Games Thursday : Swords & Sandals 2 : Emperor’s Reign
Swords & Sandals 2 : Emperor’s Reign is just one in a series of five commercial Flash games in the Swords & Sandals universe by Australian devs 3rd Sense. As its name implies, it’s loosely based on the famous Roman gladiators – loosely because you don’t see purple-haired and blue-skinned gladiators in history books, do you?
The game starts with you customizing your fighter’s appearance and skills. Don’t be tempted to make your warrior a jack of all trades though, since an average fighter will find very few tactical options viable against the specialist heavy hitters or agile ninjas (yes, there are ninjas in here, another -1 for realism 
)
Once you survive your first fight against a fellow prisoner in the dungeon , you’ll get the chance to equip weapons, armour, potions and magic scrolls (the first Swords & Sandals has no magical elements so purists might want to try that instead) before heading to the arena which either ends in glory or death.
Duels are available at the arena to train your gladiator, the defeated losing a sum of gold rather than their lives. After advancing two levels, your fighter must participate in a tournament with other veterans in a fight to the death.
In the actual fight, both combatants can utilize strikes of varying force, pelt the opponent with projectiles from slings and bows or charge to take the fight to an evasive or retreating opponent.
Your skills and armour affect the effectiveness of your attacks and defences as well as the range of tactical options.
For example, a clumsy brute with low agility can only charge a very short distance which makes him defenceless against fast opponents armed with ranged weapons (thankfully, ranged weapons come with limited shots) Likewise, weaker fighters with low vitality and/or low defence skills may find themselves reeling from a single blow from a more powerful opponent.
Analyzing and exploiting your opponent’s weaknesses (view Stats before each fight) is vital for your survival in the gruelling tournaments, especially the final fights against merciless heavily armed bosses like the fearsome Son of Stylonius below.
Glory!
Death!
Play Swords & Sandals 2 : Emperor’s Reign (demo version) or buy for 19 USD.
MORE @ THE DOWNLOAD MUNKEY:
Edutainment Games (III) – Know Your Gladiator & Medieval Armour
Myth and History Lessons, Genzoman Style!
A Peek into the Ancient World with Johnny Shumate
Learning Your A.B.Cs with Viva Caligula
Legion Arena Review
OpenGlad – Action-RPG Game
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It’s quite an addictive affair, but I wouldn’t call it polished enough for a commercial release. As for you write-up? Brilliant as ever dear Roys!
BTW, there’s already Swords And Sandals 3 Solo Ultratus. Swords & Sandals 2 is rather OK for me but a bit overpriced for the amount of gameplay IMHO
I’m working on my writing actually, trying to stop writing like the technical documentation I have to write at work
Never thought your pieces reminded me of, say, a technical manual mind…
Thanks! Trying to add a more personal touch to my writing – can’t say it’s improving but at least I tried