Spartan: Total Warrior

Violent. Just simply and totally violent. If I had to describe Spartan: Total Warrior (S:TW). in just one word, that's what I would use, since frankly, no other word probably describes it better or more accurately.

Published by SEGA and developed by Creative Assembly, the same people who gave us Rome: Total War, S:TW, despite the use of the Total War moniker, is not a strategy game. Its a straightforward hack and slash bloodfest wherein you play a solitary unnamed warrior referred to only as the Spartan. As the Spartan, the gods have imbued you with the power to defeat the Romans who are determined to conquer Sparta, the last Greek city-state to withstand the onslaught of the virtually unstoppable Roman juggernaut. Assisting you in this seemingly hopeless endeavor are hundreds of your fellow Spartans as well as fellow heroes Castor and Pollux (In Greek mythology, the twin sons of Leda and the brothers of Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra. Also the names of the criminal brothers in the John Woo opus Face Off.)

S:TW is amazing inasmuch that it is able to render literally hundreds of onscreen combatants, each doing his own thing, all at the same time, with hardly any drop in framerate or stuttering. If you always wondered how it would feel like to be in the middle of a massive melee battle during the bronze age, this game is for you.

And its just not about mashing your controller's buttons. Creative Assembly has added some kinks to the combat system making available various special moves and combos through the accumulation of "rage" measured through a "rage meter". Aside from melee moves, the Spartan also has some god-like special abilities through the judicious use of "power" measured through a (what else?) "power meter" somewhat similar to the Mana sphere in Blizzard's Diablo series. To break up the monotony of continuous combat, the game has some rudimentary RPG elements as well, with tokens being earned in the game which can be used to enhance the Spartan's attributes, including strength, health and magic power.

The game has about 12 levels, broken up into three main acts with four chapters each. While you are given a large variety of tasks to perform through the entire course of the game, it is seemingly in this regard that the game shows some lack of depth, as most of them are accomplished in generally the same way: you fight your way to the objective, and do it. However, you may not find yourself bored doing this, as the game generously gives you a variety of weaponry (including some truly awesome magical ones) with which to smite your Roman foes.

Speaking of Roman foes, the enemy AI is pretty decent, not at all stupid, but not excessively intelligent to the point of making it unfair. I must be getting old, since I actually died a number of times during the opening levels, despite using medium difficulty settings. The AI of some of your comrades is suspect though, since they didn't provide any assistance when you think they should, particylarly during boss battles. While it may be a deliberate attempt to ensure that you focus your efforts on the boss, it does detract a bit from realism though. Then again, this game was never meant to be realistic, it was meant to be violent.

Oh, and lest I forget, I have some axes to grind with the game as well. I hated the voice acting (sounded like amateurs), I hated the dialogue (couldn't they hire better writers?), I hated some of the musical accompaniment (modern sounding instruments in a game set in the bronze age?), I hated the delay when healing yourself at a shrine (probably the reason I died a lot at the start), I hated how imprecise the target locking is when using your bow (I always lock on something I'm not trying to hit), and I hate the long loading times (doesn't everyone?)

Do these negative observations take away from the game's playability? A bit, but not significantly so. The dialogue and music issues are distracting at most, but after a while you'll lose sight of them as you get drawn into the mayhem of ancient combat. On the other hand, the lag when being healed at a shrine, as well as the difficulty in selecting targets can, and will cost you your life a fair number of times.

All in all, S: TW is a pretty good game, taking about 10-15 hours to complete. If nothing else, it provides good therapy for some us who may have some hidden urges to stab and slash at at anything living and breathing. As a history lesson, it is woefully inaccurate, but unless you're a purist, you probably won't mind the historical deviations. Graphics quality is excellent, despite the age of the PlayStation 2 platform. As far as gameplay is concerned, this game is a very entertaining affair that doesn't really require much brain power to enjoy.

If you're into mind-numbing, blood-splattered combat, you just have to try this game out.

And did I mention it was violent? :-)

Postscript:

Thanks to the people of M80 for making this review possible.