Ever since the movie Gladiator, there has been a renewed interest in the genre and Acclaim are the latest to jump on the bandwagon with their latest game from their Manchester studios, 'I Gladiator'.

In it you play as a warrior slave who just so happens to have been selected by the Gods to restore the Empire to glory. So that means you'll have ever changing and developing objectives as you progress through the exciting story. The game promises a mix of adventure and combat, and perhaps less excitingly, classic history, culture and mythology.

As you progress through the game you'll encounter a variety of environments, from labyrinths and temples, to bloody battlegrounds, all the time your character will be developing, improving his combats skills and learning new moves. With all of these new moves, you would think that the controls would get complex, but Acclaim claim that they will be keeping it simple. The purpose of learning new moves appears to be so that you can inflict gorier deaths on your opponents, as the more gory the death, the higher your 'Blood Meter' will rise. Once this blood meter is full, things really kick off, as you can then use a variety of super powers, from summoning the powers of the elements, to gaining incredible strength, you can even20wake the dead to assist you in battle!

The combat has given yet more variety with the vast array of weapons available in the game, ranging from the conventional swords and the like, to powerful weapons of mythic legend. Also, you can protect your gladiator with battle armour, which can be personalised!

Acclaim are promising a cinematic approach to the game, with high quality voice actors, fixed cameras and lighting effects to remind us of the classic gladiator movies. Just as long as they remember it's a game they're making, and don't focus on this too much!

Whether Acclaim will get the balance of combat and adventure right remains to be seen. Nobody wants to wander aimlessly around a labyrinth when they could be hacking the limbs off of an enemy, but likewise it could get dull if it was just battle after battle.

I Gladiator certainly has potential, and could appeal to many a blood thirsty gamer. Let's hope that Acclaim get it right this time.