Gladius Gets the Thumbs up on Xbox

by Jason
2/4/2003

The brutal and spectacular gladiator battles of the ancient world serve as inspiration for Gladius, a turn-based action role-playing (RPG) game from LucasArts. Gladius follows the grand saga of two young heroes, Ursula and Valens, as they recruit and train a team of warriors to contend in the fiercely competitive gladiator games. The game supports both single and multiplayer modes and is expected to release spring 2003 on PlayStation 2, Xbox and GameCube.

At the heart of Gladius is a unique mix of dynamic game play that requires players to develop and manage a school of gladiators who, over time, gain experience, learn new skills, improve their abilities and finally test their might in epic battles. Players fight with deadly weapons and powerful magic, learn vital combat tactics, and enhance and customize characters.

"Gladius takes action RPG to a whole new level," says Tom Byron, director of product marketing for LucasArts. "Besides signaling LucasArts' return to original game development, Gladius features a distinct style of play that is wrapped in an epic storyline. Players will experience a game that has incredible depth in terms of character development, but also has a unique layer of strategy related to how players manage and balance their team."

The overall scope of Gladius is huge, offering an estimated 36 hours of play in each of the game's two story lines which take players on a challenging journey across four diverse geographical regions. Each land contains a variety of warriors that players must recruit and train. Battles occur throughout the game's 20 arenas and 12 other locations. During fights players have a high level of interaction by way of an arcade style swing meter which enhances the power of attacks. A successful fight will earn victorious players highly coveted certificates and the approval of the Emperor. With each certificate collected, players move one step closer to unlocking the next region. Players control a school of gladiators that can come from 16 unique classes, including the powerful Imperial Legionary; the witches of the Galdr class, who can sing magical songs and chants; and the javelin throwing Peltast class. In all, the game offers more than 100 customizable character types, hundreds of skills, and over 400 unique weapons, helmets, shields, and other accessories with which to equip warriors.