Gladiator fever might have cooled off in the past year or two, but don't let that keep you from checking out Shadow of Rome. This latest action adventure game from the people who brought you the Onimusha series packs some of the most brutal hand-to-hand combat ever, and there's plenty of story and intrigue to conveniently justify all the gory violence. In fact, Shadow of Rome quite successfully combines two distinctly different types of gameplay, since there are some decent stealth sequences thrown in between the numerous gladiator pit fights. These ultimately help give Shadow of Rome a good sense of variety, though the combat is definitely the main attraction, and it takes center stage more often than not. Feature for feature, there's nothing hugely original about Shadow of Rome, but its combination of different elements is definitely unique, its characters are expressive and fun to watch, and the quality of its presentation is right up there with the best of what the PlayStation 2 has to offer.

Imagine a society in which humankind relished the sight of its own blood being spilled purely for the sake of entertainment. Those savages!

Shadow of Rome is the story of two young friends, the muscle-bound centurion Agrippa and the mild-mannered Octavianus, who looks like a younger Owen Wilson. When Julius Caesar is brutally murdered and Agrippa's father is accused of the crime, Agrippa ends up becoming a gladiator in a desperate attempt to stop his father's impending execution at the hands of the champion of the gladiatorial games. Meanwhile, Octavianus suspects foul play and proceeds to investigate what really happened by skulking behind the scenes. Shadow of Rome's story is told through frequent, beautifully produced cutscenes that succeed at enriching the game, meaning they don't overstay their welcome or take the focus off the gameplay itself. Some of the dialogue is awkwardly translated, some of the characters' acting isn't quite convincing, and you'll spot some minor inconsistencies from gameplay to cutscene, but the unusual story is still absolutely one of the highlights. Don't expect a history lesson from Shadow of Rome, but do expect an interesting and surprising sequence of events to unfold. The story does a fine job of tying up all its loose ends and delivering a satisfying sense of closure while still leaving room for the possibility of a next chapter in the saga.

The meat of the game follows Agrippa's rise through the gladiatorial ranks in a series of bloody battles to the death, but the occasional stealth mission, starring Octavianus, is thrown in for good measure. In the game's equivalent of a halftime show, Agrippa will also get to compete in a series of exciting and deadly chariot races. And, without spoiling anything, there's even more to the game than that. All told, Shadow of Rome packs in a good-sized adventure that will take you close to 20 hours from start to finish. There are multiple difficulty settings and plenty of other extras to keep you busy after that, and the core combat system offers enough depth and pure visceral satisfaction that it could keep you entertained for a while longer as you pursue all the bonus content. Of course, getting all that stuff won't be easy. The normal difficulty mode presents a significant challenge all by itself. It actually starts out pretty easy, teaching you the ropes as you go, but then it scales up nicely into tough territory. And, as hard as some of the later encounters can be, Shadow of Rome never sets you back far should you fail.

Some relatively nonviolent stealth sequences and just the right amount of story sequences help make this more than just a rollicking blood spree.

Limbs fly and blood spatters everywhere in a typical battle, though you can toggle off the graphic violence if you like. Still, this is pure hack-and-slash combat. Agrippa will take on multiple foes of all shapes and sizes, sometimes all at once. The melee's grisly and sometimes shocking, but it's not mindless. Plenty of unique moves and a great variety of gnarly weapons are available, and there are plenty of different match types, each with its own twists, so it's not all about being the last man standing (though that's usually a desirable outcome). Thanks to all the different factors at play, there's a real sense of chaos on the battlefield, which is great. Battles never play out quite the same way twice.

One key aspect of combat is that weapons, shields, and armor are all quite flimsy and will soon shatter from use. It seems that in 44 BC, humankind had already invented tools perfectly suited for butchering itself, but it hadn't yet discovered how to make them last. Sure enough, you can't block weapon attacks while barehanded, so Shadow of Rome often requires you to scavenge the battlefield, snatching up a fresh weapon just as soon as you shatter the last one you were using. It's possible to wrench weapons from your enemies' hands, sever or crush their arms with well-placed power attacks, drag enemies to their feet after knocking them flat, and more. It's also possible to throw virtually any weapon (even the gigantic two-handed ones), and each makes a suitably sickening thud when it hits home. Delightful fun for the whole family.