The two warriors circle each other, then let loose a scream of rage and fury. Swords clash, sharply ringing throughout the area.

You will have to imagine all this because you won’t see it. Shrapnel Games has put together a little PC gladiator-combat game that leaves a lot to the imagination. Why? Because rather than actually fight and control warriors during the combat, you are the manager. The graphics are simple and this is primarily a text-driven game.

Yes, there is some depth here, and you will do well to keep track of your warriors and the records of others. But the actual combat is left entirely up to the AI, and a lot of it seems to be linked to the roll of a die.

This is a game that is very easy to leap into. While some of the interface is not entirely intuitive, you can figure it out quickly enough and because you don’t actually have to control your characters, you can set up the game and let it go.

You begin by creating a manager account, and then going to your stable. The stable contains three fighters. One is your primary fighter and is the one that will take to the arena floor. You can leave the other two idle, if you wish, or set up their training. The training breaks down into several areas – strength, speed, agility, durability, and there are intangibles (which is attitude and charisma) and a hidden category, which is potential. Training, of course, costs money, and money is earned in combat or in wagering on the fights.

You can also dismiss a fighter and hire a warrior who is currently without management.

Once you have your stable, you can then enter the tournament. There are two phases to the competitive season. There is regular season play, which is a fight a day for 40 days, and then the championship tournament. Only the top four warriors on the points-standings board will advance. If your warrior is not among them, the tourney is simulated. At the end of the season, your warrior’s contract expires and you can either work to re-sign them, or go looking for fresh blood.

During the season, as the manager, the attendance of the fights will help determine your share of the earnings. You can advertise in hopes of increasing the attendance and getting more money.

Money also comes into play in purchasing buffs for your fighters. Each potion you can buy has side effects and may cause some damage.

Once you have all this set up, you proceed to the fights. You can set your fighting style at the beginning, from a defensive and careful approach to normal to an offensive and aggressive style. When your fighter reaches a certain point in damage taken, you can readjust it. The latter option is displayed in a pop-up.

Each fighter starts with 40 willpower and damage received deducts from that until the fighter is too injured to continue, surrenders or is – on occasion – killed.

This game is very simplistic, and you will be into it in a hurry.

However, what Coliseum offers in easy-to-learn interface and concept is its downfall. There is not a lot to this game, and while you can train up your fighters, too much of the combat seems to be happenstance. You can take a fighter into a contest with higher numbers (by double digits) in every category than his opponent and get beat quickly. You can train and the results do not seem to have much bearing on the fighter’s potential.

And, of course, there is always the specter of a slump. Sometimes, fighters hit a losing streak that stretches on and on.

This game is a static screen title – no real moving parts; no animation, just bright screens. For those familiar with the online game, Martial Combat, that is what this title basically is, without online support and set in a finite time period with combat skills of the era. So don’t expect the sight or sound of the game to overwhelm you.

One reoccurring problem with this title is that graphically it kept resetting (as in moving) the icons on the desktop. That’s just a little annoying.

Coliseum is not a game that will tantalize, wow, or otherwise entrance players. It is mildly entertaining, but lacks depth and is somewhat repetitive.

This game is not rated.
 

Gameplay: 6.5

This game moves well from one aspect to the next and there are no load times. You can set up the text scroll of the combat to whip through or ease past so you can read what is happening. Since most of the text is repetitive from one fight to the next, the only real benefit is to read what attacks work against your gladiator and then try to counter them in training.

Graphics: 5

The interface screens in some areas are nice, but this is a completely static game – as in, no moving parts.

Sound: 5

Grunts, the roar of the crowd, and a few battle-associated sound affects is about all you will hear.

Difficulty: Easy

No muss, no fuss. You can get into this quickly and easily, and since a lot of it seems to depend on training and catering to each fighter’s strengths, the only muscle players will use is the brain, and that won’t be overly strained.

Concept: 5

This game could have done well if it was online. But for a single-player experience, it really is limited and simple.

Overall: 5.4

Give this a bit of a break for the way you can jump in and go. You can learn as you go, but this game is too simple and may have been an enjoyable experience if there was online support with tournaments and fees for entering them, with substantial rewards. As a single-player game, it is too simple and too limited.