300: March to Glory

"More Six Packs Than Your Local Bar"

I usually try to stay away from games based off of movies, but every now and then, one will pique my interest to the point where I will buy the game and give it a try. This is how I came to own 300: March To Glory for the PSP. I picked it up for $15, but evidently I should have just left it on the shelf.

300: March To Glory is based off of the movie 300, which I've never seen, but I hear it's not bad. I don't really watch many movies, I just play their horrible game counterparts instead.

300 was released solely for the PSP and I really have no idea why. If this game had been a PS2 game, it would have fared much better, and a more powerful console could have fixed the graphical problems that the game has.

I don't know a whole lot about the back story in this game, but I'll try to explain it a little bit. You will be taking control of King Leonidas in this game. He is a warrior from ancient Sparta that commands a troop of 300 men that are attempting to slow down a ruthless Persian army, lead by Xerxes. In order to do this, he and his troops will need to fight the opposing army, and apparently all dress alike.

Battles in 300 rarely have you exchanging pleasantries with your enemies. It's hardcore, bloody, repetitive, killing action that does not let up. No, this is not your typical Dynasty Warriors hack and slash game. You will be decapitating enemies, slicing off arms, impaling them with spears, and bashing them over the head with your shield.

Sounds like fun doesn't it? Well, I thought so too. Then I actually played the game and found that it doesn't break the mold for movie licensed games. In other words, it's pretty bad overall, but it does have a few neat little features that make it kind of unique. However, most of the action and gameplay from 300 is simply recycled from God of War and the Samurai Warriors games.

Graphics 4/10

Visually, this game is nothing special, and it actually gets worse when more than three enemies are on the screen and things start to slow down. Seriously, you will be playing this game in slow motion almost the entire time you are fighting. How is this acceptable? Due to the slow down, you will miss a lot of your combo attacks and will be left wide open for counter attacks from your enemies.

Speaking of the enemies, I don't know where the heck Xerxes shops for his army supplies, but you'd think he could come up with a better wartime outfit than a white pair of shorts, a pair of sandals, a turban, and a sword. This is how the low level enemies are dressed in 300 and they cracked me up.

King Leonidas does a much better job of dressing his troops. In fact, he fuels his anonymity by making sure that everyone looks identical, and has a six pack.

300 does not look very good for a PSP game, and the constant slow down issues pervade the entire game, making it look incredibly sloppy.

Sounds and Music 7/10

Believe it or not, this is actually one of the better parts of the game. The slideshow type cut scenes are fully voiced, and the voice actors are top notch. They match the character models perfectly and sound very manly.

While playing the game, the sound effects are pretty decent as well. Using your spear and hitting an enemy's shield will make an appropriate thud, and hitting them will produce some nice slashing sounds. Hearing a large volley of arrows rain down upon you makes it much more intimidating.

The music is forgettable, but still matches the style of the game perfectly.

Story 6/10

The story is very well presented through some still cut scenes that are mostly pushed forward by the voice acting. A lot of the time it seems like the pictures you are being shown have nothing to do with the subject matter, but they look nice, and it's much better than seeing the in-game character models.

Gameplay 4/10

The basic premise behind the game is not bad, and it can be fun at times, but the unforgiving enemies and the slow down issues ruin the otherwise solid experience.

300 is a standard hack and slash style game that is a little more situation based than a Dynasty Warriors game. You don't simply have endless hordes of enemies to cut through. You may have a few enemies on-screen that need to be disposed of, then you can move on to the next area that may have you doing something like rescuing fellow soldiers or facing off against a huge elephant.

You have two main attack buttons and a shield bash button. Your R button is used for your Wrath Attack, which can be used for a few different things. Once your Wrath Gauge fills up, you can use up to four different skills that allow you to regain health, increase your defense, go into a rage mode, or slow things down around you. You can also use it to perform some advanced killing techniques on your enemies. However, the problem with the Wrath attacks is how fast your Wrath Gauge depletes once your start using these skills. It takes a good long while to build up your Wrath Gauge, and you can spend it all in a matter of seconds. After this, it's a long, hard road to get the gauge back to where you need it to be for your next big attack.

As the game goes further on, there are also some poorly thought out stealth-type areas where you need to avoid being spotted by guards. Trying to make an iron clad warrior surreptitiously sneak up on enemies is just not possible in most cases. These areas can be very frustrating, and you'll wish you back on the battlefield slaying enemies in slow motion again.

There were two things about 300 that I thought were clever. The first is the “Tuck Tail” ability. If you press the L and R buttons simultaneously, your character will duck way down below his shield and brace for a heavy attack. This is mainly used when you are attacked by arrow volleys. During any fight, the screen may suddenly grow a bit darker, and this means that an arrow volley has just been launched. You'll need to drop everything and make sure you use your Tuck Tail move, or you may die in one hit. Cheap? Kind of, but it's neat since it adds a bit of realism.

Another cool feature was the Phalanx. The Phalanx is a tight formation that your troops will get into at pre-determined points in the game that allows them to slay huge enemies and topple countless foes. All of your allies will stand shoulder to shoulder and put out their shields. You can march them all forward and all of their attacks will be coordinated. Seeing them all attack in unison is neat for a while, but it's kind of clunky overall.

Aside from a few nuances, 300 doesn't really do anything special, and the mediocre gameplay can't save this game.

Longevity and Re-Playability 4/10

Not really much to do here after you beat the game. The game is less than 10 hours, and aside from unlocking some new weapons, I really don't see why you would want to play this game again, it's just not very good.

Conclusion

Well, 300 is about what I would expect from a movie game. It might be worth getting for hardcore fans of the movie, but other than that, I wouldn't bother with this game if I were you. Man, I really need to start playing some good games.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 04/21/09

Game Release: 300: March to Glory (US, 02/27/07)