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Circus Maximus: Chariot Wars

July 26th, 2002 Jason Rybka Leave a comment Go to comments

We seem to see some of the same types of game over and over, and when a new type
of game comes out I usually get excited, in hope for a new adventure. Well Circus
Maximus was released and I had much hope for this game, but all of my hope was
shattered.

Graphics

The
chariots as well as the warriors look pretty good. It’s the only thing that Encore
did right with Circus Maximus. Circus Maximus has four different courses, and
they all look the same. It really gets to the point where you feel that Circus
Maximus only has four courses that look the same just with different names.

Gameplay

In
ancient times one of their more popular sports were chariot races, very dangerous
sport that sometimes ended up with many deaths. So when you think about it,
it should make for one heck of a video game, right? Actually I guess I was wrong,
because after the first race of Circus Maximus I was already bored. Circus Maximus has four basic game modes. Circus mode, which, basically is
another word for an arcade mode. Empire Mode: Where you and a friend can race
each other. Tournament mode, which is another word for career mode, where you
need to earn Dinari in order to advance to the next race. The last mode is Academy,
this is a tutorial mode where they teach you how to ride a chariots.
One of the biggest problems I had with Circus Maximus was it just wasn’t any
fun. After a race I did not want to go again. No matter how far in front I was
of the other chariots, some how they would magically come out of no where and
knock you off your chariot. You would think that there wouldn’t be many lead
changes, that isn’t the case with Circus Maximus. You cannot keep the lead and
if your in last you can’t count your self out of any race because some how you
will catch up
In Circus Maximus you can also fight as the soldier in the back, and knock
people off their chariots to give you a better shot at placing first.

Controls

I
think that Encore and Kodiak forgot that we have only ten fingers. I think it
is great if you want to use the the Xbox controller to it’s fullest but you
still have to make it possible for the person controlling the chariot be able
to use the back soldier as well as control the chariot at the same time. That
is not an easy task, therefore it may cause some very irritating times.

Audio

You
don’t really hear much of anything in Circus Maximus, and of what you do hear
it doesn’t sound to great. The sound effects aren’t horrible, but at the same
stretch they are not very good. What makes Circus Maximus sound so pathetic,
are what the warriors say throughout the races. Their little sayings are just
annoying, and there are only four or five of them so they are extremely repetitive.

Replay Value

Circus Maximus holds no replay value what so ever. The multiplayer mode is not
worth play more then once or twice, and I give anyone that can finish Circus
Maximus without throwing the game out the window some sort of an award, because
I know I couldn’t take it.

Overall Score

Overall Score: 4 out of 10 (not an average)

Additional Comments

Circus Maximus is one of those games that really has only one thing
going for it, which is that we have never had a game of this type before. Otherwise
Circus Maximus is one of those games I would not recommend by any stretch.

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