300: March To Glory

By Tristan Clark

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This movie is looking good. It’s gotten generally great reviews overseas, and will be hitting these shores very soon. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for the PSP game March to Glory – but we’ll reserve judgment until it arrives by mid-April.

300: March to Glory is a beat ‘em up, pure and simple. You’ll take control of King Leonidas as he and his 300 Spartan warriors attempt to do the impossible: namely, fight off hundreds of thousands of Persians looking to conquer Greece. The game has stripped away most of the plot in favour of more action, which it should deliver in droves.

For most of the game, you’ll be hacking down any enemy who stands in your way. You’ll do this by using a sword, shield, and javelin, all of which can be switched between at the touch of a button. You’ll be able to string together various combos by mashing the attack buttons, as well as perform other interesting moves like butting people in the face with your shield, or throwing your javelin at someone. It all looks straightforward and somewhat shallow, so it’ll be interesting to see whether the game holds up after playing it for a while.

To break up the monotony, you’ll occasionally control your entire phalanx of troops, all as a single entity. You can move them forward or back, and command them to attack or guard, as waves of troops rush at you and attempt to beat you back.

Graphically, March to Glory looks good for a PSP title, and it certainly seems to have the gore and flailing limbs down to an art. Having said that, the fight scenes don’t look nearly as chaotic or hectic as they ought to, whether by design or because of hardware limitations.

If you’re after a simple beat ‘em up that you can take on the go, March to Glory looks entertaining enough in its own way. Having said that, it does look quite shallow - so you might want to try it out before buying it if you can.

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