Game: Spartacus Legends

Platform: PSN/XBLA

Publisher/Developer: Ubisoft/Kung Fu Factory

Genre: Fighter

Describe This Game in Three Words: Stabby Stabby Stabby

Plot: You run a gladiator school (ludus) back in gladiator times. Now you buy slaves and train them into living weapons to fight in the arena for gold and fame.

Up, Up: Modern fighters rely so much on their power of their characters. Hell, I would rather watch the last Mortal Kombat and Injustice as movies than actually play them. It's kind of invigorating to just leap into something completely unmolded by story like you do in Spartacus.

As a fighter it doesn't rely on special moves or flashy powers. Instead, there's an honest learning curve to teach you basic fighting technique within the engine. Since the goal is to continuously level up your character by earning silver and fame to upgrade their equipment and attribute perks, the game truly becomes an engaging test of skill rather than learning which character to cheese. It's an incredibly fair game in that sense, and reminds me of the old 16-bit title Weaponlord in both its brutality and realistic weapon fighting style. It's just simple and bloody and brilliant.

Oh, and it's free. Seriously. The game is free. You can literally buy your way up the ladder if you want, but actually getting and playing the game is totally free.