Things they didn't teach in Roman History


Agrippa knows how to handle the ladies.

Another of the PS2 games I've been playing recently is Shadow of Rome by Capcom (hey... Capcom's been putting a lot of games out recently. Where's Streetfighter 4??!). It's loosely based on the history of the Roman Empire. I say loosely because most probably any history professor who watches the stuff happening onscreen will most likely throw up his hands in dismay at how this game pretty much cuts up historical fact with abandon.

But then again, SOR is all about cutting up stuff- particularly people. Well, mostly enemy gladiators, at least. Set in an alternate Rome which is without a doubt greatly influenced by Ridley Scott's Gladiator movie, the game puts you in the leather sandals of two individuals and friends. Agrippa is a centurion who, after finishing a major campaign against the Germanic tribes, finds his world tumbling into a nightmare when his father is accused of assassinating Julius Caesar.
Yeah, Julius Caesar gets assassinated in Shadow of Rome. But taking a big historical flip, in the game the Roman emperor is killed not by a bunch of senators but by apparently a lone assassin in the shadows of a hallway in Caesar's house. Agrippa only learns of his father's plight after he races home. Prior to that, his friend and the game's other playable character Octavianus (who looks all the world like a Roman version of Metal Gear's Raiden) starts his own investigation into the great lord's murder.

About two thirds of the game is all about gory arena fighting- Soon after he comes home, fate throws Agrippa into the role of a gladiator, in order to somehow save his father. You then take command of the burly Roman warrior as he tries to survive waves of deadly fighters, mainly by turning the opposition into tiny bloody chunks with various weapons and tools of death. Suffice to say that SOR is probably one of the goriest and bloodiest games you'll see; decapitations, dismemberments and severing of limbs is pretty commonplace, and you get high scores for the more stylish kills. Ouch. Well, it's all in good fun (?) and desensitized kids will probably get a laugh out of this... for responsible parents though, keep this out of youngsters' hands.
If SOR was just all about fighting, this would be a solid title. But then, a third of the game consists of sneak-and-hide missions with the fey, effete Octavianus as he tries to uncover the conspiracy behind Caesar's murder. You spend several chapters infiltrating mansions and buildings guarded by patrols of careless legionnaires, occasionally conking some poor buster on the head with a pot or choking them unconscious so you can grab their toga. These missions aren't all that bad, though it kinda sucks that if you're ever seen, all it takes is one hit from any enemy to kill you and end the mission- throwing you back to the start of the round. If you know what to do it's all about getting from point A to point B, but still the action just grinds to a bit of a stop when Octavianus answers the curtain.

It's much better to just kick butt with Agrippa, sometimes fighting sexy gladiator babes, most of whom sport thongs and a couple, high heeled shoes which are probably years ahead of their time. It could easily turn into a mindless button masher (which has good points), but there are techniques to master which will turn you from a simple killler to a virtuoso of gore.

Historical blunders aside, Shadow of Rome is a fun, mature action title for the PS2 that those looking for some bloody stress relief would do well to check out. Et tu, Brute?