ic-games Review - Colosseum: Road to Freedom - Reviews, Previews and Interviews for PC, Xbox 360, PS2, PS3 and Wii

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Colosseum: Road to Freedom (PS2)

Colosseum: Road to Freedom

Information
Reviewer: James Collins
Developer: GOSHOW
Publisher: KOEI
Reviewed: Playstation 2
Genre: Action Adventure
UK Release: 09th Sep 2005
Article Date: 16th Nov 2005
Difficulty: Medium
Retail Price: £29.99
Price Comparison:
0

Score Breakdown

Experience:
Game Play:
Graphics:
Sound:
Overall Score: 69%

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Pros

Good Idea

Collectables

Nice Presentation

Cons

Limited Camera

Limited Gameplay

Screenshots

1 of 5

Ancient Rome seems to be taking over from WW2 era games as the time line of choice. Not only have we had Gladiators, Against Rome, Spartan and Spartan: Total Warrior, but now Koei brings us Colosseum: Road to Freedom.

The story might be a well worn one (for the era), but it’s equally compelling all the same. The game begins with you being sold as a lowly fighter providing cheap entertainment for street locals until eventually your talent for killing opponents in five seconds gets noticed. The end result is, you are sold off again this time for one million credits. Your destination is Magerius' training school, to learn how to kill opponents professionally (in four seconds), this time as a Gladiator. The twist to this story though is that you are notified how much it will cost to buy your freedom and so you set out to do just that.

So you wake up on day one only to find out how hard your new master works his new recruits. Training seems to take all day with only a brief respite for food. There is some freedom in your movements though, you can train up on areas you want to train in (dodging and throwing for example) and you are given two opportunities a day to train and increase stats. Being a slave doesn’t actually seem that bad at times as you can even eat what you want to eat. Roughly translated this means that in the dining room you are given a menu and you can decide what sort of food you want to eat that day. In the end it does boil down as just another way to distribute attributes, but it was at least a clever way to use the much used system all the same. In your sleeping quarters you can check out your schedule for the week, any new skills you have learned, and finally your status, rank and amount owing for freedom. After training and eating on day one you can normally catch some sleep before doing exactly the same thing again until eventually you are deemed ready to go into battle.

The attack system is easy enough to pick up and with the included tutorial you should have no problem learning the four main attacks. The basic attack is performed using the four main buttons on the controllers with the top button aiming a high attack and the bottom button activating a low attack. The two other buttons dish out left and right aimed attacks if so desired. The basic power attack is performed by holding down the standard attack button (triangle on the PS2 controller), although this is a powerful move you are unable to block when charging the attack, so counters become possible. The Jab attack allows you to make a quick blow by tapping the attack button and a direction on the controller. In comparison with the power attack, this movement causes relatively little damage but can be pulled off in most situations. Finally you have the turn attack which allows you to execute a powerful attack by quickly turning in the opposite direction you are facing. Although powerful this move will again leave you wide open to any countermoves.

The plot may have some interest but sadly, however hard you work polishing up the story, the gameplay still has to shine alongside it. Make no mistake that Colosseum, Road to Freedom is a very basic game at heart and extremely repetitive to boot. You’ll train, fight, grab a few new pieces of equipment, eat and finally sleep only to do the same thing all over again next day.

The RPG elements are a nice addition even if they are quite limiting in places. While they will never compete with the likes of ‘Neverwinter Nights’, it was great to have some character creation input at out disposal. You decide what the gladiator eats, which in turn adds certain stats to strength and muscle attributes. You can of course also train during spare days, which will further develop your character. These training mini games are actually pretty challenging, and hi-scores not only improve your character, but they are also proudly displayed for all to see. The end result is you’ll also see some visual differences as the gladiator builds body strength through training, eating and fighting.

There are a few development issues that we never really got our heads around. We liked the fact that you could equip your character with weapons found on the battlefield, and on the black market, but we never really got to grips with the equip character controls. Instead of picking up items we found it far too easy to throw down the wrong items instead, something you should passionately try to avoid during real combat. The graphics were also pretty basic as well, certainly a disappointment when placed in comparison to the lavish production and presentation of the menu system.

It was never going to achieve the lofty heights of ‘Game of the Year’ but Colosseum: Road to Freedom is actually as good as some AAA titles currently doing the rounds. There’s something strangely compelling about the story, and the subliminal RPG elements are good enough to build up some atmosphere, without swamping players down with unnecessary micromanagement. It's a little on the pricey side and there are some gameplay issues, but Colosseum: Road to Freedom should still provide some light entertainment.

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