Best Games With Gladiator Arenas

Key Takeaways

• Various games offer an immersive gladiator experience, ranging from arcade-like to RPG-heavy.
• Shadow Of Rome
  and
  Spartan: Total Warrior
  provide action-packed gladiator gameplay across platforms.
• Ryse: Son Of Rome
  delivers cinematic gladiator action with intense combat mechanics.

As barbaric as the concept is, fighting in colosseums and arenas as a gladiator still resonates with people. This is perfectly cemented by the excitement of Ridley Scott’s Gladiator 2, which once again has audiences flocking to see warriors battle with swords and shields. It’s a meta way of replicating the same excitement people felt almost two thousand years ago in real life.

Video games are no different, with various action-oriented genres providing gamers with ways of living out the fantasy of fighting to the death in an arena. It can be the entire focus of the game, or be a portion of the game that stands out for its depictions of gladiator combat.

9 Gladiator’s Arena

Micro Action Game That Mixes Cuteness And Brutality

• Developer: AFIL Games, Beni Games
• Release Date: January 27, 2022
• Genre: Rogue-lite Action
• System: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, PC, Mobile,

Fun is the best way to describe Gladiator’s Arena, with its cute art style and simplistic combat controls as a lone gladiator surviving hordes of enemies. The game is similar to Vampire Survivors where it can be easy to turn the brain off and slash away at other warriors, tigers, alligators, and more.

There are also minor RPG elements in Gladiator’s Arena. As the player levels up, they can upgrade using coins to make themselves stronger, to the point of slaying most enemies with a single swipe. Unlike Vampire Survivors, the entire game is only on one screen, which can make it a bit repetitive.

8 Gladius (2003)

Even Gladiators Need To Be Strategic Sometimes

Rather than direct control, Gladius has the player commanding armies of gladiators in a turn-based strategy RPG. It’s all about raising a school of gladiators to be the best of the best, going up against other gladiator factions, with grounded human enemies as well as the supernatural, such as an evil sorceress.

Gladius is one of the lesser-known games made by LucasArts, but it was praised by critics and gamers alike for its strategic gameplay that can be as fun as it can be challenging. As a bonus, two different protagonists allow for replayability, since each one has a unique story that plays out differently.

7 Spartan: Total Warrior

Slaying Armies Of Romans Like Classic Kratos

• Developer: Creative Assembly
• Release Date: October 7, 2005
• Genre: Hack-And-Slash Action
• System: PlayStation 2, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube

At the height of popularity for the original God Of War, Spartan: Total Warrior was made to capitalize on it with very similar hack-and-slash gameplay. Green orbs for health, blue for magic, combo counting, and more all combined with a hint of Dynasty Warriors as it featured an impressive number of allies and enemy NPCs fighting on screen for the time.

While most of the game centers around the rise of Sparta rebelling against Rome, there are multiple arenas throughout the campaign, including a more traditional Colosseum. It received lukewarm reviews on release, but has since gained a reputation as an overlooked gem of the PS2 era that moves at a break-neck pace.

6 Gladius (2022)

A VR Experience Makes Players Feel Like They Are In The Arena

• Developer: VirtualAge
• Release Date: October 29, 2022
• Genre: Action-Adventure
• System: Meta Quest

For those who seek a more immersive gladiator experience, virtual reality might be the ideal choice in the 2022 version of Gladius. Gone are the strategies and turn-based gameplay, but instead, the VR controls force the player to rely on their reflexes to counter and fight other gladiators in a massive arena.

There is a campaign with more exploration and quests, but Gladius also provides a more arcade-like experience with the Arena mode, which is a straightforward survival mode with waves of enemies that get progressively harder. Both are ideal for replicating the look and feel of being inside the shoes of the gladiator, akin to Maximus Decimus Meridius from the Ridley Scott movie.

5 Shadow Of Rome

A Capcom Adventure That Is As Silly As It Is Fun

• Developer: Capcom
• Release Date: February 4, 2005
• Genre: Action-Adventure
• System: PlayStation 2

Capcom is the studio behind Shadow Of Rome, and the result is an over-the-top third-person action game with overacting and cheesy dialogue, but it heavily embraces it. It features a gladiator slaying hordes of enemies with massive weapons in gory ways, chariot battles, stealth sections, and massive boss battles.

Shadow Of Rome is a precursor to the beloved Dead Rising games, with many elements being similar in style. From the way the character moves and fights to the animations, and even the strangely extravagant writing. Instead of zombies, it’s other warriors in the Roman Empire, leading to a game that is considered enjoyable, but pales in comparison to Capcom’s future games.

4 Mount & Banner 2: Bannerlord

Players Can Choose Any Medieval Destiny

Freedom is the key mechanic in Mount & Banner 2: Bannerlord, as it is an RPG that allows the player to take their character’s life in any direction after starting as a lowly nobody in the medieval age. From the moment the sandbox is opened, a player can work to become a powerful lord or thrive in gladiator pits to become the greatest warrior in progressively illustrious arenas.

It should be noted that Mount & Banner 2 is not a pick-up-and-play kind of game; it’s a slower RPG that is meant to be played in long portions. Not much happens overnight, which makes it not for everybody, but it is praised for its grounded take on the RPG genre.

3 Ratchet: Deadlocked

Ratchet Becomes A Space Gladiator To Entertain The Galaxy

Rather than swords and chariots, Ratchet: Deadlocked plants the titular hero into an intergalactic gladiatorial arena to face off against alien beings and robots. Also known as Rachet: Gladiator in some regions, Ratcher: Deadlocked mixes action and platforming much like other games in the Ratcher & Clank series but with a darker tone.

Ratchet: Deadlocked was praised for its gameplay additions while featuring expressive characters and comedy straight out of an animated movie. The darker tone is more fitting for the action-packed battles inside the televised game show, mixing in new gameplay battle mechanics and weapons that make Ratchet: Deadlocked stand out from other games.

The Arena Is One Of The Best Factions To Invest In

While it is far from the main aspect, there is a gladiator-centric storyline in The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion. After creating their fantasy character, the player can freely explore Cyrodiil to their heart’s content. There are many quests to complete, with multiple guilds and factions to join, including the Arena.

In the Arena, it is as it sounds, with the player able to rise up the ranks as a fighter to earn experience, money, and other prizes, with each opponent getting stronger and the bloody fights getting more brutal. This storyline in Oblivion is best for players with a more melee-based build with one or two-handed weapons.

1 Ryse: Son Of Rome

The Most Cinematic Gladiator Game Deserves More Praise

One of the launch titles for the Xbox One, Ryse: Son Of Rome focuses on a Centurion named Marius Titus and his ascent to becoming a leader in Rome’s army. The story itself is short and sweet, focusing on the brutality and grittiness of war that centurions went through, with the combat being the most praised element that features sword-play that is similar to Batman: Arkham combat.

The combat in Ryse: Son Of Rome is best experienced in its alternate Gladiator mode, which takes what already worked so well in the main campaign and puts emphasis on entertaining the masses while staying alive. Even Marius’ story features a gladiator section that takes a lot of inspiration from iconic movies like Gladiator and Ben Hur.