LucasArts

Game Description: Enlist along with a secret squad of pilots dedicated to thwarting the most diabolical plans of the Third Reich. Fly over twenty real planes across thirty insane missions in this new WWII action flyer. Are you up for it? Join a secret squad of pilots dedicated to thwarting the most heinous plans of the Third Reich. Fly over twenty authentic aircraft across thirty daring missions in this new WWII action-flyer. Lawrence Holland, the legendary creator of Star Wars: X-Wing, Star Wars: Tie Fighter and Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe returns with an exhilarating new game of action and intrigue. Can you be trusted with the most dangerous secrets of the war?

If Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast is "a beacon of light" as Keith calls it, I don't want to follow. This game should change its subtitle from "Jedi Outcast" to "Faces of Death" because it isn't so much an interactive adventure set in the Star Wars universe as it is the most elaborate and punishing three-dimensional mousetrap ever conceived.

Mike did his usual great job covering the nuts and bolts of Gladius, and I agree with most of his observations. However, there was one line of his that caught my attention: "While Gladius doesn't do anything to redefine the strategy RPG subgenre, it does do just enough things well to keep players interested for the duration."

According to ESRB, this game contains: Blood and Gore, Comic Mischief, Violence

Game Description: In the fantasy world of the game, the darkness of the Great War has passed and the lands of Gladius are peaceful once more. Now combat takes place only in the gladiator arenas, where schools from around the world compete for the title of Imperial Champions. You will follow the grand saga of two young heroes, Ursula and Valens, as they recruit and train a team of warriors and compete in the gladiator games. Battle with deadly weapons and powerful magic as you learn vital combat tactics while you enhance and customize your own characters. Strategic possibilities are nearly endless, with 16 character classes and over 100 unique character types from which to choose.

Gladius is an ambitious title that attempts to take the arena-inspired games beyond hack-and-slash or chariot racing—by crafting a title that's a strategy role-playing game (RPG). Interestingly enough, for the most part the approach works. While Gladius doesn't do anything to redefine the strategy RPG subgenre, it does do just enough things well to keep players interested for the duration.

Before the hate mail starts coming in for giving it an eight, let me say that Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic is a good videogame. It's doubly good on the Xbox, since it's the only substantial role-playing game (RPG) for Microsoft's machine outside of The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, Metal Dungeon, and possibly Pirates Of The Caribbean, though it's safe to say that they all stray from what one usually expects of a console RPG. However, would I call it a great game? I guess that would depend on your love of the Star Wars license.

There have been plenty of times when I've wished my life was structured similarly to the existential glee found in certain videogames, games like Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic. Like a scene straight out of Mike Judge's first film Office Space, my editors often hunt me down to say, "I'm gonna have to ask you to come in on Saturday."

According to ESRB, this game contains: Violence

Game Description: Long before the Galactic Civil War, an epic drama begins. Engage in this saga set in the Golden Age of the Republic—over 4,000 years before the first Star Wars film, when both Jedi and Sith number in the thousands. With the Galaxy reeling from a recent conflict with the Dark Lords, the ongoing battle between the Jedi and the Sith rages on. Your actions determine the outcome of this colossal galactic war—and your destiny as a Jedi.