Circus Maximus: Chariot Wars

"A neat idea...with horrible execution"

This game could have been decent, however, the hairbrained controls and poor level design ruined it.

Gameplay: I'll start with this. Unless you were born with more then one hand or multiple sets of fingers, prepare to have sore hands for weeks. Using every button on the controller may SEEM like a good idea, however, someone should have explained to the developers that using every button simutaniously is ridiculous. Oh, and if you get frustrated easily, this game will make you break your shiny new controller. Your 'carrage' falls of ledges, hits tumbling boulders, smacks into iron gates... some may argue that this adds excitement. Perhaps that would be true if you wern't so busy trying to manage your speed, your rear character, hit opponents and steer ALL AT ONCE. Awful. 0/10

Graphics: It's on Xbox so the graphics are awsome anyway, right? WRONG. Bland and blurry textures remind me of the N64 days. The game runs at 30 frames per second - awful considering the shallow and blocky polys. I'm sure the Xbox could have done this game at over 100 FPS if the developers had any idea what they were doing, which quite apparently, they did not. The only thing that looked semi-decent were the horses. Yawn. 2/10

Audio: Well, the music seemed to sound well suited for this game with a Xena-like flavour to it...but it was mixed in too low for my tastes - even when set to full volume in the options. The sound effects in the game were decent, but not overly splended. The 5.1 effects were quite well done, but oftentimes glitchy (a rider approaching on my left was heard on my rear right speaker).
Overall, a barely average mix. 4/10

Challenge: Even though I don't like using 'challenge' to rate a game (because everyone rates this differently), i'll make an exception this time. The game is frustrating. Some may call this a challenge, and that may affect your rating one way or another. Therefore, i'm not assigning a rating to this. If the thought of using all of your fingers and then some at once sounds like a pleasent thing, feel free to add on a couple points to the gameplay section.

In closing, i'd like to say that the idea for the game should be applauded. It's good for the industry to branch out and try different idea's when creating new games. My only advice to all the developers out there would be to THINK about what it is you are creating. It is ok to 'borrow' a few well executed ideas from game of the past if they work for your type of game. Stay original, but don't think that by making the game so radically different (especially in the control department) that you are creating something new and exciting. Try playing the game before selling it - if your hands cramp up and your controller goes flying across the room, you know you've got some more work to do.

Reviewer's Score: 2/10, Originally Posted: 03/04/02, Updated 03/04/02