armor colors, and helmets, weapons, and shields do affect the model). There's such a visual and functional variety in the classes, as well as in the stages. Fighting takes place in a wide range of arenas from standard colosseums rings, palace courtyards, and an animal pen or two (gotta start somewhere), to inside a volcano, atop a snowy mountain, or among the bones of a dragon god.
not to oversell it though, the graphics are decent for the time, textures are good, baked lighting does the job, but particle effects are pretty lacking. still, the games full of color and character, not to mention the soundtrack courtesy of lucasarts' in-house orchestra.
naturally all of this is colored by my nostalgia. it got lots of 8's and 9's back then, never rated below a 7 if I remember right. worst I can say about it in my bias from recent playthroughs is the early pace is a bit slow. all of it together though creates a fantastic turn based rpg, and one I believe deserves as much attention as it can get.
So many good memories of trying different combinations of gladiators! Watching to see if Ursula and Valens would end up together! Never will forget this game!
so many amazing characters you can recruit and add to your ranks from many different regions, like sorcerers (both undead and human), amazons, ogres, cyclops, even bugs like scarab beetles and scorpions. each of them have their own movesets and animations, different ways of traversing the environment. magic spells you can master to throw the tides of battle like summoning monsters and even elemental gods. top quality acting talent from linda cardinelli (velma from scooby doo (2002), freaks and geeks) who plays ursula, michael rosenbaum (lex luther in smallville) who plays valens and jason marsden (haku from spirited away) who plays ludo. more and more people need to play this game, truly a fun time
Tactical turn-based, grid-based RPG with leveling and unique skills sets, a bunch of weapon/item choices, both story and generic characters, in a gladiatorial setting with some occult/folklore/mythological stuff tossed in? Yes, please. Closest we've gotten since is probably the arena fighting in Battle Brothers or the pit fighting in Wartales. Give me a few quality of life improvements, a couple of balance changes, and remove the cap on the number of gladiators we can have and I will give you all of the money. I hooked up my PS2 just last year to specifically play this game only to find out it apparently went to console heaven in the 15 years that had passed since it was last hooked up.
A rare and unique hidden gem a combination of turn based strategy and rpg elements you choose your playstyle tatics weapons as you cross 4 different areas of the world commanding the gladitors in unique arena's. should be part of every tacticians library
a tactical turn based rig set in mythological rome, what’s not to love!? rented this from hollywood video back in ‘03 after seeing its trailer in the movies section of kotor1. it broke my heart when my mom made me return it after the rental period was up and never saw it again
Before XCOM Enemy Unknown, there was this gem of a tactical RPG. Played it a LOT on XBOX (original). So many characters to pick from to build your own unique gladiator squad. With 2 protagonists to start with, it added a bit of replay potential. Always hoped for a sequel, but love to see it pop up on GOG as I haven't played it in years.
This is one of my all time faves. Endless replayability, gameplay that holds up today, a super cool setting, and just an sll around good time to be had. Gladiator game done right.
This really feels like a game that could only have come from the PS2 era. Jank, unfinished, horribly slow but completely unique and seemingly made only for the subset of people that might click with it to enjoy.
We got this for Xbox and jammed 4-player. Everythign we could have wanted out of a gladiator tactics game. everyone had thier own character. We took this to a buddies grandparents where they had a basement setup as an Ode to Gaming. (There was a TV with Tetris that never shut off, high scores burned across the screens of the CRT.) We darkened the room and spent several days jamming on our vacation. We were a vicious lot when it came to our enemies. Lol
Dragon's Crown ProThe most beautiful 2D action RPG in history, which enchanted over a million adventurers on the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita, is journeying to the PlayStation 4! With refined artwork and 4K compatibility, exploring dungeons and battling dragons has never looked so spellbinding. The soundtrack of swords and sorcery has also been revamped and re-recorded by a live orchestra. These improvements and more are conjuring a new era of high fantasy adventure!Action Fantasy Historical
Parasite EveParasite Eve is a survival horror role-playing video game developed and published by SquareSoft (now Square Enix) for the Sony PlayStation console. The game follows the story of Aya Brea, a rookie NYPD officer who becomes embroiled in a series of bizarre and deadly events related to a genetic mutation known as mitochondria. The game combines elements of horror, science fiction, and RPG gameplay, featuring real-time battles, exploration, puzzle-solving, and character development. The game's plot is inspired by the novel of the same name by Hideaki Sena, and its gameplay mechanics were influenced by the Final Fantasy series. Parasite Eve was critically acclaimed upon its release in 1998, and is widely regarded as a classic of the survival horror genre.Trending Action Fantasy Historical Horror Science fiction Stealth Survival
Shin Megami Tensei IV: ApocalypseShin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse is a post-apocalyptic role-playing video game developed and published by Atlus for the Nintendo 3DS. It is set in the same universe as Shin Megami Tensei IV and forms part of the Shin Megami Tensei series, the central series of the Megami Tensei franchise.Action Fantasy Horror Science fiction
Metal Gear Solid: Peace WalkerMetal Gear Solid: Peace Walker is an action-adventure stealth video game and is the third action-based Metal Gear title made specifically for the PSP. The gameplay consists of two primary modes: Mission and Mother Base. Mission are the actual action sequences of the game where the player must infiltrate an enemy territory or fight a boss, whereas Mother Base is an army management. Some changes have been made to the standard Metal Gear formula: the player is now unable to move or shoot while laying down and while pinned to a wall, making Peace Walker the first game since Metal Gear to lack any crawling ability.Action Fantasy Historical Stealth
Warcraft III: Reign of ChaosWarcraft 3: Reign of Chaos is an RTS made by Blizzard Entertainment. Take control of either the Humans, the Orcs, the Night Elves or the Undead, all with different unit types and heroes with unique abilities.Play the story driven single player campaign, go online to play default- or custom maps against people around the world or create your own maps with the map creation tool.Top Fantasy Warfare
StarCraftStarCraft is a strategic game set in a Galaxy far away on multiple planets. Its style and balance between the three antagonistic species it features is unique and appealed to millions.Top Warfare Science fiction
Digimon WorldDigimon world is a game that allows a player to raise their own Digimon and teach it to battle.Our Pick Top Trending Fantasy Science fiction
The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earthThe players control the heroes or villians from the famous Lord of The Rings movies. With a hero characters similar to the Warcraft series you control both the armies and all the unique heroes. The game follows the movies very closely and even got scenes from the films appear in game. Not only does the game contain a giant campaign where you play through the journey of the ring as the good side, the game also features an evil campaign where as the players play as the evil forces of Middle Earth. With multiple diffrent races from all over Middle Earth, a giant spell tree to customize your game and a unique basebuilding layout the game was great for its time.Top Trending Fantasy Warfare
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner 2 - Raidou Kuzunoha vs King AbaddonDevil Summoner Raidou Kuzunoha is back on the case in this action RPG sequel. While Kuzunoha may look like your average gumshoe, he's anything but. When Japan's capital is threatened, Kuzunoha and his demon-summoning powers are called into action. Crack a new case load in stylish 1920s Japan. You've got more than double the number of demons to negotiate with. Win them over to harness their abilities, then fuse them to increase their powers or control two at a time to create more tactical combat options. Combat is even better than ever, with new battle mechanics and a retooled Weapons Alchemy system that lets you create swords to deliver special attacks.Action Fantasy
Diablo IILike its predecessor, Diablo II is an action role-playing game with dark fantasy and horror themes. The player controls a new hero attempting to stop the destruction unleashed by Diablo's return. The game's 4 acts feature a variety of locations and settings to explore and battle in, as well as an increased cast of characters to play as and interact with. Diablo II had become one of the most popular online games of all time. Major factors that contributed to Diablo II's success include what fans found to be addictive hack-and-slash gameplay and free access to Battle.net.Top Action Fantasy