Gladiator Begins Message Board

#gladiatorbegins Swords-and-sandals saga Gladiator Begins for the Wii quickly became known as an underboob-and-slave-girl saga at the 2009 Tokyo Game Show thanks to a model in a teeny bikini. The PSP version, however, ditched the slave girl and went all beefcake. More »

"My gladiator name is WHAT?"

#aksysgames Acquire's Gladiator Begins for the PSP is perhaps best known for its underboob-heavy, gladiator cosplaying mascot girl, one who engages in Japanese office publicity stunts hijinks that violate most corporate dress codes. America, how do you respond? More »

Despite its long list of problems, Gladiator Begins gets the most important thing right: beating, bashing and slicing dudes feels good. It's just as well, because that's the only thing this PSP game ever lets you do.

The premise is simple to a fault: You hop in a box with Roman slaves and then stab 'em until they're dead. That's it. For some, non-stop brawling makes for the best kind of action game; the beat-'em-up genre's survived on this kind of repetition. Gladiator even takes advantage of a handful of elements inspired by role-playing, which keeps things from getting stale too quickly.

Acquire's Kentoushi Gladiator Begins, a PSP game more famous for its advertising than for its gameplay, is headed to North America, courtesy of Aksys Games. In Gladiator Begins, you'll get to master several fighting implements like the sword and shield, polearm, and even your own fists in your quest to defeat other gladiators, entertain bloodthirsty crowds, and attract the attention of one of five patrons.

While Aksys didn't announce a release date for the game, a subsequent announcement lets us know exactly when we'll get to play part of the game. A demo for the arena combat game will be available on PSN July 13.

Ave, Imperator, Morituri Te Salutant hail, Emperor, those who are about to die salute you.