Shadow Of Rome first impressions

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<span style=\'font-size:27pt;line-height:100%\'>Shadow Of Rome first impressions</span>

Behold the majesty of the big cats. So ridiculously furry, so fearsomely animated, so magnificently wild... they\'re enough to put Roy Horn\'s rehabilitation back at least a year. (Roy, you will remember, is the severely mauled half of the tigertaunting Vegas duo Siegfried & Roy.) Anyone thinking of getting him Shadow Of Rome as a \'get well soon\' present would be an insensitive moron. Still, it is tempting.

And then there\'s the blood. This is a game that puts the art into arterial spurt. A good 80% of the game takes place in gladiatorial arenas, with the combat a mixture of brutal realism and comic exaggeration. If that sounds contradictory, then forgive us; you have to play the game to fully understand. At one moment an enemy\'s hand is flying off into the air accompanied by a gush of crimson (looks real enough), in the next an elephant is stamping on his head (inherently funny). Shadow Of Rome manages to be simultaneously sick and camp. Kind of how you\'d imagine an episode of Will & Grace directed by David Cronenberg would end up.

But then, this is a game from Capcom, a company that\'s made unconventionality conventional. \"Shadow Of Rome isn\'t really following any particular trend,\" Keiji Inafune, the game\'s producer, told us. \"It\'s largely based on historical fact, which is rare for a Japanese action game. Rome is the background, but we also wanted to make a very special action game, too.\" Like you, we think he just thought, stuff the history lesson, let\'s carve up some endangered species. Indeed, the game uses a modified version of the Onimusha 3 engine and it looks tastier than special sauce on a Big Mac. The camera locks to the main action with a confident snap and there\'s hardly a pause between one battle and the next. Variety is everything, though, and after a good stint with the game, we can confidently say that Shadow Of Rome is not just a poor Dynasty Warriors clone set in an arena. Sure, there\'s piles of man-to-man combat, but also team challenges, chariot races and athletic games to compete in.

The action has a surreal OTT quality, with ludicrous weapons falling from the sky and ever more beefy opponents looking forlorn as their limbs drop to the Earth. Catapults loaded with rocks can be used to down giant foes or break through arena doors, while pits of spikes and barrels of oil can be used to lure enemies to their deaths. The combat is frenetic, but, as you\'d expect from Capcom, never random. There\'s a cathartic quality to the combo-based blood-letting and a wonderful crowd dynamic that leaves you feeling exhilarated. Please your audience and they go wild, throwing grisly deathdealing tools into the arena or hunks of meat and cheese to help boost your energy.

It\'s hard to judge how well paced the game is going to be, but reassuring to see that the arena combat is broken up with espionage segments. Helping Agrippa (the name of your character) on his quest is the punier Octavius. While Agrippa must fight his way out of the arenas, Octavius goes in search of clues to solve the mystery of Ceasar\'s assassination. In one episode you must enter a counsel chamber by sneaking past a guard. This can be achieved by distracting him with a swarm of bees or causing him to slip on a banana skin. How we laughed. In all honesty, these stealth sections might get a little samey, but there\'s no question they provide a good counterpoint to the main action. It\'s with Octavius that you begin to see the pomp and grandeur of Rome. What we love most, though, is the complete lack of decorum. Not only will it enrage animal rights activists, it\'ll probably irritate History Channel bores who believe the past should by be kept dry and, erm, accurate. We say skip the facts and bring the brutality. Hail Capcom!

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