Swords and Sandals: Gladiator

the menu screen of Swords and Sandals gladiator

Sword and Sandals: Gladiator is the first game in the Swords and Sandals Series. A note that could be considered important is the lack of a save feature, this meaning that death in the game is irreversible.The save feature can be activated by getting the full version of the game,thus saving your gladiator and continuing your progress.

Gameplay

Within this game, there are three locations of note: The Armoury, Weapon Smith and Arena. The Arena is soley used to activate combat, while the former two are used to purchase weaponry and armor respectively. The game's combat is a fairly simple Turn-based system. The avaliable offensive methods are a Charge, Quick Attack, Normal Attack, Power Attack, and a Taunt. The Power of a Taunt is based on the stat value "Charisma." The higher this stat, the more effectivee the taunt. There are several common possiblities for the taunt- Doing literally nothing via an opponent's block, causing the opponent to quickly rush towards the player, or physically hurting the oppenent from a distance. Combat is a death-match in each situation. The other attacks are all physical. The Charge is a weak attack primarily used for movement. It has the same chance of hitting as a Power Attack in most instances, though has a higher range, as the lunge can move a player close enough to an opponent to hit them, which would have been impossible to hit with any other physical attack. A Power Attack does the most possible damage of one strike, but has the lowest chance to hit of any physical attack, matching that of the Charge. A Quick Attack has the highest chance to hit an opponent, but the lowest damage-output. A Normal Attack lies between the two. The latter three attacks require being close to an opponent. Each attack requires "Energy," which is shown as a blue bottle in the lower left-hand corner of the screen. Once this is depleted, it is partially restored automatically via sleep, this can also be done before the complete depletion of energy and restores some health.

There are various stats within the game that will be covered in the following section.

Stats.

During the increasing of a level, caused by experienced gained from winning a bout, there are several stats that can be increased. They can also be increased at the start of the game. These are as follows:

Strength: Increases damage done per-hit.

Agility: Increases speed and distance travelled while jumping or walking.

Attack: Increases chance for attacks to succesfully land.

Defense: Decreases chance for an opponent's hits to land

Vitality: Increases total health

Charisma: Decreases prices at the shops avaliable in the game.

Stamina: Increases maximum "Energy," and how much of said stat is regenerated through sleep.

Plot

In the 588th year since the opening of the Constellation Mirror, a sailor aboard the good ship Calamitious found himself adrift at sea after a terrible storm. Lost for days, he floated across the vast Uveric Ocean until chance found him at Doomtrek, an island home to the infamous Arena of Death.

Doomtrek, the most famous island in the Swords and Sandals world, and its arena had been established three years earlier by a charismatic but unstable young Eddite man named HeChaos. He claims to have won the island in a card game, though it is more likely the original inhabitants of the island were met with foul play. In any event, he then set up the arena for a considerable profit.

The sailor-turned-gladiator fought his way through a series of duels, rising in popularity and fame – he would come to be known only as The Gladiator. Eventually he found himself face to face with HeChaos himself. After a mighty battle, he defeated HeChaos and won enough riches to buy a ship and sail away. HeChaos begged him to stay, promising a command position in a mysterious ‘Legion’ he was assembling. The Gladiator declined – noting only that HeChaos seemed ‘wild and unpredictable’. His whereabouts remain unknown to this day, though some say he found his way to the fabled lands of Segallis.

Strategy and Tactics

It is advisable, though not necessary, that initial purchases be made at both the Smithy and the Armory. The order of which does not truly matter. Upon starting the game, as previously mentioned, visit one of these two stores. For the sake of this section, the armory will be the assumed first store visited. The armor available will be based solely on level, the lowest possible, obviously, being one. Any combination of these armors is acceptable, though it is advised to spend at most, 797 of the initial 1,000 gold on said armors. Heading to the Smithy, the weapons level the same way. The most expensive of which, a cleaver, costs 203 gold coins. This concludes any advice on the purchasing of a would-be player's inventory.