Short & brutal // Recommended only if on sale

LockeProposal's Big Day Out

+ Executions are cinematic and fluid+ Multiple, simulataneous executions are possible (and look great)+ Visuals are absolutely jaw-dropping, and do well to showcase some truly spectacular set design+ Voice-acting is top shelft; every major and supporting character was voiced expertly+ Myriad unlockables scattered throughout+ Combat is superb and feels very polished+ Writing for dialogue is very well-done, and complemented the voicing talent so well as to fit like a glove+ Facial animations so well done they will leave the player totally floored; seemingly every nuance of twitches, quivers, and muscle movements are captured- Moving in formation and giving orders during battles do little to affect the events that unfold, and the entire experience is largely dumbed down for the player's convenience; all choices are essentially hollow padding- Precious little mob variation; there doesn't seem to be more than 8 or 9 enemy models throughout the entire campaign- Historically, the game is not only inaccurate, it is entirely nonsensical; the writers essentially took all the famous names they could find in Roman history and plastered them on fabricated characters, many of them jarringly stereotypical- Executions, which rely heavily on Quick Time Events (QTE) follow through and succeed even if the player fails the QTE; this is blatant hand-holding in the extreme, and does absolutely nothing to challenge the player- Little is done to spruce up the combat throughout the campaign, and it therefore ends up feeling dull and repetitive by the game's conclusion- Short campaign; I clocked in at just under 6 hours for a full playthrough- Massive over-reliance on QTE; makes the entire game and playable combat feel scripted and low-effort