Shadows of Rome

[RisingZan]

So I picked up Shadows of Rome out of the need to quench my digital bloodlust and the fact that it's received above average scores all over the place. Now that I've played it, I'm hooked. The combat is so satisfying! I love slaying some poor fool and then appealing to the crowd, only to be rewarded with some massive blade that will cut a man in two with a single blow -followed by a geyser of blood and the approving roar of the crowd.

I don't know how many people here are familiar with Berserk (anime or manga) but SoR is very similar on a visceral level. Even the use of massive foes with ridiculously ornate armor comes off as homage to it.

I'm far more pleased with this game than I thought I would be, and can't wait to try out my Onimushia katana controller on it!

Has anyone else played this game? I would really like to hear other people's opinions on it.

 

[snotnose_colossal]

I havent tried it yet, but how is the katana controller?

 

[argyle]

I've got it but haven't gotten to put as much time into it as I would like - I just visited Agrippa's father in prison (and that can in no way be construed as a spoiler). I plan on putting some serious time into it this weekend, tho - I've really enjoyed what I've played so far.

 

[yogi99]

Sounds really cool. I'm going to try out this game. What kind of game is this? Is it a stealth game like Tenchu?

 

[nneace]

Sword of the Beserk right? That is one of my favorite Dreamcast games (that and Spawn). I might have to check that out.

 

[RisingZan]

[quote name='snotnose_colossal']I havent tried it yet, but how is the katana controller?[/quote]

It takes a bit of getting used to, and I probably look like a complete idiot using it, but it's a blast to play with. I think it makes games more difficult than they would be if I used a regular controller, but it makes for a nice extra challenge. Even though I think the Steel Battalion controller is the grand poobah of peripherals, the Katana is a very close second simply because it works with a huge number of games.

 

[RisingZan]

[quote name='nneace']Sword of the Beserk right? That is one of my favorite Dreamcast games (that and Spawn). I might have to check that out.[/quote]

It's kind of similar, except SoR is a little less hack n' slash. There's more strategy to it. You can pick up weapons and armor in the arena because you have two hands available. So while you can carry a blade in one hand and a shield in the other you're well defended, but a single-hand blade deals less damage than a giant two handed weapon -but that means you can't have a shield and you move slower. So while you might be this walking death machine you're unprotected from arrow attacks. If you get low on health sometimes the crowd will toss you food, which you can eat, but you'll have to drop something in order to pick the food up, and then rapidly tap the square button to chow down while your opponents close in. See where this is going? It's a tremendous use of situational combat strategy that sounds far more complicated than it actually is.

It's really satisfying to bum rush an opponent, steal his weapon, and then kill him with it -not to mention should you cut an arm off, you can beat him to death with his own severed arm! You can lop off the head of one opponent and throw it at others -how's that for violence?