Glory of Sparta Review

While it's certainly no history lesson, Glory of Sparta is a fun strategy game in which players control a small contingent of Spartan soldiers as they defend their home from the invading forces of Xerxes' Persian army. This game is a well-balanced mix of strategy and action elements, and it keeps players on their toes while not overwhelming them. As a strategy experience, it fits on the iPhone well with manageable ways to command multiple units and sophisticated AI that make units intelligent enough to free the player from babysitting them. The action elements are also well suited to the iPhone with simple controls and commands used to execute devastating hero attacks.

In many strategy games, the player will produce lots of different types of units and direct these units in battle. In Glory of Sparta, players still produce lots of different unit but they only control their hero unit directly. All other units are AI controlled and automatically move about the battlefield in search of enemies to destroy. The player-controlled hero unit is a seasoned Spartan commander that they direct in battle. Players move this hero unit around the battlefield to fight enemies, unleash special attacks, and collect spirit gems and money dropped by defeated foes. Spirit gems are the resources that can be used to build up an army by calling in more units or used to execute special hero attacks. Money is used during or between levels to upgrade units and purchase new abilities.

Each level in this game consists of a horizontal strip of battlefield where the player's hero and units advance from the left and the enemy units advance from the right. Generally, the goal is to clear the entire field of enemies while protecting the Spartan base on the left side of the field. There are many different types of units to both command and destroy and they all require their own strategic consideration.

The many elements of Glory of Sparta work well together. The buttons are a bit crowded and this can occasionally make it difficult to hit the right one at the right time. Aside from this, though, the action and strategy elements work well together. This is an entertaining title with a lot to offer players at the very small price of free.