Colosseum: Road to Freedom Critic Reviews

An inspiring action title that will captivate you through its dramatic storyline and leave you striving on a quest for freedom.

Yes, Colosseum is a lot like Shadow Of Rome but with number juggling and a total lack of slightly incongruous stealth sections.

Despite PS1-era graphics and stubborn controls, we found ourselves spending many blissful hours kicking some Roman ass.

An almost completely successful swordfighting simulation. It does a better job with its setting than any game I've seen, and even though it's a little limited in scope, it's satisfying and effective at what it tries to accomplish.

You've got a case here of several awesome features balanced against some utterly frustrating ideas.

I like the RPG elements and the ways Koei gets the most out of an interesting-but-modest engine.

Once you get going with the twin swords and start levelling yourself up, the urge to unlock bigger, sharper swords and kill more things quicker really starts to burn. It's certainly no "Soul Calibur III," but it's enough of a war horse to be worth a punt.

It’s the touches like the resulting wounds and bloodstains from each swing of a blade or the limb damage that really keep you playing. Indeed, attention to detail is excellent throughout and Colosseum does a great job of creating and maintaining a consistent game world.

There’s something strangely compelling about the story, and the subliminal RPG elements are good enough to build up some atmosphere, without swamping players down with unnecessary micromanagement.

Although monotonous at times, it’s perfect if you’re looking for a game to satiate your carnal fighting instincts.

Definitely a more realistic gladiator experience than that found in Shadow of Rome, but it comes off as being rather stale.

While Colosseum tries, it fails on many levels to deliver an immersive experience, bogging down in staid and tired dialogue clichés, and struggling with camera angles and targeting.

Looks great with well-animated action and vivid story-buiding cut-scenes. However, the gameplay is simply too redundant to hold interest, even with the addition of two-player action.

One unforgiving gaming experience. If you are a card carrying button masher you'll want to pass; Colosseum's deep battle system isn't for the weak of heart. It may seem clunky and unintuitive at first but if you stick it out, you'll find a lot to love - but it's a hard battle to get there.

The fighting can be deep, but it can also be very awkward and frustrating. With some better graphics as well as a more fluid and intuitive system, this would've been a much more interesting title.

There's just not enough variety or excitement for Colosseum to fight off an eventual feeling of drudgery.

Colosseum has a few fun moments, but they're mired in dull hack-and-slash gameplay that isn't compelling or rewarding enough to make the game worth playing.

Although the game did get a tiny bit better near the end when I had my gladiator almost maxed out, I would rather take the manual and wipe my ass with my left hand, than pick up this game again.

Colosseum: Road to Freedom is one of those average games that has a lot going for it on the surface but once you start playing it fails to excite and after a few hours play tedium starts to set in.

I give a bloodthirsty thumbs-down to Colosseum's frustratingly clumsy combat - and blame the slow-to-respond controls that make both dodging and striking needlessly difficult.