Spartacus Legends

Spartacus Legends is a free-2-play that deserves attention for a number of interesting features, such as the management phase and a certain tension attributed to the fact that you may lose your gladiator.

It is theoretically enjoyable, but there are some issues, mostly online related, that spoil all the fun. We encourage you to give it a try, since it has a lot of entertainment to offer.

Better exploitation of the license would allow Spartacus Legends of becoming a title unavoidable at least for fans of the TV series.

Spartacus Legends has an interesting combat system and character progression, but fails with its servers problems, poor netcode and some graphics issues.

Legends has missed the point of the business model entirely, giving unfortunate players a choice of grinding through shallow, unfulfilling and downright ugly combat, or forking out substantial amounts of real money to bypass said mediocrity. [Sept 2013, p.71]

It's a bad game compromised further by awkward monetisation. [Issue#101, p.84]

Most free to play games are engineered for compulsive play, but Spartacus Legends is about as addictive as swallowing sand. Thumbs down.

WHY THE F*** A LOW META SCORE THIS IS A FANTASTIC GAME WITH REALLY EFFICIENT PRICE 0.00 CHANGE THE META SCORE AND USER SCORE NOW THIS IS NOT A SH***Y GAME I KNOW I PLAYED IT BUY IT NOW.

Its alright for a show that has been turned into a game, good for the fans that enjoy watching Spartacus on there T.V's. Gameplay wise is above average not that great but is still slightly fun

Gladiatorial goodness, for free...almost. First off, this is an arcade title, and as you can see from the asking price, it is not going to have the same bells and whistles as a full priced, mass marketed title. What you get is a fairly competent fighter in a very cool Ancient Rome setting. I recently bought Injustice: Gods Among Us, and it's already been retired by this F2P. The combat is a little simpler, but somehow more engaging. I'm not understanding all of the hate being leveled at this game. It's free. No one is making you buy the the equipment, which is attainable by playing the game anyway. Sure, if you want to play MP, you'll encounter people that spent money that will beat you. Who cares? Graphics: Nothing special, and definitely on the lower end of what consoles can do, but decent enough to enjoy. They have an almost watercolor painting look to it, that is if the painter used blood as his color base. There are plenty of blood splatters and the graphics do a good job of representing a level of gore with out being just gross. A nice touch are the slashes and open wounds, viewable on your fighter at the end of a match. Sound: Serviceable but spartan. The clash of metal and impact noises are good; the announcer annoying; and the rest average. Gameplay: The combat involves light, heavy, and a close range attack, plus a grab (very useful on an opponent who's blocking).. There's plenty of button mashing, and combos, but they aren't overwhelming like MK and SF games. You fight in 3 dimensions, so you can actually circle your enemy to a limited degree. One can perform blocks, dodges, parries, and rolls to gain an advantage or get out of trouble, but it drains your defense meter--run out of defense meter and you'll be sword sponge. What adds to the depth is the weapon style matchups. Each gladiator has a weapon specialization (sword & shield, dual swords, dual daggers, 2 handed sword, trident, hammer, spear & shield, and unarmed). Certain weapons seem to work better against others. Finding out what works well and matching up your fighters accordingly is part of the challenge. Then there's the executions. Play to the crowd, and you might get the option of eviscerating, dismembering, and good old fashioned beheading your fallen foe. There's something oddly satisfying about lopping off the head of that overpowered spearman that gave you such headaches. Taunts and good tactics fill a crowd meter, which if it's high enough results in a fatality. Of course, your enemy also can do this, and your prized fighter might lose his head. Luckily, you can spend some silver to resurrect your hero. First "save" is free, 2nd is 500 silver, and then it ramps up to 2000 and more. It gives you a small safety valve before your perma-death. Nice touch. Story/content: You fight different battles in various parts of the city, working your way up to some Prima matches. Primas are more elite opponents that once defeated can offer your fighter a perk. Defeat all the Primas and fight against a Legend from the TV show. Defeat the Legend and you can then recruit them. Winning fights increases your earnings and level which unlocks weapons, new fights, new primas, etc. Those Pay2Win weapons and armor become buyable with in game currency as your level increases. The equipment is varied and can be used by all of your gladiators. You'll be able to buy new gladiators as you go, so you'll be able to try all of the weapon styles eventually. The more expensive fighters give you 3 and 4 perk slots, which are important for surviving in the arena. In the end, this a fun and satisfying fighting game that's free. There's enough depth to the fighting system and equipment choices (builds) to make one stick to it. Being a Lanista has never been more enjoyable. The negatives, is the online only aspect, limited customization, the repetitive fights (yeah there's some grinding to be done) and the fact that there are people out there that will drop $150 to be unbeatable if you're into MP. The horrible server problems I've yet to encounter (I D/L the game on launch day and stayed away figuring the servers would be overwhelmed for a couple days).

Another free-to-play title to grace the XBOX 360. Unfortunately, it's not as good as I thought it would be. Combat's decent enough, and building up a roster of gladiators with different weapons and equipment is an interesting concept, but connection problems (it is a free-to-play title, after all) hurt this game in the long run. You'll be spending more time dealing with server maintenance than actually playing the game. Mediocre graphics, sub-par sounds and repetitive fights don't help matters. While Primus Fights offer perks, they do little to offset the repetitive fights, and weapon restrictions don't help either. And of course, the much-maligned microtransaction favor pay-to-win gear over simple cosmetic choices like in Defiance. If you're looking for a good (I use that term lightly) free-to-play game on the 360, go with Ascend: Hand of Kul. It may have its flaws, but they're not nearly as bad as this game's.

If you enjoy the same thing over and over and over.....this game may be for you. I logged off after about 2 hours and never logged back in. Free is free but poo is still poo.