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Sadly, you can't just mash on grunts forever, no, eventually you come to the head-grunt or as they're often called: bosses. Anyone who was a fan of Ninja Gaiden kicking them in the balls for 12hrs should run out and buy Spartan: Total Warrior right now. Because the game goes from a nice dependable difficulty to "why are you hitting me in the no touching area!?" in a heart beat when it's time to fight a boss.
Every boss in Spartan: Total Warrior is stronger, faster, and better looking than you. I think some of them even plan on stealing your girlfriend away from you when you're not looking. Many of the bosses sport goons whose sole role in life is to run up behind you and slash you in the back; this despite the fact that you just dispatched 999 of his friends in the level before.
And one boss – who will remain unnamed least I ruin a nifty story element – should be included in the GotNext history books as the cheapest mofo ever put to disc. Imagine unblock able moves, respawning health/mana containers that the boss can pick up before you, and a camera that can't keep up with you. I guess that's what really makes the boss fights difficult. The camera works really well for showing big battles, but when it comes time to fight just one person it falls to pieces in every way that matters.
Big bloody basic brutal… buyable?
It's in those pieces that a picture of Spartan: Total Warrior begins to emerge. Great combat, solid upgrades, even a really nice "arena" mode that lets you setup battles between different armies and then join in, four major weapon styles to earn, respectable voiceovers, and a nice story: all are brought to their knees trying to hold up generic level/mission designs and ugly boss fights.
Assembly made a very solid game, but far too often it feels like they were following a well-used copy of a third-person action game "handbook" instead of charting their own territory. I cannot put into words how close they were with Spartan: Total Warrior. If they play to their strengths next time, instead of shying away from their PC-heritage, they could knock our socks off with a sequel. For now rent this one.
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