Gladius - LucasArts Goes FF Tactics?

Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing to the GameSpy preview of LucasArts' Gladius, a PS2/GameCube/Xbox "epic tactical RPG that'll have you building an army of gladiators, one axe swing at a time." There's also a new Gladius preview at RPGamer giving a combat overview: ".. [it] takes place on a standard, tactical-RPG square grid, but the graphics do a good job of hiding it... combat is turn-based, but.. using certain attacks on a foe necessitates the use of several action/arcade elements, such as combo attacks strung together by timed button-presses." They also comment on the unexpected genre choice: "American-developed as it may be, Gladius is a tactical RPG that takes its cue from the old favorites, while at the same time trying to expand the genre." Might this title improve on LucasArts' recent efforts?

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Look of Gladius?

[Acidic_Diarrhea]

"The look of Gladius, still some weeks from release, is impressive."

Is the writer at GameSpy making some type of veiled suggestion that, with only a few weeks to go before the release, the game shouldn't be at a near complete state? Of course the game should look good! If you're at the release date of a game and it doesn't look as good as most other games out at the time, you're in trouble. Now let me nit pick some more...

"The attention to detail is fantastic. Battles will unfold in dozens of different arenas and venues and all have a distinct look."

Now from this writing we can see that the reviewer was either not given a full copy of the game and therefore was only believing the marketing hype that said there would be dozens of different arenas, and that they all have a distinct look. If he did receive a complete copy, why the speculative nature to the writing? I don't get it. I realize that this is a preview article and other than screenshots, the writer probably only has some PR fluff sheet to work from but I'd rather they made it a bit more objective. Such as, "Lucasarts is promising dozens of different arenas and venues, each with distinct looks." These are probably small points but I think something worth considering for the simple fact that most video game publishers do nothing but praise games in their preview articles. This never presents an accurate picture of a game and thus I have to wait for a few weeks after the game comes out to read actual reviews on the Internet. All I'm looking for is some objectivity here!

Re:Look of Gladius?

[analog_line]

Well, I wouldn't say that they NEVER do anything but praise games. One quick look through IGN, Gamespot, or even Gamespy will show you several games that didn't make the reviewer's grade. However, the problem is that it appears how big the marketing blitz for a game is directly affects the ratings these games are given. I present this as an example of what I mean:

bad game + huge marketing blitz= mediocre rating
same bad game + medium marketing = good rating
same bad game + no or little marketing = Worst Game Ever
mediocre game + huge marketing blitz = Best Game So Far This Year
mediocre game + medium marketing = good rating
mediocre game + no or little marketing = mediocre rating
good game + huge marketing blitz = Game of the Year Candidate
good game + medium marketing = Don't ignore this one
good game + no or little marketing = Sleeper Hit

What this all boils down to is that I don't believe the game review business has degenerated to the point that you cannot get a good review unless you've paid for one. I can't think of more than a handful of instances where I've seen an unambiguously good game get a poor review where the reviewer actually played the game. What appears to be the case so far is that you can improve your game's rating by spending a lot of money "on the reviewers". Interviews, junkets, free games, hell maybe actual cash for an improved rating. All part of the marketing blitz, I would imagine. Try to market the game so people look past the flaws they wouldn't look past otherwise. Like, say, the major flaws in SWG which everyone passes off as minor, I can only imagine because they've had so much marketing money spent on them.

Re:Look of Gladius?

[PainKilleR-CE]

I don't think people see it as a problem is a good game gets a good rating, regardless of it's marketing (although people might have a problem with the 'Sleeper Hits' never being 'Game of the Year Candidates' (ie great games never getting huge recognition because they didn't get the overhype-budget). The problem is that horrid games can get good or mediocre reviews if enough money is thrown at marketing.

People say they read reviews because they want to find out if a game is good. What they really mean, though, is that they want to find out if they're going to waste their money on a steaming turd. Any game that ranks from mediocre to good can be a good game worth your money if it happens to be a game that catches your interest when you play it, but if a game is bug-ridden, poorly designed, or just outright horrible, the marketing can save the reviews, but the people that buy it are going to be pissed.

Re:Look of Gladius?

[analog_line]

I completely agree. I wasn't actually disagreeing with any of that.

I was merely addressing the claim made in the parent (and what a lot of people all over seem to think) that reviewers just never give bad reviews for anything.

Re:Look of Gladius?

[newsdee]

reviewers just never give bad reviews for anything

That's not true. I have worked as a reviewer for a major magazine, and gave some negative reviews for some games. The other reviewers didn't say anything, howevers readers complained. They only wanted to see what games were the best, and not "waste page space to review crap" (actual quote from a letter!).

So, readers get what they want... but the amount of games (and space too, I have to admit) is limited. As result, "negative" reviews are very unpopular with both readers and game publishers.

Other than that I have never seen any blatant attempt to "corrupt" the reviewers from game companies, unless you count the croissants and orange juice that they give you during their demo. :-)

Re:Look of Gladius?

[il_diablo]

Which is why sites like metacritic.com come in handy. It aggregates the scores of all reviews found for the game. It's interesting to see a game that garners a perfect 100 from a place like IGN that also gets a 60 from some indie mag.

Re:Look of Gladius?

[AvantLegion]

Wow, some readers are stupid.

The most enjoyable reviews, both as an ex-writer and as a reader, are the ones that crap all over a game.

The real question is...

[neglige]

...will there be a lightsabre? As a hidden feature?

More interesting TRPGs coming

[Visigothe]

While reading the various linkage [gasp!!] I came across what looks to be a *very* hot item for fans of Final Fantasy Tactics-style TRPGs [aside from the GBA sequal FF Tactics Advance]

It's called Disgaea: The Hour of Darkness and RPG gamer has a bunch of screens/video on it. I have to remind myself that that site exists. I don't game much anymore, so I am not usually up on the latest and greatest. That said, I still long for a TRPG similar to the depth of play and plot I found in FFT

Re:More interesting TRPGs coming

[FireMyst]

If you're looking for a FFT game, don't forget Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. I really enjoyed this game at E3. ^^

As for me, I eat up TRPG's, though I'm a bit tired of a grid. Instead of spells making a true circle, you get a + mark. Even the Heroes of M&M series realized a hexagon grid makes more sense for fair movement and targeting. Of course with Arc 4 removing the grid entirely, I hope we're seeing the end of the square grid map altogether.

FFT is teh suck

[Paolomania]

if you have not played the original "Shining Force" for the genesis then you are missing out on some great "tactics" gameplay. i really can't understand why pretty yet boring games like FFT and Ogre Battle gets so much credit.

The grid

[andy_fish]

I hope this isn't getting off-topic, but this is a topic that I want to hear comments from others about.

What is it about a grid that makes the game so much more fun? As mentioned in the article, battle in FFT was based in a grid. Also recently I've been playing Advance Wars which is also in a grid. Both these games are terrific, and all those fancy new 3d games fail at reproducing this kind of fun-ness. (the other game I've been playing is Brute Force, not fun)

Maybe its more fun cause its simpler? Maybe the disrete steps allow for more complicated gameplay decisions?

Re:The grid

[Reapy]

I think the grid has more do do with gameplay then simplicity. When you have to measure out who is going to be struck by a target and where you are able to move, the grid makes it managable. If there is a bad guy 6 squares away from me, and I can only move 4 squares, its really hard to judge how far away he is without a grid, as well as hard for me to judge how close I need to be to strike him with a weapon. Basically the grid allows you to make much better tactical decision without having to use a lot of trial an error systems (clicking on move, showing in green where i can move and in red where i cant, then another click to move to the location). Strait tactical shooting games like jagged alliance didn't need a visable grid system and they worked, but when you have melee and the need to get in close, the grid is much more prefered. To add complication to the matter they could use a hex system or shrink the size of the grid. But I guess if they shrunk it enough it would be the same as "not having a grid". Either way, it does add a lot to the gameplay and lets you move your units with much more precision then you would in a gridless system.

Re:The grid

[hibiki_r]

A circular grid around the current unit would make things a little more manageable, but squares and hexes are the best way to make calculating movement and firing ranges easier.

Re:The grid (Circular Grid)

[Anonymous Coward]

Do you have any example of such a grid in an actual game? Sounds interesting