Big fuckup on my part. I inserted a voice clip for my conclusion to Gladiator: Begins that was originally used for the Gladiator: Sword of Vengeance section. What the Gladiator: Begins section should end with is something along the lines of "Colosseum feels like the better game to play so unless you're specifically after a Gladiator game on the psp I would skip this one". Sorry for the stuff up.
Colosseum: Road to Freedom and Gladiator Begins are actually pretty good games. They have more depth than it seems at first and even have a small storyline that unfolds as you play more of the game. i understand that while covering many games for a video, it’s easy to miss these details so i don't blame you on that part. In these games, you’ll encounter rivals as you advance in the events, each with unique movesets and cool, distinctive armor that you can acquire after defeating them as well as the unique weapons they wield. There’s also a great variety of weapons, each with its own moveset. there's also special events where you can fight animals like tigers and elephants or reenact historical battles from that era. There are numerous fighting styles available. You can dual-wield blades, use a shield and lance, a shield and sword, or even fight bare-handed if you choose. There are also unique abilities that can be used during fights, which are essentially powerful moves that deal significant damage. The PSP version, despite some downgrades due to the handheld format, actually adds a lot of content. You can gain favor and interact with new patrons, each offering unique benefits. You can create your character, choosing its appearance, and even play as a female warrior. Despite some missing animations, there are improvements to the combat as well. Gladiator Begins and Colosseum: Road to Freedom are among the best gladiator games out there. They’re worth more than just a glance to fully appreciate their depth. ‘And We Who Are About to Die’ is a title clearly inspired by these two. I was on the verge of subscribing to your channel, but your opinions on these two and also Shadow of Rome, have turned me away. It feels like you’re critiquing for the sake of it, seeing the glass as half empty rather than half full and I’m also not keen on the current trend of mindless criticism that’s prevalent in the gaming community nowadays, people can't enjoy anything these days. It often overshadows the enjoyment and appreciation of the games themselves. sorry nothing against you i'm just pissed that no one ever talks about these games and when i finally find a video of someone talking about it it's just unsatisfying, You're seriously underestimating the depth and value of these games. Anyway, goodbye.
I see Colosseum as a better game and one I definitely want to play more of, whereas Gladiator Begins is more like a downgraded version, as is the case with games that are the same or similar when comparing from ps2 to psp. That more involved combat system is also why I viewed it as a better game than Shadow of Rome. But, due to not enjoying Gladiator Begins I decided to dismiss it and I can totally understand how that might be a flaw on my part. I'd still recommend people check it out if they're specifically after psp games. For me though if a game isn't capturing my attention then I don't see a reason to continue playing and wait it out, as was the case with Gladiator: Sword of Vengeance. The idea was to give an initial overview as per my experience. I definitely wasn't critiquing just for the sake of it. I had a lot of fun with many of these games despite their issues. I just think its important to highlight any and all issues rather than dismiss them as it might be the deciding factor for a person to check a game out or not.
I really apprecciate that RU-vid has been recommending me small creators these last two months. I have found some really great underrated gems like your videos, because of the algortyhem being good with recommending smaller creators for once. I was literally half way through the video (20 minutes in) before I realized it was not a video with thousands of views made by a youtube with thousands of subscribers. Great stuff man!
I really love shadow of rome, it was my most played game on the PS2. I really hope someday they will make a remake or a sequel. Great video mate, some love from Brazil
Colosseum road to freedom is my all time favorite ps2 game Theirs nothing like it and i still find myself hooking up my ps2 just to re-live the nostalgia
Dude, my friend and I played the SHIT out of Gladius. Yes, it's two players. That game also has a "rock-paper-scissors" mechanic in it where heavies are strong against mediums, mediums are strong against lights, and lights are strong against heavies. You get to have a whole gladiator school filled with TONS of gladiators so that you will always have the right person for the job. They get skill points you can use to purcahase skills, and there are A TON of skills to choose from. There are casters, ranged, tanks, supports, etc. It's such a REALLY good game, it's so underappreciated. I'd KILL for another game just like it. Even the story is badass. We did manage to beat the whole thing. It took a while.
I was surprised to see quite a few classes and so many different skills. There’s a lot of content in the game whereas I was expecting the game to be fairly basic at first
@@OldMateJohnIt's a very long game. I believe (it's hard to remember) there are 4 different "zones", and each zone has different types of units. Overall, there's like, 20 or so. Very cool game, VERY well made. We would play together and made a drinking game of it. If you fail to do a proper critical strike, you have to take a small drink of beer. If you go harder than that, you'll pass out too early.
@@OldMateJohnWe put in more than 30. I don't exactly know what counts as "the main story", but I know that we were trying to beat most matches, so we did do a longer play. Beating specific battles in specific arenas can get you access to new units or, I think, new items.
Colosseum: Road to Freedom will always be the best gladiator game in my heart. My friend and I spent all-nighters enjoying Colosseum. Enjoyable and slightly complex fighting, not too cumbersome controls; Building your character up, training, collecting and losing gear and upgrading it, use your character in endless arcade arenas outside of the campaign, And there's even a glitch to be able to have an endless campaign that only ends when you challenge the guards and have to fight your way out. I still go back to Colosseum on occasion. A true gem of the PS2 era.
We Who Are About To Die is phenomenal. Best Gladiator game available now. I've retired a few of my Gladiators on all difficulties. Not easy to do as it's permadeath but it's a lot of fun trying to get your Gladiator there. Once you do that you get benefits to future playthroughs. Combat feels janky at the beginning but once you do it awhile it becomes like your mind controls the attacks and you just intuitively attack and find the soft spots, decapitations, etc..
I absolutely love shadow of Rome one of the best underrated gems on PS2 the sword play is so satisfying shame we will never get that sequel :( great video !
I don't know if anyone has brought it up yet, but I played a lot of Gods of Sand on Steam when it first came out and while it was still supported. I thought it was super enjoyable. It was a manager game that has a battle style like Swords and Sandals.
Very cool video! I’ve been feeling like gladiator games are oddly uncommon and that’s a shame. There are some real gems in this genre(We Who Are About to Die, Gorn, Exanima, Domina, Overgrowth’s Arena mode, Spartacus Legends when that was around). Thank you RU-vid for finally recommending something great. Keep it up, man!
@@OldMateJohn Of course. One more, “gladiator”, game I just thought of. Half Sword. It’s a demo right now. It just came out. The gore is top notch. I’d describe it like a first-person Exanima. It’s awesome.
we who are about to die stays janky until you upgrade your skill level with a weapon it is meant to be that way, but feels similar to rough gameplay lol.
Really thought you would enjoy Gladiator: Begins when i clicked on the video, Im surprised because i despite having heard of and seen 99% of the other games before they are all imo, comparatively garbage except Exanima, which is now one of my favourites exclusively for its Arena mode. Played Gladiator: Begins again recently and Its still a nice straightforward game about fighting along increasingly difficult Arena fights and stealing equipment, pleasing the crowd and obtaining new moves and stats. Im not one to say "give it another go" but it really is almost as good as Exanima is in terms of being technically "good" at playing and the satisfaction that comes from beating someone that looks like they should fold you up and put you in the bin
I’d recommend it to someone that’s looking specifically for games on the psp but I think Colosseum is a better game so that’s partly what makes Gladiator: Begins feel not that great for me
I didn't expect to find Alina of arena while skipping through the video. Very interesting and niche game, i personally had really enjoyed playing it even though runs can take little too long for me. Now i have to watch whole video i guess.
I don't know if it counts, but there is game called Expeditions: Rome. It is a Tacti al RPG and amazing one at that. There is a DLC which you can play as part of the story or standalone. It is surprisingly very good with unique challenges, altough I would recommand to be played with the story due to exp.
I came here to find the name of the game I played as a kid Spartacus legends it was super fun back in the day. Like a street fighter with a character upgrades with every win and reset on loses
Gladius and Gladiator road to freedom (ps2) are the best games ever played about gladiators, it was my childhood. The horn sound at 5.34 hits my heart everytime, gladius soundtrack. We who are about to die is a good game for fair price, early stage but its getting better with every update.
exanima is being updated and the devs give consistent updates on whats going on, game will be released, but its really just a testing bed for the game they REALLY want to make
@@OldMateJohn very good game... One of the best immersive games I've played. But it is very non-magical. I like that but I seem to be one of the few to enjoy realistic games.
Good stuff man. I have to say I disagree with Ryse (Ryze?) Son of Rome. It only takes maybe 8 hours to finish and doesn’t overstay its welcome. The execution mechanic has a skill floor and ceiling so it gets more interesting as you improve at it, and you can unlock different execution combos and cinematics. Also it’s beautiful, as you stated. One game you missed is the fairly recent Expeditions: Rome which features an entire side campaign where you speed run the arenas with randomized loot rewards, as well as allowing you to play as a gladiator class in the regular CRPG story campaign.
I like the idea of choosing what you want as a "reward" when doing the executions and also love how many animations there are but when the core combat is basically a more stripped version of a game like Arkham City (Released 2 years earlier) thats what makes it extra boring for me and feel like more of a chore to play. I did see Expeditions get mentioned in a post or 2 but I wasn't sure how relevant it and its DLC would be compared to everything else on the list. As a game in general though it does look interesting
This video sold me with the title. Then the shadow of rome footage. That game gave me the same love of gladiator games personally. I enjoy Mordhau, and have found a lot of fun in the game We Who Are About To Die.
Spartan total warrior is so underrated... great levels, art design, music! Also, there IS a colosseum part, because the final level is in Rome. You have to kill every gladiator in this huge battle to get to the final boss
Oh man, I forgot about Die by the Sword. I played that quite a bit when it came out. I would say you also missed Expiditions: Rome. Main game had an arena you could fight in, then they did an update or DLC, I can't recall which, that let you just do a gladiator only campaign, skipping the rest of the game and introducing another character class.
I wasn’t sure about covering it but it’s been mentioned by at least one other person so I think I’ll have to cover it in a follow up video at some point
I really enjoyed the whole Expiditions series, though due to a lot comming up in life I did not get around to finishing Rome. I will get back to it and complete it, as for me it is a game well worth the time. I do recommed giving it a go, either for the gladiator stuff or for the tactical RPG that the game mainly is, and where its strength is.
The other cool thing about gladius is that they used the actual game engine for the cut scenes so you have the actual sprites talking. I think that was one of the first times that was attempted for a full game, and I wonder if it was a Lucas arts touch.
Play Half Sword Demo (no full version yet). Demo is practicly endless arena (maybe there is final, I did not go through it fully). I spent 30 hours in a fkn demo, combat is outstanding
This video would benefit greatly from timestamps, but hey, it was still fun to watch. Ngl, I'm a big fan of Gladiator: Begins, it's probably one of my most played psp games, so I'm kinda biased to say it's still awesome :P But psp games are its own beast, I guess x)
I put timestamps in the description but I thought that’s all was needed for chapters to be added. I probably would’ve really enjoyed Gladiator Begins back in the day if I knew it was a thing due to really liking Colosseum
I, gladiator is another one, it’s a pay-to-win mobile game but it’s also got a paid pc port which isn’t pay-to-win, but it gets quite stale eventually.
I'm not sure if it counts, but I recommend Mount and Blade, especially Bannerlord as you can role play as a gladiator in different cities if you chose to
Wow, what a fascinating video. I've been desperately craving that someone tell me some interesting things about a bunch games that I've never heard of, not caring whether they're good or not, I just wanna hear interesting things about them, and dear god did you deliver!
Since you included chariot racing, you missed the game QVADRIGA, a top-down tactical racing game. It's pretty niche but fun, and there's going to be a 3D sequel soon.
I played a lot of exanima, and there is a workaround for the camera problem, I use one of the thumb buttons in my mouse to set the camera forward, and if you hold it between strikes it really helps with your movement
was hoping to see Sands of the Coliseum, since its a sick fun flash game like swords and sandals. you could test in the infinity flashpoint (archive of flash games, usefull to play flash games after adohe flash doom)
Thanks heaps. In a similar kind of vein I was going to cover some wrestling games but only a specific period, rather than every single one that released. I have listed the games mentioned by others in the comments for this video for a follow up too. But I do like the idea of covering other "themed" games like pirates or something.
I enjoyed Shadow of Rome when it first came out but it hurts my fingers to play it because you are constantly holding down buttons to get those power attacks and for whatever reason I subconsciously hold down the buttons hard as if that adds to their effectiveness.
I've spent countless hours playing Colloseum road to freedom, on ps2 in my chidlhood, and even nowadays on emulators, top tier sword and sandal game, i really hope it will get a remake, or someone rips off the concept and make it again. Shadow of rome, WeWhoAreAbouToDie were and are also amazing!
Well.. u missed Mortal Glory 1 which was like sequel but less roguelikey (no map). And MG1 was inspired by Areena series that spawned games iirc between 2000 and 2016? And while most of the games are in finnish (probably reason they weren't on list) the later ones were in english. And i could had sworen there are/were a lot of browser based text manager games (some with pictures and maybe simple animations) you missed as well. And didn't facebook games have one or few as well? Edit: in less than 10 min found one of the browser games i had in mind. Pit of War (2010?) was the name. But iirc there were others like this.
I didn’t look into MG 1 too much just because I had assumed it would be similar and so I wanted to take the time to play the newer title instead. I didn’t want to cover browser titles as I knew it would be way too long of a list
Games just hit different when you’re a kid. I used to replay certain games over and over just because I found their starting part to be super fun and intriguing without getting bored
Spartacus legends was the best gladiator game ever yet it’s completely unplayable due to closed servers. I’m surprised you covered it, I loved that game and fully completed it. I remember rushing home from school everyday just to play it. Then one day I went to boot it up and the servers were down, I thought it was an update so I’d just try again the next day. The game never came back, they gave the players no warning. I thought the game would still be playable solo, considering the whole game was single player except for the small online arena mode that wasn’t completely needed to enjoy the rest of the game. Such a shame. I still wish they’d release the game as a solo game. To this day one of my favourite fighting games if not my favourite and I used to win money entering soul calibur tournaments so that should say something. Second best in this list is gladius, tons of replay ability and such an incredible idea for a gladiator game and its gameplay, only held back by its age and budget. 3rd place of course goes to swords and sandals 1, 2 were by far the best of the series but swords and sandals 3 isn’t that far behind either. Because the Ratchet and clank game is one I’ve never played I can’t really be too sure on that one. The others however I’ve either played and agree with you or I haven’t and I’ll take your word for it that it’s not worth it. Great job on the video and the research for it. Keep it up!
Its weird and really disappointing they didn't just release an update to unlock offline play. Gladius is great. Some games act as a sort of successor with some of the same ideas but a proper sequel or spiritual successor to it would be awesome. Definitely play Ratchet Gladiator, I love it. The whole original trilogy is great if you haven't played them either.
@@OldMateJohn I’m definitely intrested in giving the ratchet game a shot, I only partially played the other ones on my neighbours Xbox like 15 years ago. Where would I find a copy? Would I have to get an emulated copy or is there a reputable online game store to get it from? If you never had a chance to play Spartacus legends, that’s a double edged sword because you missed out on a gladiator gaming experience of a lifetime but at the same time, due to never having the ability to get so attached and in love with it, you don’t have to live with the undying pain of it being ripped away from you. Now that pirate games are getting a revival and new spotlight focus I hope the same happens for gladiator games aswell. The VR gladiator games are fun but have barely any goals or story which makes the gameplay the whole game and eventually it gets stale. I still patiently await the perfect gladiator game; one that will hopefully stick around.
@@TheMessengerGabriel If you have a ps3 then I think you can buy the HD collection there, otherwise I don't know of any way to play the ps2 versions without buying them from ebay. I just use an emulator for those era of games. Yeah I guess I'm lucky I didn't have to lose access to a game, thats a good point. I'd love for Blade and Sorcery or a VR game like it to feature a full gladiator "career" akin to Colosseum
@@OldMateJohn thanks for the suggestions, I do indeed have a ps2. As for your second statement I couldn’t agree more, it’s definitely possible and I hope to see it in the near future!
So glad you mentioned Spartacus: Legends! That was one I was going to comment, it was a super fun game that I’m sad had such a short life. I’m also glad Domina wasn’t mentioned in the video. That game was very fun and had a lot of potential but sadly the developer’s actions have far, far overshadowed the potential that game have rightfully led it to an early grave.
Ryse is amazing! not perfect but i still find myself playing this hack n slash over and over again. If you have Xbox Game pass, this game is worth the play. Even a hard copy at Gamestop goes for about 5 dollars, still worth it. I hope a sequel is in the works.
MAAAAAN, Die by the Sword. I remember playing it in Lan with my older cousins and it was super fun, the arena multiplayer of that game was golden and the junky phisics only made it even funnier
