It's a little weird, right? Arguably the western world's most famous historical blood sport and all recent depictions of it in games have been miserable affairs, to the point where Ubisoft's For Honor (a soul-sucking experience in its own right) is one of the more satisfying modern depictions of a gladiator as far as gameplay goes. I'm pleased to report that this game beats the average.

I do feel conflicted about saying that, because I know the controls will almost immediately be a turn-off to most. Moving your character around feels like steering a pallet jack. Simply ambulating towards your opponents requires that you strain against the physics of the world, against the weight of the leather and cloth (and hopefully, metal) covering you, against the momentum you've already built up. We haven't even swung a weapon yet! Damage is entirely physics-based - for the 81 people on this site who have played Exanima, you've got a sense for how this plays out. You pick a direction to swing and, if you feel like getting a little zany with it, you can whip your character around to try and get some extra oomph behind it before your weapon comes colliding into whatever poor bastard is unlucky enough to be there with you. It's slow and heavy, but it turns each big hit into a white-knuckle, stomach-dropping event that palpably changes the flow of the fight.

That's what I admire most about WWAATD, though - its ability to create a mood, assuming you're willing to buy in. Combat does not feel dignified - there is no choreography. Your weapons and armor have durability, and they are not cheap for someone of your station. You're struggling against the limitations of physics imposed by your character's body and armor, against your opponent and their equipment, and the whole time you're running calculations about how quickly you can butcher the guy in front of you to avoid paying for medication or maintenance. You already came into this fight at 60% HP and your equipment isn't doing too hot, but you swung for the fences and picked a fight that pays out big, assuming you can hack it. Lose a weapon, though, or a shield, and the whole thing comes apart - it's a mad scramble for whatever you can find on the ground, and fuck the costs, you're trying to save your entire character before you break this weapon, too. It's the feeling of fighting with your own brain telling you that this warrants desperation, knowing that the only way out of a situation this dire is to suppress that, to keep a steady mind and a steady hand as you back yourself out of this corner and hope to land a rare, truly clean hit on your opponent to turn things around.

It only works because of the imperfect controls, but at the same time it's very difficult to avoid feeling like you've now done a couple runs and have developed a good plan that is being kneecapped by deliberately obtuse mechanics. There's nothing perfectly consistent in these fights, which makes things thrilling when you're in the right state of mind and deeply frustrating when you're not. Thankfully, it always feels like the AI is playing by the same set of rules, but that's little consolation when the best prospect you have for the next round of RNG fights is a 1v6 against some enemies who are clearly working for a more generous patron. People have different levels of patience for different kinds of frustration and tedium in games, and admittedly mine runs a little low when it comes to accommodating unintuitive/inconsistent controls, made worse when you get screwed with a bad selection of fights. I'm a little sympathetic towards this game, though, because it's the first gladiator game I've played in a minute that takes an honest shot at the concept and isn't developed by some pathetic jagoff.

(Actually, it's kinda heartwarming that this game is such an obvious labor of love - the dev seems downright giddy that anyone would play this at all, judging by the loading screen tips and the tweets.)