Colosseum is a side-scrolling, hack-and-slash, arcade game in the same vein as Zombieville. The premise is simple: you move left and right through an arena, attacking the numerous and varied monsters that appear. These monsters drop gold and power-ups, and eventually a key which lets you continue onto the next level.
Title: Colosseum | Developer: Gamevil | Genre: Arcade & Action | Players: 1 | Version: 1.0.0 | Size: 18MB | Price: $1.00 |
The Good
There is a wonderful air of simplicity running throughout the game: from the slightly anthemic music, to the neat cartoon animation style, to the very simple introduction you are given to the game when you first play. Everything is very straightforward and unassuming, and this makes the game a joy to pick up and play for 15 minutes or so. The only fault that can be found when it comes to the presentation is that, up close, the attack and movement animations look a bit choppy and basic. Maybe some will see this as part of the charm, but occasionally I became aware of it and found it slightly off-putting.
The sheer bulk and variety of upgrades is positive. The player has the choice of two main weapon groups: projectile weapons and melee weapons. These groups have a large variety within them: some objects can be thrown at a longer distance, some have longer recharge times, some throwing items cause enemies to be set-alight, some melee weapons mean the character cannot hold a shield, and so on. In addition there are a number of different armor options, these too are upgraded and have different features. This is the main driving force behind the game, and it is enough of an incentive to keep playing in the short term.
I also found the power-ups the enemies would drop quite an appealing feature. These included items that increased defense, speed and strength, all of which add a bit of variety to the gameplay. Its also pretty nifty that these change the appearance of the character, who grows bigger with various upgrades. This all contributes to the frantic feel the game can have in later levels, and it would be nice if the developer added more of these with future updates.
The Bad
The game is slow to bring in variety in terms of both enemies and levels. New types of enemies in the game are introduced very slowly, meaning you’ll find yourself fighting the same hordes of enemies for a fair few levels. When this is combined with the speed at which you progress through the different environments, it can almost feel like you are playing the same level over and over again, and that is certainly not a good thing.
Another problem with the game is that once you’ve upgraded all your equipment, there is very little left to play for. Whether this is an issue for you comes down to what you expect from a $1 arcade game, but it is still worth noting that this game will probably not provide much long term engagement.
The controls are okay on the whole, but there is one minor problem with them which brings the game down a little: all the weapon buttons are located in one line along the bottom right of the screen. This makes it hard to get the ones towards the center, effectively making you stretch your thumb out to the middle of the screen. It wouldn’t be too hard to fix this, but as it stands, it’s a bit of a distraction from the fast paced gameplay.
Verdict
At its core, Colosseum is a fun, unassuming game. It is let down a little by a niggling control issue and lack of long term value, but ultimately it is fun enough to justify the dollar.
Rating: 3.5/5
