Gladius

Lucasarts have been known for their high quality Star Wars games, considering their the only company licensed to make them. It’s very seldom that LucArts will commit to the work and energy it requires to make blockbuster games. But as of late, it seems LucasArts is interesting in developing a few games outside of the Star Wars universe. They’ve committed to RTX Red Rock, Sam and Max, but more importantly…Gladius.

Gladius is their next multi-platform game that is void of anything Star Wars, it’s a completely new game following a completely original story. A heroic story that follows the grand saga of two young heroes, Ursula and Valens.

Ursula is a young female, the daughter of a barbarian king of Nordagh. Her father has kept her sheltered in their castle most of her life, but she is a free spirit and longs to see the world. She possesses strange magical powers even her family cannot explain, and what drives her to compete in the gladiatorial games is her desire to prove herself to her over-protective brother Ulan.

Valens is a well rounded young man, he is educated in literature and the arts, and is a very talented warrior. He grew up in Imperia with family, and gained all his knowledge and skill from his family, mainly his father. His father was the greatest gladiator in Imperia, until the day he was murdered. After his death, Valens fathers school was send into disarray. Valens and childhood friend Ludo vow to return the school to its former greatness, while Valens discovers what it really takes to follow in the footsteps of the greatest gladiator in Imperia.

At first glance Gladius would appear to be strictly Role-Playing, with it’s RPG elements of story telling and character building. But LucasArts is blurring the line between real-time combat and turn-based, by introducing this hybrid combat system of both. So ultimately Gladius is known as a tactical role playing game.

Gladius is a very large game, and will naturally take you quite some time to complete both characters. Robert S. Blackadder, director of Gladius comments, “1700+ items with descriptions, hundreds of skills for dozens of gladiators, and 25 locations to explore in two 35-hour stories complete with cut-scenes and painted movies. Whew…

Gladius is already shaping up to be a very promising title from LucasArts, the visuals are already beautiful on all platforms, and the audio is already sounding triumphant and excellent.

Gladius hits stores September 24th, 2003. Look for a review on this game shortly after.