"It could've been a lot better...but it's still good."

The Gladiators is a new kind of RTS. This one really emphasizes on stealth and ''line of sight''. Which means that if you get on top of a tower or in a bunker, you have better protection and often can wipe them out before they even touch you. The same goes for the clever AI, though. In the third mission, when I was guarding the base, a bunch of the enemy's troops snuck in and climbed up to one of my towers before the started firing at me. By the way, I'm still on that third mission.

Let me just talk about the difficulty first. Now, maybe I just suck at these kinds of games, but come on, if you die twice during the TUTORIAL, I think the game's a little bit too hard. I'm not kidding. I got ripped apart by the enemies and I failed the tutorial. Now, later, I beat it, because I readjusted my strategy and kicked some alien butt. Which is another good thing going for this game--If at first you don't succeed, try something new. Clear a path through the trees. If you know when the enemies are coming to attack, hide in the trees and blow them up. And even with the absurd difficulty, it's still a blast to go back and play them.

The story is better than anything I've ever seen in an RTS (which isn't saying much). Greg Callahan's troops, after going through a black hole, have been captured on a huge spaceship. A princess comes up to Callahan, and gives an offer. If he helps her get to the throne by fighting in the Galactic Circus Games, a big deathmatch basically, she'll grant him freedom. Which is fine, since Callahan was about to die in two days. The arena surrounds every battle, though the landscape is different. I keep expecting FFX's ''Otherworld'' to start playing...

Callahan's character is a tough, ''They wanna fight, I'll give them a fight'' type character. The voicing is nice, but I feel sometimes Callahan's character seems tired. He should be full of spark and ready to kick some. But he's not. I guess going through black holes make you tired, eh?

The graphics are good for an RTS. I don't know about you, but I think those blocky, small character models are cool as hell. The explosions are nice, but it's cool when the human troops are firing M-16s...It just looks like war.

The gameplay is standard RTS. Click, move here, shoot this, get this item, capture the base, etc. Yes, there are vehicles, but those don't come in 'til later. The main thing going for Gladiators is it's ability to hide. Hide in trees, bushes, all of that, then ambush the enemy. Or maybe just scout to see where they're going. The fog is gone, as you can see everywhere, but you can't see the enemies, just like a real line of vision. Get on a tower and you can see more. You can get in buildings or blow them up. The most fun is when you've got 10 guys in a bunker and about 30 aliens charging your way. Reminds me of those war movies, except a thousand times cooler and without the love stories.

Now, you'll notice how in the title I said it ''could've been a lot better''. Well, for one, there's no Skirmish mode, which is a big let down for any RTS fan. You can't just set up a random match against the computer. And there's no map maker--while this isn't a big thing, it's in most RTS games these days, so why not in this one? Don't even get me started on multiplayer. It doesn't work for all I know. That or there's just nobody online ever.

But until I get the online thing worked out, I'll be having a blast with the Single Player story. There's 3 campaigns to go through. And while the difficulty is high, it's not so hard as that you'll never beat a mission. Now if you'll excuse me, I need a rematch with Fargass. And this time, I'm gonna win.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 04/20/03, Updated 04/20/03