14 DAY TRIAL // My gladiator chooses to trigger an enemy attack of opportunity by running right past him. This gives my veles a chance to shift position and gain flanked, while my own character can use the Safeguard skill to regain the lost health.
Aided by an arrow from my Saggitarius, we fell this opponent. I order the Triarius to pick up a torch and chuck it quickly at a group of two others. One of them is affected by burning, and the other gets stunned by another party member.
This last move attracts the ire of the crowd, who apparently wants to see burning and item use but no disabled gladiators in the arena. Regardless, it is more important to use my party’s abilities than constantly satisfying the combat scenario's conditions. And I have to wait for enemy reinforcements to appear to get the crowd's full approval and win the fight.
Expeditions: Rome - Death or Glory is developed by Logic Artists and published by THQ Nordic. The downloadable content pack offers players a new class to play as, the Gladiator, and adds arenas where they can fight and entertain the Roman people.
The DLC does not add to the core story significantly. Arenas are available in all campaign chapters and battles can be started at any time. The main menu also offers a special mode that only features the gladiatorial engagements.
I like the three versions of the Gladiator class and how they tweak the entire tactical approach of the player’s party. The Murmillo relies on armor and healing to draw in enemies, survive attacks, and give teammates space to deal damage. The Provocator branch is more about morale, with a focus on morale damage.
Finally, the Retiarius can move opponents around and his final skills significantly boost teammate abilities. When playing through the story, players will get enough points to unlock most skills, but this is the sub-type I started with.
The Gladiator class is useful in the main campaign. The new archetype comes complete with new armor and helmets to craft, as well as an acid grenade and hunting trap to improve tactical options.
Arena engagements in Death or Glory feature special conditions and require players to reach a popularity threshold rather than kill everyone in the enemy group. It’s a good concept and I like the variety, although some of the situations feel gimmicky.
Expeditions: Rome’s tactical battles require good positioning, careful use of special abilities, and a good mix of weaponry and items. A well-placed status effect or party-wide buff is often worth more than using the same action point to kill one enemy.
Expeditions: Rome - Death or Glory doesn’t tweak the presentation in any major way. The new arenas and opponents for gladiatorial fights look good and the entire concept fits well with the rest of the game’s world. The base game remains one of the best-looking experiences set during Roman times. There are plenty of lines of dialogue for the arena battles and the soundtrack does well to add to the excitement.
Conclusion
I also wanted to have more choices when it came to opponents and special rules. Expeditions: Rome remains a solid mix of role-playing, strategic choices, and tactical battles but any future DLC should find ways to enhance the core mechanics.
A review code was provided by the publisher.
