Glory of the Arena

Glory of the Arena

It is all about the viewers. They came to the arena to be entertained. Show them your best moves. Defeat the enemies with style. Make a ruthless kill, or spare a life when they demand.

The Audience will reward you with money and glory!

Use the Streaming mode to connect with Spectators, or just use AI viewers.

Let the audience decide whether you shall get more challenging enemies, a powerup, a thumb up or a thumb down.

Or maybe you would prefer to be just the viewer, cheer and vote for the best fighter?

Choose your avatar, armor and weapon. Train your skills and unlock the moves.

Never hold back, never hide nor run from a fight as the audience will hate it.

Jump on a horse or switch weapons.

Fight with honor to win the hearts, or get a reputation of a merciless killer.

Enjoy the single player campaign. From a small local stadium, through battles on ships and fighting animals, to the colosseum itself. Fight your way up from the province to the greatest areas of the Empire.


Read More: Best Historical Swordplay Games.


Glory of the Arena on Steam

SAMURAI SHODOWN NEOGEO COLLECTION

SAMURAI SHODOWN NEOGEO COLLECTION

As someone who plays Samurai Shodown offline for the characters' stories, I think I can recommend this to those looking to play the NeoGeo installments. The museum has interviews with devs, tons of old Samurai Shodown artwork and pictures of old promotional material, including artwork and promotional material of the Capcom & SNK crossover games that feature SamSho characters. HD Scaling makes the characters look smoother when the games zoom out.

It’s a shame Samurai Shodown V here doesn’t include its story mode’s official English translation but it’s still a nice collection if you’re looking to play the NeoGeo Samurai Shodown games on PC.

Real player with 12.0 hrs in game


Read More: Best Historical Multiplayer Games.


This is a collection of all of the mainline games that were released on the Neo-Geo. I have plenty of good memories with these series of games, especially the first game. This collection doesn’t have every single title in the series, such as Samurai Shodown VI. Because of that, this collection comes off more as a tribute to the Neo-Geo as equally as Samurai Shodown.

Where this collection truly shines is in the Museum. There’s just about everything you can think of when it comes to the Samurai Shodown series. Character artwork, concept sketches, stage art, music, etc. There’s even interviews with some of the folks who worked on past games and some professional matches from past tournaments.

Real player with 8.7 hrs in game

SAMURAI SHODOWN NEOGEO COLLECTION on Steam

Battle Cry of Freedom

Battle Cry of Freedom

Battle Cry of Freedom brings brutal real-time first and third-person combat set in the 19th Century America, presenting players with the opportunity to re-fight the American Civil War as either the Union or the Confederacy.

Incorporating a wide range of weaponry, from long range rifled muskets and devastating artillery, to various deadly close combat tools such as bayonets, knives and sabres, players will take up the fight for the North or the South trying to win the day on the bloody battlefields of America.

Fight in Massive Multiplayer Battles

Take part in massive multiplayer battles with up to 300 players simultaneously fighting each other on the same battlefield, in a completely destructible and realistic Civil War combat environment.

Commander Battles

Take control over a company of AI-controlled soldiers and lead your men to glory! Fight in huge battles with up to 800 Bots per Server. Commander Battles are the ultimate gamemode to display your tactical cunning.

Multiple Army Branches

Enlist in the Infantry

Fall in line as a regular infantryman, join the ranks of an elite sharpshooter regiment, or help relay orders as a musician as you get to explore the various roles in the army and trial your favourite units.

Serve in the Artillery

Support your team from the rear and shatter enemy resistance as a gunner. Join the Heavy Artillery and use the 100pdr Parrott Rifle to lob shells over enemy fortifications with devastating effectiveness.

Muster as a Specialist

Enlist in the Engineer Corps and support your team by constructing defenses, building pontoon bridges and supplying ammunition. Or help stitch up wounds of badly wounded teammates by becoming a Surgeon.

Large Weapon Selection

Find your own playstyle! Smoothbores, Rifles, Pistols, Swords, Axes… With more than 120 unique weapons, 70 different types of ammunition and 20 different Artillery pieces, players have plenty of options to choose from.

Charge - Bayonet!

Fix your Bayonet and call the charge. Defeat your enemies using the directional melee combat system inspired by games such as Mount&Blade: Warband, that is easy to learn but hard to master.

Realistic Projectile Physics

Battle Cry of Freedom realistically simulates real life bullet physics by modelling not only velocity and twist rate, but also takes into account factors such as humidity, temperature, air density, local gravity, wind direction and wind strength.

Advanced Artillery System

Each of the 20 Artillery Pieces will perform differently and each gun has its up- and downsides. Artillery can be loaded with a wide range of different ammunition. Percussion-fused shells, time-fused shells, solid shot, bolts, canister and case shot can all be loaded, and work as expected.

Destructible Environments

Destroy bridges, fell trees, punch holes in walls, blow up fences; in Battle Cry of Freedom, almost everything is destructible. But don’t stand under a falling tree…

Construct, Destroy, Resupply

Play as an Engineer and construct various different defences, such as chevaux de frise or sandbag walls. Place forward spawn points and help your team by supplying them with ammunition and weapons. Lead the charge and blow holes into the enemies fort with gunpowder kegs or destroy their defenses with your powerful felling axe.

Fully Customizable Uniforms

Customize your character’s uniform down to the color of the socks he is wearing! Pick from thousands of historically accurate uniform and equipment pieces, choose from different shoes, coats, hats and more. Even how you want to wear your coat is completely up to you. Wear it open, closed, under or over the leatherworks…

Present - Arms!

All animations in Battle Cry of Freedom are based on real world Historical Drill Manuals, such as Casey’s Infantry Tactics or Hardee’s Revised. In addition to the “regular” animations all being historically accurate, the game features a large selection of “role-play” animations, such as Parade - Rest, Present - Arms, Support - Arms, Trail - Arms and more.

Historical accuracy

All the gameplay is historically inspired, with changes only made when it creates a more engaging and exhilarating gameplay experience. While Battle Cry of Freedom is not a simulation game, we make no compromises to accuracy when it comes to cosmetics, such as 3D models or animations. Every stitch is precisely where it needs to be!

More than 14 Battlefields

Fight on one of the 14 beautifully hand-crafted maps, inspired by real-world places and battlefields, or play on a randomly generated map, providing a different combat environment each time.

Dynamic Time of Day and Weather

Fight on an ever-changing battlefield! Wind and lightning will break trees, rain and fog will lower visibility and heavy wind will alter ballistics. Battle Cry of Freedom features a dynamic weather, wind, season and time of day system.

Playable Musicians

Support your team by boosting their morale. In Battle Cry of Freedom, you can become a drummer, fifer or bugler, able to play historically accurate tunes; all recorded and played by award-winning musicians.

More than 50 Background music tracks

Listen to the 2nd South Carolina String Band or to classical music performances by the United States Military Bands. With a grand total of 57 background tracks available in the game, you have a wide selection to choose from, guaranteeing that you’ll never get bored.

Ingame Map Editor

Bored of the pre-included maps? No problem! Create your own maps with the easy to use, but yet very powerful Map Editor included in Battle Cry of Freedom. Custom Map files are only a few megabytes large and will be automatically downloaded from the Server in a matter of seconds, so you spend as much time playing and as little time waiting as possible!

Powerful Admin Tools

In Battle Cry of Freedom, Admins can make use of more than 120 Server settings as well as 35 easy-to-use Admin tools accessible via an ingame interface making Administration of a large server easier than ever before.

Regimental Linebattles

Participate in the community and enlist with a Regiment (Clan) to take part in massive organized battles with players re-enacting historically accurate tactics of the Civil War Era.


Read More: Best Historical War Games.


Battle Cry of Freedom on Steam

Hellish Quart

Hellish Quart

Dear Prospective Sword Fighter😶

Hopefully you’re doing well and alive!!👻

I would like to bring this to your notice that you are wasting your precious life by reading reviews here !!.. Simply put this darn game in your cart and buy it. You already have many unplayed garbage bought on sale so it’s ok.

Please be aware that this is thousand times better than tekken or MK alikes..those are mindless kids button smasher with zillion button combos of powerful wheesh whoosh farts…

This game is for real MEN..Men of honor, sacrifice vigilence kindness and Bravery.🙄💪

Real player with 32.4 hrs in game

Physics based simulation style sword fighting game taking place in 17th century Poland. Think of a cross between… Bushido Blade, Exanima, & Die by the Sword. Created by one of the main animators for Witcher 3. Really amazing to see an animator translate their ideas about animation into gameplay. I’m sure a lot of animators get frustrated by game design limitations.

This would be a really fun party game if you have a couple controllers! It’s easy to learn, very difficult to master, but it’s very fun and feels authentic through and through.

Real player with 19.4 hrs in game

Hellish Quart on Steam

Child Arms

Child Arms

Inspired by the popular Punch-Out!! and the obscure Neo Geo series Crossed Swords, the arcade-style Child Arms is a game in which you can fight all foes to reach each character’s personalized ending, or you can duke it out in online or local battles. You can also play mini-games and even alter characters' appearances and behaviours in the color and AI editors.

Child Arms takes place in a 16th century unlike our own, wherein humankind remains youthful far longer, and have accordingly shaped their world differently from ours. As a player, you can select one of 8 fighters from varied backgrounds as they explore their previously-undiscovered world, rising to the challenge of combatants along the way.

Features

  • Large and beautiful 2D hand-drawn sprites and backdrops

  • Arcade ladder with individual endings for all characters

  • Versus mode for both online and local play modes

  • Training modes including practice, tutorials, and character-specific information

  • Various mini-games

  • User-friendly editors for custom color palettes and AI opponents

  • Keyboard and gamepad support

Child Arms on Steam

Dragon Fist: VR Kung Fu

Dragon Fist: VR Kung Fu

First person VR Kung Fu combat against a variety of different opponents, with a variety of different fighting styles, tactics, special moves and back stories.

Defeat the Dragon Master.. and the rest

When a powerful, ruthless master emerges in the world of martial arts, it awakens many emotions. From the ambitious master looking for a challenge, to the wronged peasant sworn to revenge, to the jealous emperor who wants to be the sole ruler of the people, it brings out many people to fight each other and achieve their own goals.

Step into your own kung fu movie inspired by colourful characters inspired by Chinese and Hong Kong martial arts movies across the decades. Whether you fancy playing as an old wise master, or a young gifted female kung fu student, or a shaolin monk, bruce lee inspired character, samurai or a ninja there’s bound to be someone for you…

Symmetric Physics Based Combat

“When you learn how to adapt, you will be unstoppable… When you redirect your opponents energy: you force him to change. So in essence he defeats himself."

Block attacks with your hands or forearms, or bob and weave, push their arms out the way, or move about, how you fight is up to you. But your opponents might use different strategies also, so you must learn how to foresee their attacks and how best to attack them.

You opponents all have the same controls as you, no advantage, no disadvantage. Except on easier levels they will have less strength - they will also have their speed and intelligence reduced.

Variety

Fight in different scenes an atmospheres inspired by movies, like the dark Red Flower Cult, the misty bamboo forest, kung fu school, (early 20th century) boxing ring + many move

40 different characters that have various colourful costumes and have their own special moves to learn and use. Each character has their own fighting style to fight against aswell as a perk and a weakness

So, take a deep breath, make a fist and prepare to battle your way to victory

Dragon Fist: VR Kung Fu on Steam

GLADIUM

GLADIUM


Hey! If you enjoy short and sweet reviews, follow my curator page [url]here![/url] I am an independent Curator providing reviews and insights to the games that need the spotlight! Thank you! :) 

Gladium is the project of Eirik Wiklund a one man developer studio and yes, the game reminded me of Domina , a strategy game where you took charge of a Ludus, training and preparing Gladiators in a management approach, where the fights were simulated. Both games enjoy the pixel art style and that’s where the comparison should end.

Real player with 14.3 hrs in game

This is quite a difficult game to review tbh. It is a very unforgiving game, some of the bosses you will fight will kill you many times, the part that some people may dislike the most is it’s grind system to be able to defeat the bosses or even try another go at them (you gain blood points to trade for perks and for another chance at a boss if you fail), meaning that if you lose to a boss you will have to play either normal mode or horde mode to try again, making the game VERY repetitive. You will also earn gold to unlock new equipment, which is necessary to try different strategies as you cannot fight all the bosses in the same manner (at least I advise againts it). Ultimately I’m giving it a thumbs up because I had fun the whole 14 hours I played and I even got a little addicted, the theme helped as I really like gladiator style fighting games, but be warned, if you get frustrated easily this may not be for you.

Real player with 13.6 hrs in game

GLADIUM on Steam

Wave War One

Wave War One

Let me say first of all that this game does have promise although it has needs for improvement, first the AI pathing is broken, particularly on the snowy map and it needs more music, not the same one track on a continual loop! The speed of the running animations could be sped up just a bit as it takes units too long to get to there position and start firing. Also the balancing needs to be fixed as when you start a game, you can only get about 2-3 and your enemy can have up too 5-6 doesn’t seem a lot but it does make a difference.

Real player with 0.7 hrs in game

fun little game made by a small time creator

Real player with 0.6 hrs in game

Wave War One on Steam

Katana Kata

Katana Kata

Kata Katana is what you’d expect as a rogue-like. It is very much an early access game but if you look past its shabbiness it’s very engaging what at first seems like an archaic simplistic game becomes much more than that. The controls while somewhat clunky at times are simple yet hard to master. The sense of progression here is great in the beginning you are a frail novice flailing your Weapon about but once you get that timing down and start getting the grips with the game it feels elating. There are a few different weapon types and a nice variety in enemies. I don’t wish to spoil the game for those that care but just know that so far it has been fun. I for one look forward to what comes next.

Real player with 20.9 hrs in game

Fun little game! works well using xbox controller. Never tried Mouse n keyboard. Was happy to see it displays in 3440-1440 @120Hz.

This game brings me back to my summer of 1985, my Mom brought home an Apple PC from the school district, for the summer only, and I fell in love with Karateka. Love the simple art form and the genre!

Edit: 7 hours later, and I still haven’t passed the Garden level, and I only beat my nightmare 2/10 times. Apparently, I am horrible at this. I always start at bath house, and am still enjoying my failures

Real player with 17.3 hrs in game

Katana Kata on Steam

BAYANI - Fighting Game

BAYANI - Fighting Game

Ranida Games used a simple control scheme as a stepping stone for players to understand the intricacies of the characters they use, allowing players to make creative combos and playstyles that work for them. Bayani is one of those few gems that have a low entry-barrier with decent amount of depth.

The graphics are not the best, and there’s a lot of room for improvement, but the gameplay at least makes up for that.

Bursting is the only main issue in Bayani as the availability of bursts is in favor of the most aggressive player. The thing about bursts is that they’re meant to give players a decent fighting chance in fights that seem to be one-sided, and players don’t have much of a fighting chance when the burst becomes available the moment they have less than 40% of their health.

Real player with 186.2 hrs in game

Bought this game on early access and its pretty good for what it is! It honestly might wash the taste of Street Fighter 5 off my tongue and its brimming with potential! Hopefully the devs will polish it further and add more content.

Gameplay is fun and feels right at home for FGC veterans that are tired of whatever Capcom’s doing with their modern 2d fighters.

It doesnt have multiplayer yet! Hopefully they get to work on this immediately!

The artstyle is a miss for me, its inspired but its kinda rough. The backgrounds need a bit more work. Animations are alright and easy to read

Real player with 7.1 hrs in game

BAYANI - Fighting Game on Steam