Spartan: Total Warrior (Xbox)

S:TW is a third person action/adventure where you play the Spartan and get to do battle against Romans, Barbarians and mythological creatures such as Medusa and Minotaur (to name two). The gameplay is pretty much hack 'n' slash, but there are many weapons to be earned and each has it's own special powers, which means the outcome is much more than just your usual button bashing. Also the end of level bosses usually require a different approach in order to defeat them, which keeps the gameplay fresh.

The story is very good and is excellently told through the game itself and the cut scenes. The graphics are also very good, especially considering there is never any slowdown (Xbox anyway).

All in all, this game is less intense than most FPS's and requires a little less thought, which I felt was exactly what I was looking for. Having completed the game, I fully intend to play it through again. There is also a 'gladiator' mode where you can just take on hoards of enemies with a little or as much back-up as you like, which adds longevity to your purchase.

The game opens with you as ‘Spartan’ involved in a desperate defence of Sparta from the invading romans. The action is fast and fluid with frantic button bashing the order of the day and the controls are well laid out and pretty responsive, though trying to use a bow to kill is a pointless task due to the length of animation on drawing it. The enemies come thick and fast and the sheer number of them onscreen at any one time with no visible slowdown or graphical flickers is quite impressive.

On the whole, the graphics and audio are of a good quality, with ‘solid’ rather than ‘spectacular’ springing to mind. This can be excused, as it’s very unlikely you’ll have time to stop and admire the views involved due to the frenetic pace.

Besides just killing everything in site, there are some tactical considerations as you run back and forth between protecting your king and protecting the gates the Romans are trying to bash in, manning ballista to protect bridges, dodging Medusa powered petrifying beams and so on.

There is also a rather basic levelling system with points awarded at the end of each level to add to your health, attack or special power bar. There are also different weapons available, which change your fighting style slightly and award different special powers, though these are largely cosmetic.

For those tired of one on one beat em ups, Spartan is a welcome change full of action and quite challenging. While mastering the moves is not essential over pure button bashing, it does add some expertise to the game as you rack up combo kills and I can highly recommend this to anyone who likes this genre of title. The replay value on it may be a little low as you’ll not go back to it too regularly once completed but it should provide a reasonable challenge until you complete it and figure out how to beat the various bosses.