Colosseum: Road to Freedom Preview

E3 Preview 2005

Taken from his homeland and forced into slavery is not exactly the best way to see the sights of the Roman empire. To make matters worse, most of what is seen involves the blood-soaked sand and dirt of the arena floors in scattered locations throughout the vast empire.

Colosseum: Road to Freedom is the tale of a warrior enslaved and forced to fight for his freedom in the gladiatorial arenas during the era of the ancient Roman spectacle. KOEI has this PlayStation 2 title geared for release in July.

Developed by Goshow, Colosseum is a different type of title for KOEI. The broad army based titles of Dynasty Warriors or Romance of the Three Kingdoms are swept aside in this title, which is basically a single warrior facing great odds. You will be able to level up your avatar by performing exercises to accrue points which can be spent on food supplies that cater to various attributes. The avatars are also somewhat customizable.

You will choose your place of origin, philosophy and beliefs to set the foundation of your avatar, then as you go through the arenas, you will earn coins that can be used to purchase armor and weapons to give your avatar his own unique look.

The game also supports the ability to defend with dodging, parrying, rolls, and historical figures of the era can be encountered.

There are six types of battles: survival, battle royal, duel, team battle, hunting and mock battle. Some of the battle types rely on a certain degree of status to compete.

Graphically this game looks solid, with decent animations. The targeting seemed in need of a tune-up, but the game is more than a month from release and this may be tightened up by then. 

Colosseum has some nice twists and turns and could well be a solid PS2 entry into the fighter genre.