God of War meets Dynasty Warriors in this great mythological hack n' slash game

User Rating: 8.3 | Spartan: Total Warrior PS2
By DingDongChavez | Review Date:
When i first heard of the Total War series coming to the PS2 i was very excited. I thought that this game would be like rome: total war, with you joining the action as a single warrior. This game is not this however, but is instead a adventure game, with you, the un named spartan taking on the roman empire. The game sees you destroying hundreds of romans, barbarians and even undead soldiers. The game uses a basic control system. X is quick attack, O is strong attack, Triangle is jump and L2 is block. Once you build up combos you can unleash special attacks, such as R1 and O which knocks many enemys flying, or R1 and X, which destroys 1 enemty. After you destroy the hordes, you must face a boss fight with a classic mythological charachter. These include Medusa, Beowulf and Hydra (to name only a few). After defeating these warriors in combat you obtain there weapon. These weapons all have different moves and finishing specialities. The ultimate move of a weapon is obtained after filling a Mosou Bar style (dynasty Warriors) meter, and then pressing R2 and O. Beowulfs hammer will smash the ground launching nearby enemys into the air, while medusa's shield will temporarily turn everyone to stone.

From what ive said so far, it sounds alot like dynasty warriors. Well not quite, because i feel there is a lot more depth in this game. Missions are varied and have different tasks to complete rather than just slaughtereing thousands. There is also a decent story line, all be it with bad voice acting (all the romans are english!), The different weapons make this more intresting, and there is a certain level of strategy and skil involved. There is also a nice 'Arena Mode' which as you can imagine pits you against many enemys in a arena. You can make these fights more interesting with unlockables you find in the single player campaign (such as extra battalions of troops). The game does suffer from a lack of multiplayer though. I can only imagine what it would be like online, or even a 2 player co-op mode. It would of made the games replayability go up alot.

In conclusion, Spartan is excellent fun, challenging and a great alternative for hack n slash fans. Battles are tense, frantic and bloody. Bodies pile up (they dont dissapear) and battles have a great feel to them as you dismantle your opponents. I would strongly recommend this game to anyone who is a fan of action games, dynasty warriors, shadow of rome and god of war.

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