300: March to Glory

Greatly outnumbered by the massive Persian army that threatens the very existence of all of Greece, 300 Spartan warriors enthusiastically meet the threat head-on as if there was no greater glory than to die on the battlefield no matter how the odds stacked up against them. This is the bloody swords-and-sandals tale comic book artist/writer Frank Miller (creator of the “Sin City” books and “Dark Knight” graphic novels) tells in his graphic novel titled 300. Now Miller’s work comes to life on the big screen with a motion picture adaptation and, of course, a game. 300: March to Glory for the PSP contains the feel of the film as well as covers the graphic novel’s story but, sadly enough, doesn’t do justice to the glory that was Sparta or the hack-and-slash genre.

March to Glory follows King Leonidas who leads his 300 Spartans into battle against the thousands of Persian invaders lead by the vicious King Xerxes that wishes to enslave the people of Greece. Yet what the Persians don’t realize is that the Spartans, while outnumbered, live for the glory of battle to the point that they had their own battle strategies and fearlessly would consider it an honor to die in battle. Armed with these things - as well as long spears and sharp blades - the Spartans march on to glory.

The game immediately tosses gamers into the thick of battle as you control King Leonidas. You’ll immediately encounter Persian soldiers as well as slaves pushed into fighting for Xerxes while you push your troops onward. Armed with a sword, a spear and a shield, you will be slashing your way while lifting a shield when the skies darken (an indication that a rain of arrows will come showering down on you as well as the enemy) while battling a number of armed soldiers. Oftentimes you will find yourself surrounded by enemies but it never gets as intense as it does in a Dynasty Warriors game.

Defeating enemies also means you’ll be earning points or Kleos good towards upgrading your weapons, shield, armor or skills. The upgrades only apply to Leonidas whose appearance will change if you use different armor as well as carry different equipment. You’ll learn various skills you can unleash during battle such as Blood Drunk where your rage will increase and so does the damage you’ll inflict on your enemies. You can also throw a spear at your enemies, toss your shield and even wield two swords. You’ll most certainly appreciate dual swords later on in the game. Yet the game’s best moments come when you join your warriors in battle to form the Phalanx. The Phalanx is basically a move where warriors form a line and move together as one. This impenetrable line allows you to push back enemies with your shield while using their spears to impale any enemy dumb enough to get too close.

While you will be tossed into a number of great battles, the game starts feeling repetitive far too early in the game. Sure, the game does contain some nasty bosses to battle and there are moments where you will be facing off against giant elephants (who will try to stomp on you or toss you about with their tusks) but these moments aren’t enough to conceal the fact that this is nothing more than the usual hack-and-slash fare. To make matters worse, the controls don’t feel very comfortable on the PSP. You will die often in the game because you weren’t quick enough to block with your shield and sometimes the camera isn’t your best friend nor is the targeting for that matter.

Unfortunately, March to Glory isn’t even a visually pleasing game either. The backgrounds and character models do not look like they belong on the PSP but rather the original PlayStation. While sometimes there are some impressive backgrounds, there’s very little here that will make you stop to admire the environments. This is too bad seeing as the game does attempt to capture the look of the film. What does look good, however, are the cut scene art that does bring to mind Frank Miller’s unique artwork. The blood does fly here and limbs do fly off gruesomely but thanks to the poor graphics sometimes you can’t tell whether your enemy lost his arm or head.

The sound, on the other hand, is a different story. For one thing, the music is just plain gorgeous and appropriately cinematic in every way. The dramatic score does not fail to make each level feel epic and thanks to the solid voice acting it just sounds like you’re watching the film. While the game doesn’t use voice actors from the movie, the voice talent featured in the game does a great job. The sound effects are good as well, although much of what you’ll hear can be a bit repetitive. Still, it’s best to play this game with the volume up.

300: March to Glory could have been one of those gratifying hack-and-slash action games that would have been perfect on the PSP but thanks to a number of problems this game just doesn’t really cut it. This is not to say that the game is entirely bad, there is some promise here and it comes in the form of the various battles skills you’ll earn as well as the battles you’ll participate in throughout the game. Still, it’s hard to ignore the game’s many flaws and the fact that things get repetitive quite quickly. Even if you do enjoy the movie or the graphic novel, this game might not be worth the purchase price.

Gameplay: 6.0
We have seen bloody hack-and-slash games like this before and while the game does tie in nicely with the movie as well as the graphic novel, it never deviates much from the formula. Then again, the battles in the game are fierce, challenging and the Phalanx strategy move is inventive. Gamers will just feel there could have been more to this game and, more importantly, wish the controls weren’t so awful.

Graphics: 5.5
Sadly, the in-game visuals are dull and the character models look like they belong on the original PlayStation … back when the original PlayStation was first introduced to gamers. Still, some backgrounds are rendered decently and the cutscenes are composed of Frank Miller inspired artwork.

Sound: 8.5
The game’s soundtrack is just beautiful and cinematic to the point that each battles does sound quite epic. Even the voice acting works throughout the game so expect some top notch performances. Then there are the sound effects that can be a bit repetitive in places but still not bad at all.

Difficulty: Medium/Hard
Pushing back hordes of Persian slaves, mighty warriors and elephants is just not an easy feat so do not expect much mercy throughout the game. There are also some pretty brutal boss battles to participate in so you will be glad you can upgrade your Spartan with better equipment.

Concept: 6.5
March to Glory manages to capture the gritty look of the film and is true to Frank Miller’s vision and style. What it doesn’t do is offer more in terms of gameplay extras such as wireless multiplayer co-op that would have made this an even better game. At least there are plenty of unlockable items and bonus features like clips and a Frank Miller interview.

Overall: 6.5
Like the movie and graphic novel that inspired this game, 300: March to Glory is ultra violent and interesting but as a game it just doesn’t offer enough variety to be much fun for long. This is really too bad since the game does manage to cram in some truly spectacular battles as well as boss fights but thanks to the weak controls this hack-and-slash just fails to be inspiring enough to justify a purchase.