Spartacus Legends: Awful or Wonderful?

Spartacus Legends is now available on PSN and XBLA, and I have to admit that I completely missed this one. What is Spartacus Legends you ask? It's a free-to-play fighting game published by Ubisoft that's based on the STARZ Original Series that I've never seen...and never even heard of. Of course, I'm one of those cableless types who watches shows on Netflix 2-3 years after the final season airs. So I'm really not a good template for knowing about these things.

The press releases for the game are also filled with some particularly terrible drivel like a tag-line which reads “Kill Them All!” and calling the game the “number one destination for fans” which always drips with more hope than fact.

All this aside, the game has some good ideas going on. You raise gladiators from scratch, fight in bigger and bigger arenas as you rise in the ranks, buy new equipment with money you earn fighting and even get to keep the equipment you have if your gladiator dies. Speaking of death, gladiators gain perks as they gain levels, but these all go away once your fighter dies...adding in an almost rogue-like element to the gameplay. Plus, the fighting doesn't look half bad, and in my heart of hearts I dream of it playing like Deadliest Warrior.

Thing is...I can't tell. I'm completely in the dark and confused about this one. I'll be playing it soon, however, and then I'll be able to talk more about it in detail. But for now....have you tried it?