Circus Maximus: Chariot Wars

Return to the cultural heights of ancient Rome to face challenges of skill and bravery as a true warrior of the time -- in violent chariot races and bloody gladiator battles. Hippodromes alive with cheering fans set the stage for deadly contests of speed and strategy. Players select from 22 different lead characters based on the tribes and factions of the era. Hundreds of possible driver, horse, and chariot combinations allow the player to draft a team well-suited to his or her style of play. Battle races take place in seven environments, across 19 tracks. Three single-player modes are offered -- training, arcade, and career -- and multiplayer options support up to four human-controlled warriors at once. Upgrades and new features become available as characters win races and move up the ranks. Exclusive to the Xbox at the time of release, Encore's Circus Maximus: Chariot Wars offers console gamers a fresh style of play in a familiar setting of noble warriors and courageous competition.

DRIVER

Left Thumbstick Left or Right = steer chariot
Right Thumbstick Left or Right = lean warrior
Right Thumbstick Button = whip horses
D-Pad Down = look back
D-Pad Up = auto drive
A Button = accelerate
Left Trigger = hard turn left
Right Trigger = hard turn right
Left + Right Trigger = brake

WARRIOR

Left Thumbstick Down = duck
Left Thumbstick Button = taunt
B Button = low attack
Y Button = high attack
White Button = finisher attack
Black Button = double attack ~ Keith Adams, All Game Guide

Kodiak Interactive earns a thumbs-up for delivering a well-balanced spectacle of intense combat and furious chases. The game captures the dangerous thrills of chariot racing as depicted in the movie Ben-Hur while expanding the scope to outdoor tracks set in ancient Rome, Egypt, and Greece. While some aspects are in need of refinement, the game reinvigorates the genre with thoughtful control and an appealing theme.

The unusual control scheme rears its head as soon as you take the reigns of your chosen chariot. Not only do you guide the charioteer as he whips his horses around a series of outdoor tracks and amphitheaters, but you control a passenger as well, allowing one character to focus on the steering while the other attacks rival chariots. Although this could have easily been a nightmare, you never feel shortchanged in either area.

Instead of requiring players to maintain speed by holding down a button, which would have made chariot-to-chariot fighting difficult if not impossible, the game employs a pacing system akin to cruise control in a car. A horizontal meter delineates the optimum amount of speed with a vertical line, the position of which varies depending on the selected horse. Pressing a button increases speed until the desired pace is reached, at which point players can let go and concentrate on attacking, steering, or both.

On normal difficulty and above, chariots will also teeter on their sides during tight turns, which can be compensated for by having the passenger lean left or right (using the right thumbstick) to counterbalance a wobbly turn or a lost wheel. This small but realistic feature helps immerse you into the action. Other notable additions are reigning in horses by simultaneously pressing both analog triggers, ducking to avoid low hanging objects, and making hard turns using either trigger.

The courses gradually test each of these abilities as you advance, and all include animated objects, such as falling trees, rolling boulders, and closing portcullises. Each of the seven regions can also be raced at night or during the day, and feature multiple routes and shortcuts to explore during the lengthy laps (most races during the tournament can last from eight to 12 minutes in length). In between the racing are competitive deathmatch events where the object is simply to knock out a certain number of enemies.

Fortunately the combat is as engaging as the racing. Players can block swings with a shield, crouch, and perform three different attacks, one of which is a knockout blow or finishing move. Attacks are all accomplished using the face buttons while the chariot is still moving forward, so players can steer left or right while attacking to avoid blows or to ram another chariot into a wall or off a cliff. Players can also make use of the edged areas on the wheel to grind into another chariot, making the number of options to hurt opponents surprisingly deep.

Only two areas are in need of some work: a more in-depth career mode and some extra attention on the visuals. The strangest aspect of the Tournament or Career mode is that it only relies on money or denari to advance. Instead of creating a player and slowly developing his or her abilities and overall ranking over time, players simply race the tracks over and over again to earn the funds required to unlock the next track. Crashes during a race will take away money, while running over people, hitting power-ups, and attacking rivals increases it, along with finishing the race. It doesn't really matter if you come in first or second on a track, although it will help reduce the number of times you have to compete.

The animation during crashes also needs work, as there is a brief pause between when you hit an object and seeing the chariot hurtle forward, which seems scripted (crashes always look the same no matter what you hit or how fast you were going). The passengers riding in the chariot are also a little big and burly, but you get used to it after a few laps and they don't hinder your view of the track. Another minor complaint is the camera pans down low whenever you pull back the thumbstick to duck, which can be disorienting at times during heated contests.

Taking into account all of the positive aspects of the game, namely the intricate but responsive control scheme, the competitive computer opponents, and the fun courses, the shortcomings can be chalked up to a developer's first attempt at offering something different. Encore and Kodiak have the makings of a great franchise here, one that could easily expand into other areas of competition. The theme may not appeal to all tastes, but those tired of traditional racers should consider Circus Maximus their ticket to ride. ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide