Collision Studios's 300: March to Glory, based on the movie, based on the graphic novel, will be the first big disappointment of 2007 for handheld gamers.
Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive
Developer: Collision Studios
Genre: Action
Rating: Mature
Official Game Site
Official Movie Site
Movie Clip
The complete works of Frank Miller
300 March to Glory Gallery
From the creator of Sin City, Collision Studios brings Frank Miller’s graphic novel to the Sony Handheld. 300: March to Glory was touted as a relentless tale of the historic Battle of Thermopylae in which King Leonidas and 300 Spartans fought to the death against Xerxes and his overwhelming Persian army. Facing overwhelming odds, their valor and sacrifice inspired all of Greece to take arms against the Persian enemy. Frank Miller’s retelling of the war is a cult icon and the movie is set to have its own following in turn. But what many gamers will see on their Sony PSP is a Quentin Tarantino-type hack and slash blood bath.
Gamers will take on the role of King Leonidas as he leads his 300 Spartan warriors against King Xerxes and his million Persian soldiers. The story is told through comic book style cut scenes. Do not expect to play through a historic account of the battle, (besides, where would be the fun in that) but more of a brutal button-mashing hack and slash idea of it. The goal of the game is to make your way through Xerxes's massive army of Persian soldiers with the addition of some severely mutilated and altered mini-bosses.
Tonight... we dine... in hell!
The gameplay is very simple in its use. Gamers get the choice of three weapons; a sword, a spear, or in Captain America-type form, a shield. Gamers will find themselves taking 15 minutes to get used to the controls. 300 has extremely repetitive fighting moves with little imagination in technique. The lower level enemies (soldiers) are lethargic, almost like zombies, lumbering around with nothing but a small sword and loin cloth.
Gamers will also feel that the mini-boss battles are repetitive and way too easy. (Spoiler Alert) Run in circles, let them swing and miss... then attack. Repeat! At times it was more difficult to kill a grunt than a boss. This should never be the case in any game.
The best thing about 300’s gameplay was, as said before, the overuse of blood and dismemberment. For gamers that love to see heads roll or whole arms dropping to the ground, 300 is for you. Players will also feel as if they are watching a mythical version of Quentin Tarantino’s "Kill Bill", as blood shoots out of open wounds and carcuses.
Spartans, prepare for glory!
If anything killed the flow of March to Glory, it would be the Phalanx battles. This was simply Leonidas and his Spartans standing side by side with spears in hand. The object was to move slowly up along the path killing anything in the way. Though the idea was decent in theory, it was terrible in practice. It did nothing more than give gamers a reason to turn off the game and wait for the movie.
User Comments
- 2 Comments» This story has had 2 comments posted since March 20, 2007 at 2:21 AM EST.