You say "epic", I say "Spartan: Total Warrior"!
When I first bought this game, I didn't expect much - I had hoped for about 5 hours of fun. Five years had passed since then, and I'm still playing this great masterpiece.
You take the role of "Spartan". He's arguably the most mysterious character in the entire game, even though you control him. Your main goal is to save your precious city, Sparta, from the Roman Invasion. (or is it?)
You'll visit many places and encounter various types of enemies throughout your journey, ranging from Roman soldiers and barbaric warriors, to mythical beasts and powerful generals.
The game isn't very history accurate, so if you're looking for something realistic, then you'll be disappointed. However, this game isn't meant to be realistic - it's meant to be fun, and that's exactly what it is.
Characters aren't the main focus of the game, so you shouldn't expect them to be deeply developed. They're, however, good enough for you to distinguish.
The AI isn't bad, considering that the game is quite old by now. Don't expect complicated formations and astonishing strategies - you're meant to go into the heart of the battle and cause chaos. However, you don't have to worry about enemies standing still, just waiting for you to kill them. *cough* Dynasty Warriors *cough*
The lack of tactically-advanced foes is compensated with a huge variety of enemies, who won't hesitate from using their dirtiest tricks against you.
"Spartan: Total Warrior" has a really good difficulty system, which is surprisingly hard to find in games like this. Playing on easy difficulty level makes the game a relaxing button-masher. If, however, you decide that being a God of the battlefield is just too boring, then you can always try some harder, more realistic settings. Personally, I never felt like the game was WAY too easy, or frustratingly hard.
The graphics aren't anything great. In fact, I suggest that you use a small TV when playing this game. Otherwise, sometimes the views can be... negatively shocking. Most of the time, however, it's not something I paid too much attention to.
Even though the game is very linear, it allows you to choose your own fighting style. As you progress throughout the game, you'll obtain many powerful weapons. Do you like to be balanced? Perhaps you prefer being extremely quick? Or maybe you just want to eliminate a dozen of enemies at once, with your ground-shaking warhammer? And what if I told you that most of these weapons are enchanted with godly powers?
The most important part of "Spartan: Total Warrior" is it's combat. You'll find yourself in battles with up to a hundred of various characters. The game offers many spectacular "executions" which you can use after dealing enough damage within a short period of time. These include impaling the opponent onto one of your swords and cutting his head off with the other one, or simply turning his head into a mess with a warhammer. The physics in this game are well developed - it's really satisfying to see your opponents falling of the walls of Sparta while you push them of.
You'll be expected to perform many different tasks. Sometimes you have to simply kill everyone, but very often you'll receive more complicated tasks, like defending a particular object, or using catapults to prevent the threat from reaching you. I'm not even going to tell you how fun some of the boss battles are - I'll let you discover it by yourself.
What really defines the game is its magnificent soundtrack, which just doesn't allow me to give this game anything less than 9.0.
Some of the tracks in this game are just pure adrenaline boosters, which make a great addition to the amazing combat in this game. It's an amazing experience to take part in a massive battle, while listening to exciting music. All these things truly define "epic" when joined together.
In conclusion...
POSITIVES
+Great combat and a huge variety of enemies;
+Fun boss battles;
+Amazing soundtrack;
+Nice variety of weapons;
+Good difficulty system.
NEGATIVES
-Very linear;
-Graphics can be mediocre;
-Undeveloped characters.