"You ever watch gladiator movies, Jimmy?"- Airplane

Back in the day, it was all about huge Roman epic films, like Cleopatra and Stanley Kubrick's Spartacus, but we don't see many of them in the modern age. The closest thing we got to a huge, bloody Roman epic these days is Ridley Scott's kick-ass flick Gladiator, with the likes of Russell Crowe defying a vicious emperor who has a habit of being "horribly, horribly vexed." Now, at last you have a game that can put you in similar shoes, as you take on a mere warrior determined to find himself in a state of rebirth and bring down a controversial empire in the same swift blow. Enter Gladiator: Sword of Vengeance from Acclaim.

Now don't groan just yet. Yeah, Acclaim's had their share of stinkers in the past year, but they also have their mere moments of brilliance, most of them packed away in the fast-paced racing game Burnout 2: Point of Impact. This one actually shows a side of Acclaim that I hope to see more of; a side of care and effort. Their Manchester studio really put their elbows to the grind and put together a wonderfully designed game with killer presentation, from the faithful voice acting (backing the somewhat ridiculous dialogue) to the beautiful graphics (love the lighting) to a storyline that, get this, actually makes sense for a game of this nature.

Gladiator puts you in the shoes of a gladiator by the name of Victus Thrax. The game opens with Victus running through a pre-set number of rooms, taking down a number of warriors who stand in his way and eventually making his way to the Colosseum, where a controversial and power-thirsty emperor is ready to watch him die. The first two waves of fierce warriors attack, but Thrax brings them down with minimal effort. Then a huge opponent appears, unseen to us, and the next thing we know, the warrior is dead. Instead of going to gladiator heaven, he finds himself in a medium world, where a couple of kids explain that the gods have chosen him to be reborn and take down the emperor. It's not an easy quest, as it's loaded with sub-missions and a long, challenging adventure where Thrax must remain on his toes, and keep his skills sharp.

The beginning of the game allows Thrax to build up his skills and also helps you get used to the controls. It's a basic combat system, but it has some nice touches to it, using the triggers on the Xbox pad. Holding the L trigger allows you to focus on a different enemy than the one you're locked onto, and tapping the R trigger can change to a different opponent, if you're in the mood to change direction. Holding both triggers down allows you to free roam, which comes in handy in later challenges when you need to destroy barrels that you can't auto-aim at. The game auto-locks on enemies for you, and this is good for swift action, as you can perform a number of combos and build up a power meter to pull off some stronger moves. You can also obtain new weapons as you go, and use magic spells to take down a number of enemies. All of that isn't even scratching the surface for the two cool touches in the gameplay.

The first involves fatalities. Thrax will face tougher opponents in his quest, complete with life bars that can be depleted. Once a life bar goes red, you can press the B button, and Thrax will perform a dramatic fatality, filled with blood, gore, and a little creativity. Thrax also can build up a meter to unleash a fiery Herculean muscle boost, allowing him to move faster and unleash more powerful attacks on his foes, as well as access previously unbreakable jars and barrels. The challenge in the game builds quickly, especially during boss battles and in the later levels, where Thrax once again makes his way back to the Colosseum, bloody vengeance on his mind.

Like I said, the game has excellent atmosphere, complete with the kind of looks and sounds that capture the essence perfectly, right down to the bellowing announcer telling you to go to the next area or the demons beckoning for your soul. There's no slowdown, great camera set-up (although it's "stuck" in a couple of areas, and you can get lost easily because of that), and lighting effects that are outstanding. Kudos to the real-time movies as well, complete with lip-syncing and detail.

The game's not a complete winner, however. First of all, while it packs a huge single player mode, there are zero options for multiplayer fighting. A gladiator game with no ability to take on friends? What fun is that? This would've been ideal for four player combat, having several people take on foes to see who is the true champion of the Roman arena. There's also zero Xbox Live downloads or play, which is a bummer. I thought Acclaim was getting more keen to this with their past releases and would include something here. Finally, the gameplay is solid, but the combos should have differentiated a little bit. The fatalities are cool, but they can get repetitive.

Gladiator: Sword of Vengeance is a nice surprise from the Acclaim studios and worth picking up if you're into heavy action or gladiator-themed things of any type...or you just want to show Russell Crowe what a real warrior can do. Hey, who doesn't want the opportunity to do that?