Semi-accurate historical setting, great variety of gamplay between the two protagonists and blood lots and lots of blood
The stealth part is fun but frustrating. The guards are remarkably stupid, have chronic amnesia, and are all incredibly near-sighted. However, you get hit once and you die so you have to be very careful. It is really a glorified puzzle, but it is still very well done and entertaining. Using the money you find to buy objects for your house is pure fluff but very entertaining to see the empty room fill up with objects from beds, a kitchen, fruit, rats, and even a tiger is pretty cool.
Agrippa's portion is combat. Plain and simple. This is where Shadow of Rome truly shines. Each gladiatorial combat round has a different theme which makes them unique and invites much replay. You might have a "kill everyone" mission, fighting tigers and elephants, chariot races, rescue missions, siege missions, team missions and so forth. Excellent variety.
The weapons you use and how you wield them gain you salvo points. Stomping a downed enemy a few times get you a "Threat from Above" salvo, a stunned opponent who is crushed by a press is "Flesh Pudding", stabbing a guy in the back with a dagger is "Stuck Pig" and there are many very amusing salvos you can perform. Large weapons can break enemies arms, sever arms, cut off their heads or even cut their torso off at the waist which is one of my favorites called the "Red Volcano." You appeal to the crowd who will throw you weapons or food, the more awesome your kills are the better chance of getting the large nasty weapons like mauls, halberds, and the magnus sword.
My biggest complaint is that Agrippa's voice is a little too high pitched for the burly murderer he is. The difficulty level is also very high. It took me multiple tries to get through the simpler levels and sometimes I would just barely eek out a victory on the harder levels. The second time through, I did much better when I learned how to work the crowd and kill more spectacularly and efficiently.
Shadow of Rome is a great game and anybody who likes bloody violence will be very happy with the game.