The Gladiators: Galactic Circus Games Demo

Sometimes, a bit of humor can make even the most gruesome situations less difficult to handle, or at least that’s what movies seem to advertise. On the other hand, the same formula might work wonders in video games too, as long as it’s implemented properly and it doesn’t hurt the overall experience too much by messing with the underlying gameplay mechanics.

The Gladiators: Galactic Circus Games is the type of game that takes its inspiration from old Hollywood movies and it emphasizes on over-the-top action scenes, ridiculous characters and plenty of other such cliches in order to create a unique atmosphere. However, it also tries to maintain a solid gameplay experience and provide the players with sturdy and functional mechanics at the same time.

You wouldn’t know that from reading the script for the story, on the other hand, since it is pretty far-fetched and ridiculous in some aspects. In essence, you play the role of Major Greg Callahan, a soldier who gets sent to investigate a black hole and somehow falls into it shortly thereafter. He gets ejected from it on the other side, landing on an alien planet scarred by war and conflict between two major forces, where he must fight for his life and to help a princess get her kingdom back.

Once you pick up the controls and start playing, though, you notice that the mechanics are very familiar and nicely implemented, albeit slightly more fast-paced that you would see in a normal game that’s part of the genre. You get control over a few units, fight the enemy over spawn points and wait for more units to be produced, which is basically the formula for the entire campaign.

Things are much more fun in the skirmish and multiplayer modes, since you can utilize a variety of different tactics and strategies in order to take your enemy by surprise. The graphics are very detailed, with a hint of comic book-style artwork and rich environments. Hence, the technical aspect is quite polished and refined, which should allow you to concentrate on the actual gameplay.

In the end, The Gladiators: Galactic Circus Games has its share of flaws and it certainly isn’t the perfect example of an RTS, but it can be incredibly fun to play with friends. Other than that, the campaign is pretty weak and the A.I. rather useless, which makes playing it alone a bit of a bother.