Gamespot always does this to the good ones, Gladiator Begins is a darn good game for the money.
Starting out with near nothing to show for yourself seeing as you're nothing but a slave in service of your master, you are tasked with fighting for him and for yourself in the hopes that one day you'll win your freedom and be amongst those that watch the games instead of participating in them.
The breath of weapons and armor that you can obtain, purchase, sell and create into different types is quite alot and no one weapon will deal the same amount of damage, being as each weapon and piece of armor is upgradeable you feel powerful when you obtain a gold status weapon or said piece of armor; but be warned as your gladiator is only able to carry so much.
Which is where your stat upgrades come in, win fights , level up and increase your stats to deal more damage or take less, carry more and so on and so forth.
The feeling you get in battle as you move through the ranks is satisfying and challenging, especially as you get to the harder to beat opponents, you're constantly on your toes hoping that you'll dodge their strike and retaliate with a power move of your own.
On the whole it was a fun game to play and wouldn't mind a sequel.