Originally Posted by IGN
In 480 BC at Thermopylae, a small Greek coalition, which included 300 Spartans, fought against an invading Persian army. Spoiler alert: The Spartans lost. But the valor shown in temporarily holding back the vast Persian forces inspired the Greeks to unite and take arms. The Battle of Thermopylae is considered to have saved Western civilization. And this is what those Spartans died for -- The right for Westerners to create a mediocre action title.
300: March to Glory is based off the new feature film, which is in turn based on Frank Miller's graphic novel which is a hyper-realistic retelling of the Battle of Thermopylae. While Miller's book is a beautiful work and the 300 movie is, by all accounts, phenomenal, March to Glory gets the short end of the stick. This is nothing more than a watered-down Dynasty Warriors clone with far fewer troops and less spectacular combat.
In March to Glory, you play as King Leonidas, a fierce warrior who knows he is sacrificing himself and his 300 men in the hopes of slowing down the Persian army. Equipped with shield, sword and spear, you must hack and slash through numerous Persian troops. There are only a handful of combos available, with a dozen or so more made available for purchase with points earned by killing soldiers of the Persian army. You can kill Persians with your sword, a spear or (if you love Captain America) with your mighty shield.
If developer Collision Studios had been content with a hack-and-slash adventure, 300: March to Glory might have been passable. But instead, Collision added several bad gameplay elements that make the short experience of March to Glory a bit of a pain.
Several times during the action, gamers must form a phalanx, which positions Spartans arm-in-arm in an imposing line. The true phalanx forced soldiers to rely upon one another. Your shield covered the man next to you and his protected the next man and so on. The phalanx was row upon row of Spartans. In March to Glory, the phalanx is a single line of Spartans and forces players to walk forward slowly and press either Square to break shields or X to attack unarmored opponents. It's poorly thought out and slows the action greatly.
Also poorly implemented are some very limited stealth elements. Here your Spartan must sneak about and get behind enemies before attacking them. If spotted, the Persian cries for his crew and they come running. Unfortunately, you can be spotted by enemies off screen, so there's no way to tell if you are in their line of sight. In the end, it becomes so pointless to be stealthy that you're likely to just run forward and hope to get to the next section before the alarm sounds.
March to Glory's one bright spot is its slick cutscenes. Best described as living comic-book art, the scenes that separate the nine combat chapters have a visual flare absent from the main game. The stylish cinematics are better than any single moment of gameplay and serve as the only reason to bother playing 300: March to Glory to its conclusion.
Closing Comments
I've long been a fan of Miller's 300 and eagerly anticipate the movie coming out this Friday. Sadly, 300: March to Glory doesn't do justice to the true tale of the Spartans who gave their lives at Thermopylae. What the story of 300 demands is an over-the-top hack-and-slash game. We don't get that with this PSP-exclusive title. March to Glory is bland, uninspired and at times a real mess. Even if you're desperate for something to play on PSP, leave 300 on the shelf. Go see the film or read Frank Miller's graphic novel. Or better yet, grab a chunk of wood for a sword and take on an imaginary Persian army in your backyard. That's got to be more entertaining than March to Glory.
Source: http://psp.ign.com/articles/770/770425p1.html
In 480 BC at Thermopylae, a small Greek coalition, which included 300 Spartans, fought against an invading Persian army. Spoiler alert: The Spartans lost. But the valor shown in temporarily holding back the vast Persian forces inspired the Greeks to unite and take arms. The Battle of Thermopylae is considered to have saved Western civilization. And this is what those Spartans died for -- The right for Westerners to create a mediocre action title.
300: March to Glory is based off the new feature film, which is in turn based on Frank Miller's graphic novel which is a hyper-realistic retelling of the Battle of Thermopylae. While Miller's book is a beautiful work and the 300 movie is, by all accounts, phenomenal, March to Glory gets the short end of the stick. This is nothing more than a watered-down Dynasty Warriors clone with far fewer troops and less spectacular combat.
In March to Glory, you play as King Leonidas, a fierce warrior who knows he is sacrificing himself and his 300 men in the hopes of slowing down the Persian army. Equipped with shield, sword and spear, you must hack and slash through numerous Persian troops. There are only a handful of combos available, with a dozen or so more made available for purchase with points earned by killing soldiers of the Persian army. You can kill Persians with your sword, a spear or (if you love Captain America) with your mighty shield.
If developer Collision Studios had been content with a hack-and-slash adventure, 300: March to Glory might have been passable. But instead, Collision added several bad gameplay elements that make the short experience of March to Glory a bit of a pain.
Several times during the action, gamers must form a phalanx, which positions Spartans arm-in-arm in an imposing line. The true phalanx forced soldiers to rely upon one another. Your shield covered the man next to you and his protected the next man and so on. The phalanx was row upon row of Spartans. In March to Glory, the phalanx is a single line of Spartans and forces players to walk forward slowly and press either Square to break shields or X to attack unarmored opponents. It's poorly thought out and slows the action greatly.
Also poorly implemented are some very limited stealth elements. Here your Spartan must sneak about and get behind enemies before attacking them. If spotted, the Persian cries for his crew and they come running. Unfortunately, you can be spotted by enemies off screen, so there's no way to tell if you are in their line of sight. In the end, it becomes so pointless to be stealthy that you're likely to just run forward and hope to get to the next section before the alarm sounds.
March to Glory's one bright spot is its slick cutscenes. Best described as living comic-book art, the scenes that separate the nine combat chapters have a visual flare absent from the main game. The stylish cinematics are better than any single moment of gameplay and serve as the only reason to bother playing 300: March to Glory to its conclusion.
Closing Comments
I've long been a fan of Miller's 300 and eagerly anticipate the movie coming out this Friday. Sadly, 300: March to Glory doesn't do justice to the true tale of the Spartans who gave their lives at Thermopylae. What the story of 300 demands is an over-the-top hack-and-slash game. We don't get that with this PSP-exclusive title. March to Glory is bland, uninspired and at times a real mess. Even if you're desperate for something to play on PSP, leave 300 on the shelf. Go see the film or read Frank Miller's graphic novel. Or better yet, grab a chunk of wood for a sword and take on an imaginary Persian army in your backyard. That's got to be more entertaining than March to Glory.
Source: http://psp.ign.com/articles/770/770425p1.html
