Shadow Of Rome
A GAME OF TWO HALVES
» PLAYSTATION 2 » 2005 » CAPCOM PRODUCTION STUDIO 2
Some games have great concepts and ideas that never live up to their potential – Shadow Of Rome is one such game. Tasked with creating a game that would appeal to Western audiences, Motohide Eshiro’s team came up with a fictionalised version of Julius Caesar’s assassination which would follow two characters and see players switching between them. Agrippa is a burly Roman centurion who soon falls foul of the scheming senate when his father is accused of Caesar’s murder, while Octavianus is Agrippa’s best friend and Caesar’s nephew who suspects foul play and attempts to clear his friend’s name.
Shadow Of Rome’s leads couldn’t be more different and this is mirrored by the game mechanics they utilise. Agrippa’s story threads are combat based allowing him to brutally show off the excellent fighting engine at Shadow Of Rome’s core. The shamed centurion has a wondrous number of devastating attacks at his disposal and can effortlessly dismember opponents with the right weapon, showering the screen with blood and gore as he continues his singleminded quest for revenge. Once he becomes a slave and is inducted into arena fights and chariot races he can use his showy moves to appeal to the crowd who will show their approval by throwing down weapons or even food for him to use.
Sadly, Octavianus’ sections are far more frustrating to play, largely down to poorly implemented stealth mechanics. Octavianus’ slight frame means he can’t directly take on the many guards that patrol key locations of the senate, so he has to rely on his sneaking skills, or a bottle to the back of a guard’s head when he’s feeling brave. He can dress up in robes or armour to pass himself off as a servant or guard, but odds are he’ll get caught by the inconsistent AI, meaning you have to do the whole frustrating sequence again.
Fortunately, the vast majority of the game focusses on Agrippa and those sections are lots of fun to experience, even if there are some brutal difficulty humps along the way. Despite being the start of a planned series, Shadow Of Rome’s sequel was cancelled due to poor sales of the original and it evolved into Dead Rising in the process. Now that’s a story we’d love to cover in a later issue of the mag.