Review: Story Of A Gladiator (PlayStation 4)

Rating: 7.4
Author: Jim Smale

by Jim Smale · December 6, 2019

Story of a Gladiator is an arena beat ’em up where you take the role of a man in search of his destiny. Fight against waves of enemies in the arena to earn coin and fame until you are strong enough to enter the colosseum and become champion.

Pros:

Hand-drawn graphics.
2.87gb download size.
Platinum trophy.
3 save slots.
3 difficulties-Scared/Gladiator/Lion.
3 birthplaces-Greece/Carthage/Egypt. Each place gives a stat bonus.
Story told via still images and narration.
3 campaigns-Greek/Afrikaan/Roman. Each has 12 levels.
Arena brawler gameplay.
Crowd-play to them by getting double kills and they will stun enemies for you or throw health items into the arena.
Earn EXP to level up and get a skill point to put into a new ability. You can take the point back and spend it at any time.
Hub- your birthplace town and holds the shops and skill tree.
Blacksmith-buy armor/shields/weapons.
Levels give 1-3 stars based on performance.
God’s-unlock and choose a god to get a timed buff or bonus.
Amulets-wear one and get a permanent buff.
Fast-paced combat.
Butcher-buy food for a next fight buff.
Big boss fights.
Can replay levels.
Uses a stamina system for attacks, rolling and blocking.
Overall game progress percentage.
Wild animals-buy a pet who will fight alongside and each has unique attacks. You can buy next fight buff food for them.
Arenas change and add traps or weather.
Good mindless fun.
Decent time waster.
Wide array of enemies with many unique attacks like voodoo, spears, jumping.

Cons:

Gets very grind very quickly.
Looks and feels like a mobile game.
Constant difficulty spikes.
Hard to judge if you are in line with an enemy.
Annoying enemy types that can get you stuck in a stun loop.
Annoying image intro when entering town or entering the arena and you cannot skip it.
A lot of repetition.
After winning you have to return to town and cannot just re-run the match.

8/10

Graphics - 8/10
7/10

Sound - 7/10
8/10

Accessibility - 8/10
7/10

Length - 7/10
7/10

Fun Factor - 7/10

7.4/10

Summary

Story of a Gladiator is a game that feels like a mobile game but has the grind and replayability of a console game. It is very easy to jump in and learn, you play as a warrior who enters the many arena battles and faces off against enemies and animals. It all moves at a fast pace, both good and bad as it is very hard to line up attacks, the speed makes up for it. You earn exp and earn skill points to unlock new abilities and moves. The gods make an appearance and grant timed buffs, basically, you will be grinding fighting and getting buffs. It’s a good time waster but it will have you getting annoyed at the difficulty walls and causing grinds and repeating levels over and over. If any of that floats your boat then sorted.