A game of two halfs, average stealth and superb action, but overall a great game by Capcom.
User Rating: 8.5 | Shadow of Rome PS2
Shadow of Rome follows the story of two friends Octavianus (the teenage boy who does the stealth sections of the game) and Agrippa (a Roman soldier who later turns into a gladiator). The story begins with a great cutscene which shows the murder of the Emperor, Julius Ceasar, and Agrippa's father is accused of the murder. The rest of the game then follows Agrippa and Octavianus trying to uncover the truth about Ceasar's death. Overall the story is quite interesting and will keep you playing. The gameplay is split into two categories, stealth and action and the action portions are by far the more fun. The stealth sequences require you to play as Octavianus as he tries to uncover some secrets about Ceasar's murder. That means that you will need to sneak around undetected in Roman building and eavesdrop on people and steal documents and so on. Octavianus cant attack at all, so if he gets seen, you have to run, you can hide in boxes and vases, use things to distract guards (frogs, etc), place banana peels on the floor and so on. Later on in the game the stealth sequences require quite a bit of thought and can be very difficult. What makes the stealth sequences a bit average are the trial and error feel to them as the guards are always in the same place and also the fairly poor AI of the enemy, if you are seen you just hide for a bit and they automatically completly forget about you. Also some parts can get very frustrating, and this part of the game feels more like an add on just for the sake of variety. But now to the larger and more fun portion of the game, the hack and slash action. This portion of the game has you play as Agrippa as you rise to the top of the gladiator rankings. The style and size of these battles feel very real and epic especially in the boss fights and there is always that feel of choas. There are a number of weapons that can be picked up from normal maces and swords to massive spears and so on. All these weapons and shields will eventually break and so you will need to either pick up new ones or salute the crowd which will cheer and throw you a number of different items, from food (regenerates health) to massive weapons depending on how much the crowd like you. in all battle there is heaps of blood and gore, with limbs flying everywhere, in fact there is nothing more fun then slicing an enemy's arm off and the picking it up and beating him to death with it. There are a number of different variants to the gladiator games so there is always some variety but in all cases, it is very fun. Also there is quite a surprising amount of depth for a hack and slash game, while the basics are very easy to pick up, there are also advanced moves that can be done in battles which will require to to master the game. Also thrown in the game are chariot battles which are also quite fun (not as fun as the gladiator battles though). These require you the finish first while you are fighting other racers and grinding chariots and so on. If you remember the famous chariot scenes in Ben Hur then you will love this. The story mode is about 15-20 hours long and there are extras and multiple difficulty settings so there is still some fun after you have finished it the first time. The graphics are quite good especially during the battles when blood is spraying everywhere and multiple characters are on the screen. The sound is this game is also great, the voice acting portray emotion and the sounds of battle really make you feel like you are really slicing someone in half. The chants and roars of the crowd as make the battles seem more authentic and alive. So overall Shadow of Rome has some of the best hack and slash action you will ever find with a few slower and less fun stealth sequences, all wrapped around quite an interesting story. I would definetly recommend that all action fans and even remote action fan check this game out because the pros easily outweigh the few cons. 
