Circus Maximus: Chariot Wars

"Good idea, decently implemented, short lived"

Truthfully, it's sad to have to give this game a 6 out of 10. It seems to have more value to it than that, but at the same time, a few days of play will wear out the title really quickly.

Basically, this is the only chariot-based race-and-fight title I've ever seen, and it's really not a half bad game when it comes down to it. The game design itself is somewhat dated - we've all played race-and-destroy-opponent games before. But on the upside, they're almost always pretty decent, and this does hold true in this case.

One major issue facing the game is its control. After I'd played the game for 15 minutes to half an hour, I thought it was perhaps the worst game I'd played in years. There is an actual learning curve involved, and it won't come immediately to most players. The system of cornering actually takes weight and physics into account, and it's extremely easy to tip your chariot over until you learn how use braking and gentle turns well. It does wind up having some depth to it - but unfortunately, once you get the control down and start enjoying that part of the game, things go downhill quickly.

The fighting is quite fun, at least initially. There are a few different attacks to use, and a blocking system; some characters have quite well animated attacks and amusing taunts. A lot of the adrenaline that the game provides comes from catching up to an opponent that has ditched you and beating the snot out of them with a big ol' chain mace. It is quite a challenge to control both fighting and the racing chariot, however, and this does often detract from the fun. You can set the chariot to auto pilot, but the auto pilot, in a word, sucks, so you'll almost never get to catch up to an enemy that way.

The graphics are very good for the backgrounds, and the levels are very nice to look at - colorful and well designed. The characters are very artfully designed, but their polygons are thin and for the most part look pretty 1st-generation PS2 quality (ugh!). In short, it's not an eyesore, but much less than the Xbox is capable of.

It's really a shame that an extra 3-4 months couldn't have been put into the game. I really think they had something on their hands here, and I still recommend it as a rental. But after just a few days of play, I had gotten everything I needed out of the title and had no desire to play further.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 12/15/02, Updated 12/15/02