Game Reviews

Blood & Glory

Star onStar onStar onStar offStar off
|
| Blood & Glory
Get
Blood & Glory
|
| Blood & Glory

Let’s get this out of the way early: Blood & Glory’s gameplay is basically the same as Infinity Blade.

The swipe-to-slice fighting system will be instantly familiar to anyone who has picked up Chair’s iOS classic, as will the range of defensive options, which include blocks, dodges, and parries.

Glu Mobile may have shifted the setting to the gladiatorial arenas of ancient Rome, but you’ll still be fighting for currency and XP, and working constantly to upgrade your gear and your abilities.

There's one area where Glu Mobile has deviated from Chair’s template, though. Whereas Infinity Blade was released at a premium price point, Blood & Glory is completely free to download and play, supported by a freemium model that allows you to exchange real cash for extra in-game currency.

So, in theory, you’ll be able to play and enjoy Blood & Glory without spending a penny.

Gladiator, you will go on my second whistle

First impressions are good, with the game’s impressive visuals and its borrowed combat system proving itself to be almost as solid and intuitive as that of its inspiration.

There’s the occasional rough edge to be found, but as you slice and parry your way through the first arena tournament you may well wonder how all this quality can be served up free of charge.

And then you’ll pop into the store, on the lookout for a sharp new gladius, perhaps brought there by one of the many nagging in-game prompts for you to splurge on some equipment.

And here you’ll realise that unless you’re prepared to whip out your ancient Roman debit card it’s near impossible to upgrade equipment at a rate that matches the game’s difficulty curve.

Bouts quickly become tiring episodes of pattern-recognition as your ageing armour fails to stand up to an increasingly brutal opposition, forcing restart after restart in later tournaments. It’s disheartening to see game balance - and the compulsive cycle of RPG item-acquisition - so nakedly distorted by the game’s business model.

A variety of over-powered weapons and equipment means that even if you decide to lay down real cash, game balance is just as broken, as enemies crumble before your purchased might.

At my signal, unleash hell

The game’s graphical sheen is quickly tarnished by the intrusion of frame-rate and performance issues, with occasional moments of complete unresponsiveness often leading to infuriating defeats at the hands of your gladiator rivals.

Even if you do manage to defeat your opponent, in contrast with the cinematic finishers of Infinity Blade your victim simply slumps to the ground in a sad bundle, whereupon you begin the next fight in exactly the same spot of earth and exactly the same arena.

Even if you’re battling in a new location, there’s hardly scope for grand thematic variance, so you’ll either be fighting it out in a sandy coliseum, or a dirt arena, or a stone amphitheatre.

*I* am Spartacus

Despite offering fairly solid – if derivative – gameplay, Blood & Glory doesn’t really stand up. Its freemium business model certainly doesn’t help, but there’s a larger shadow looming over the game’s theatrical carnage.

By modelling itself so closely on Inifinty Blade, Blood & Glory is constantly inviting comparisons with a game that comprehensively outclasses it.

While many Android gamers will not yet have experienced Chair’s iOS slasher themselves, a flawed re-casting is unlikely to satisfy anyone for long.

Blood & Glory

A diluted - though at times very enjoyable - iteration on Infinity Blade’s gameplay, Blood and Glory is scuppered by its derivative nature and intrusive business model
Score
James Nouch
James Nouch
PocketGamer.biz's news editor 2012-2013