Colosseum: Road to Freedom

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Colosseum: Road to Freedom
Developer(s)	ERTAIN
Publisher(s)	KOEI
Picture format	480i (SDTV)
Release date(s)	17 February 2005 (JP) 20 July 2005 (NA) 2005 September 09 (EU)
Genre(s)	Third-person Action, Fighting, RPG
Mode(s)	Single player
Rating(s)	ESRB: Mature (M) BBFC: 18 PEGI: 18+
Platform(s)	PlayStation 2
Media	1 DVD-ROM
Input	DualShock 2

Colosseum: Road to Freedom (originally Gladiator: Road to Freedom in Japan) is a video game for the Sony PlayStation 2 console. It is a hybrid fighting/RPG game loosely based on the Roman Empire around the time of the Emperor Commodus.

1 Gameplay & Story
2 Gladiator weapons
3 Characters
4 Reaction
5 External Links

[edit] Gameplay & Story

Colosseum: Road to Freedom has the player take on the role of a slave that must partake gladiatorial games in order to earn enough to purchase his freedom. The majority of the game is spent training your character and fighting in arena battles.

The story in Colosseum takes a backseat in order to allow a higher degree of open-ended gameplay. Players have the freedom to tailor their game avatar to their liking depending on how they answer Magerius' questions in the beginning.

Depending on your performance, it is possible to pay off your debts and still remain a freeman gladiator.

The game allows for multiple endings depending on the player's performance over its course.

[edit] Gladiator weapons

Swords: Traditionally balanced weapons perfect for first-time players.
Clubs: Clubs inflict heavy bludgeoning damage, which can often knock armor off of an opponent, or even render them unconscious.
Axes: Combining the weight of a hammer with the sharpness of a blade to deliver the most damage to an enemy.
Polearms: Heavy weapons with long reach, but difficult to use in close quarters.
Hammers: A weapon which relies on its sheer weight to inflict damage.
Chains: A rather uncommon weapon in the arena, they deliver a powerful blow with the centrifugal force they generate.
Shields: While not exactly an offensive tool, shields can be used to push away enemies.

[edit] Characters

Narcissus: See Narcissus
Commodus: See Commodus.
Laetus: An associate of Marcia, whose true colors will be revealed on later in the game.
Marcia: See Marcia
Magerius, Gnaeus, Decimus, Celadeus: Magerius is your owner for the majority of the game and he runs a gladiatorial training facility. Gnaeus, Decimus and Celadeus are responsible for your training.

All special fights in the Colosseum pit you against other named gladiators.

[edit] Reaction

While many celebrate Colosseum's open-ended gameplay as a breeze of fresh air in spite of more script-based games based on gladiators, it is felt that lack of additional scenarios had some impact on its image.

In September 1st, 2005, Ertain and KOEI released Gladiator: Road to Freedom Remix which contains a few updates to the game.