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Gladiator Duel

About Gladiator Duel[]

Sports Champions' Gladiator Duel event is a simulation of a sword & shield combat fight. A single player may play a game-provided opponent, or two players may compete against each other.



Game Play[]

Gladiator Duel may be played by a single player competing against simulated opponents provided by the game in various skill levels, or by two players competing against each other. Players may use one or two Move Controllers each to control the weapon and shield with their motion, and control avatar movement with the buttons on the controller(s).

The winner of the round is determined by either a Knock-Out (KO), forcing an opponent out of the combat ring (Ring Out), or on scoring if time expires without a KO or Ring Out. A match may comprise one, three, or five rounds, depending on mode of play, with the match awarded to the winner of the most rounds won.

Damage points are scored by striking the opponent with the weapon. The damage scored by a blow depends on the speed of the strike and the location of the hit on the opponent (e.g., the head does the most damage.) The number of points scored against an avatar is indicated by a brief number appearing on the screen at the time of the hit, and the total damage in the fight is indicated on a horizontal bar at the top of the screen. When a player has scored enough damage on the opponent, the opponent is knocked out (K.O.) and the standing player wins the fight. If the time limit for the match expires before either player is knocked out, the fight is awarded to the opponent who has received the least damage.

The choice of weapons depend on the avatar and on which bonus weapons have been unlocked. In addition to the sword, some avatars have other weapons, such as mace, hammer, or battle axe available.

Damage may be avoided by dodging or blocking with a shield or parrying with a weapon.

The Shield will sustain damage from a weapon blow and become progressively less effecting at blocking future blows. Blocking blows also accumulates points towards a Super Strike.

Each blow blocked with the shield, the defending player accumulates points towards a Super Strike, a special combination attack that allows extra damage to be scored. When the Super Strike is available, the player activates it by pressing the X button on the Move controller. The player then must score a hit on the opponent to perform the Super Strike combination.

A blow may move a combatant, depending on the location and speed of the blow (it may also temporarily knock a combatant down.) A player moved outside the combat ring loses the fight (Ring Out).

A blow may temporarily knock an opponent down. A jump attack against a prone combatant is especially effective. A prone player may attempt to roll away from a blow or to stand up.

A player who receives a lot of damage in a short period of time may become stunned. A stunned player remains standing but is defenseless. A stunned player is indicated by thin white lines circling the avatar's head.

Damage can also be avoided by dodging blows. Players have limited control of the combatants' movements. The competing avatars automatically move to face off against each other. Players may dodge left, right, or straight back using the buttons on the Move Controller(s).

A player who moves too much may stumble and lose balance. A player who stumbles or comes too close to the ring's edge may lose balance. A combatant who has lost balance is open to attack.

 

Controls[]

A Gladiator Duel player may use one or two Playstation Move controllers each. They control the sword (or other weapon) and shield, and the player's movements.

Single Move Controller per player[]

With one Move controller, the player controls the sword with the Move controller. The player may choose at the start of play whether to hold the Move controller in the left or right hand. The sword my be swung at a specific target location according to how the Move controller is swung. The sword my also be stabbed straight at the opponent with a thrusting motion of the Move controller.

When the T button is pressed and held on the Move controller, the player controls the shield instead of the sword. The shield may be moved to block an opponent's blow. The shield may also be used to perform a shield smash, pushing the opponent back with the shield. This is done by pushing the Move controller forward quickly while pressing the . This action, if it succeeds, may open the opponent to a sword attack.

Movement may be used to avoid a blow or shield smash. Moving the Move controller lower causes the avatar to crouch. This can be used to duck or crouch behind the shield.

Ps3squarebutton

The player may move quickly one step left by pressing the Square [] button on the Move controller.


Ps3trianglebutton

The player may move right by pressing the Triangle Δ button.


Ps3movebutton

The player may jump back a step by pressing the Move button. This is also useful to avoid shield smash.


Ps3xbutton

If a combatant has a Super Strike available, it may be activated by pressing the X button on the Move controller.


If a player uses movement repeatedly, there is a chance the avatar may stumble and become momentarily open to an attack.

A player may execute a 'jump attack' by raising both Move controllers up over the head. (There is no need to aim this, it is automatically directed at the current location of the opponent.)

Hasten recovery of a stunned combatant by shaking the Move controller back and forth at the player's side.

Have a prone combatant stand up by quickly lifting up the Move controller up.

Cause a prone combatant to roll away from a blow by holding the Move controller low and quickly sweeping it to the left or right (direction of desired roll.)

Speed up recovery from lost balance by waving the Move controller in small circles at the side.

Two Move Controllers per player[]

A player with two Move controllers, the player swings the sword with one Move controller and moves the shield with the other Move controller. At the start of play, the player designates whether the right or left hand will control the sword. The sword my be swung at a specific target location according to how the Move controller is swung. The sword my also be stabbed straight at the opponent with a thrusting motion of the Move controller.

The player controls the shield with the other move controller. The shield may be used to block an opponent's blow. The shield may also be used to perform a shield smash, pushing the opponent back with the shield, by pressing the T button on the shield's Move controller and pushing that Move controller forward quickly. This action, if it succeeds, may open the opponent to a sword attack.

Movement may be used to avoid a blow or shield smash. Moving the Move controller lower causes the avatar to crouch. This can be used to duck or crouch behind the shield.

Ps3movebutton

The player may move quickly one step left by pressing the Move button on the left hand's Move controller.

The player may move right by pressing the Move button on the right-hand Move controller. The player may jump back a step by simultaneously pressing the Move buttons on both Move controllers. This is useful to avoid shield smash. If a player uses movement repeatedly, there is a chance the avatar may stumble and become momentarily open to an attack.

If a combatant has a Super Strike available, it may be activated by pressing the X button on the sword's Move controller, and then striking a blow swinging the Move controller normally.

A player may execute a Jump Attack by raising both Move controllers up over the head. (There is no need to aim this, it is automatically directed at the current location of the opponent.)

Hasten recovery of a stunned combatant by holding the Move controllers out at opposite sides shaking them back and forth.

Have a prone combatant stand up by quickly lifting up the Move controllers up.

Cause a prone combatant to roll away from a blow by holding the Move controllers low and quickly sweeping them to the left or right (direction of desired roll.)

Speed up recovery from lost balance by holding the Move controllers out at both sides and waving them in small circles.


View[]

With a single player, the entire playing screen is devoted to that single player's view of the targets. The game-run opponent is left unseen, though the score is visible and shots are visible on courses where both players compete for the same targets.

With two players in competition, a split screen is used to show each player's own view of the target.

Sports Champion Gladiator Duel Combat - two players, each gets a view on a split-screen.

A horizontal bar shows at the top of the screen the amount of damage points each combatant has sustained.

Gladiator superstrike

A circular indicator in the lower portion of the screen shows the amount of points accumulated by blocking for a Super Strike. When the Super Strike combination is available, this indicator pulses and a prompt appears to activate it. When activated, the sword (or other weapon) glows. If a player hits with a Super Strike, additional on-screen arrow prompts appear to guide the Move controller actions through the combination (these motions are different for each player avatar.)


Gladiator stunned

A stunned combatant is shown with thin white lines circling the avatar's head. (If that avatar is controlled by a player, the player can speed "recovery" time by shaking the Move controler(s). ("Shake it off"?)


Arena[]

Sports Champions Gladiator Duel provides several virtual playing locations: An Amphitheater, a Coliseum, and an Underground, either in daylight or at night. All arena are the same size, and the combat area is level, without obstruction. Except for lighting and shadows, play is unaffected by location.

Champions Cup[]

Mode champions cup icon

The Champions Cup is a series of Gladiator Duel matches for a single player against each of the ten playable characters, each of increasing difficulty. There are four such Cup tournaments: Bronze Cup, Silver Cup, Gold Cup, and finally Champions Cup. Each cup must be won in order by winning the ten matches. Each of the ten matches in the Cup must be won in order at least once to unlock the next match: Gisselle, Kenji, Belle, Jackson, Boomer, special challenge round, Dallas, Kat, Tatupu, Connor, and Rin. A player must play a re-match against the current unbeaten Cup opponent until the player wins the match at least once. (It is not necessary to repeat earlier victories in a Cup tournament to earn a re-match for a loss, but player may return to any previously-won match, at any Cup skill level, for a re-match at any time by selecting that character as an opponent. Losing a re-match does not affect the player's tournament advancement or high-score for that round.)

Gladiator Duel's Challenge Cup matches consist of a three timed rounds, the match won by the first to win two rounds. A round may be won by knock-out (exhausting an opponent's health) or a ring-out (knocking an opponent out of the arena.) If neither has occurred by the time limit (100 seconds), the match goes to the player with the least damage (highest remaining health.)

The sixth round of each tournament is a special challenge round; it is a shortened version of the Challenge mode, with the player striking rapidly at specific hit locations to score points. It cannot be lost, but it must be completed at least once to unlock the next round. Completing the first special challenge round in the Bronze Cup make Challenge Mode available for play.


Match Scoring[]

Each victory in a Gladiator Duel Champions Cup match is given a score, depending on a number of statistics for the player's victory:

Gladiator Duel match scoring
Match Time (approx 1000 less 5.5 per elapsed secs)
First Strike x 100 (number of rounds in which player hit first)
(KOs) (x 50) (Knock-Outs & Ring-Outs)
Critical Hits x 50
Slams x 25
Launchers x 25 (blow lifts opponent into air)
Defense
Health bonus (500 max per round) (less damage taken)
Level of difficulty bonus multiplier
x 1.00 bronze 
x 1.25 silver
x 1.50 gold
x 2.00 champions


Sports champions star

One to three Stars are awarded for each Gladiator Duel victory, according to the number of points scored in the victory. A player may play a re-match of any previously-won Champions Cup match to improve the score; the game only records the player's highest score and stars awarded in each match (so a re-match loss or lower score does not affect the player's standing.)


Victory Pose Photo[]

After winning all ten matches of any Gladiator Duel Cup, the Playstation will use the Playstation Move "Eye" camera to take a victory pose picture for that cup, electronically editing in a sword where the Move controller is held. This victory pose photo may be ignored, saved on the Playstation, or uploaded to Facebook. A photo saved on the Playstation can be viewed by going to the Gladiator Duel Champions Cup screen for that Cup level (where the player selects the character and opponent) and pressing the square [] button. The photo can not be deleted, but it can be replaced by playing a re-match of the tenth round and winning and taking a new victory pose photo, which replaces the previous one.


Unlockables[]

There are four Cups of increasing skill level: Bronze Cup, Silver Cup, Gold Cup, and finally Champions Cup. (The last tournament, Champions Cup, only becomes visible after the Gold Cup is won.) Each match must be won to unlock the next match against the next avatar; each Cup must be won to unlock the next higher tournament. Each Cup may be won by defeating all ten opponents (and completing the special challenge round after the 5th match.)


Bonus Avatar[]

Titus, Gladiator Duel Bonus character

Winning the tenth match (against Rin) in the Gold Cup unlocks the Champions Cup. It also unlocks a bonus match in the Gold Cup against a new bonus character, Titus Maximus. The bonus match does not need to be played or won in order to continue to the Champions Cup play, but winning the bonus round in the Gold Cup makes that bonus character, Titus, available for play in all Sports Champions events.



Bonus Outfits[]

Each character begins each Sports Champions event with two outfits: a standard uniform, and a casual outfit. Gladiator Duel provides the most distinctive collection of casual outfits for the character avatars, each using special custom armor unique to each character. (In addition, each character begins with his or her own exclusive Weapon & shield.)

As with other Sports Champions events, defeating a character with a three stars victory in any Cup round unlocks an additional gladiator outfit for that defeated character, according to the Cup level. Unlocked outfits are available for that character in all modes of Gladiator Duel play: Champions Cup, Free Play, and Challenge mode. Each character begins with two gladiator outfits, a "uniform" and "casual". A 3-star Bronze victory unlocks a brown "bronze" outfit, a 3-star Silver victory unlocks a blue "silver" outfit, a 3-star Gold victory unlocks a yellow "gold" outfit, and a 3-star Champions level victory unlocks a black "champions" outfit. Note: the outfit is won for the defeated character avatar; so, to earn an outfit for your own avatar, you must defeat yourself with a 3-star win.


Ps3circlebutton

The player can cycle through available character outfits on the character-selection screen by pressing the circle O button on the Move controller at the character selection screen before play begins.



Bonus Equipment[]

Each character begins with his or her own exclusive Weapon & shield and matching custom armor (seen in the "casual" outfit). Certain achievements in Champions Cup gladiator matches unlock additional weapons: If you win match 5 (vs Boomer) of the first three cup tournaments, you will earn a Japanese Katana (bronze), Phantom Sword (silver), and Bling Sword (gold). If you defeat Titus in the bonus match of the 4th Champion Cup ("platinum") tournament, you will earn Titus' Flaming War Axe (not pictured). If you lose 3 consecutive matches against the same opponent, you will earn the Wooden Training Sword as a booby prize.

Japanese Katana
Phantom Sword
Vinyl Bling Sword
Wooden Training Sword
Japanese Katana Phantom Sword Bling Wooden Training Sword
5th round Bronze 5th round Silver 5th round Gold 3 straight losses


Ps3xbutton

A player can cycle through the choice of weapons for a match by pressing the X button on the Move controller at the character selection screen, before play begins of any Bronze, Silver, Gold, or Champions Cup or Free Play match, or any level of Challenge Mode.


Bonus Arenas[]

Bonus Location Awarded

Gladiator Duel play begins with two settings available for the combat in Free Play mode: the Amphitheater and the Coliseum in daylight. Winning the Bronze Cup Champions Cup play unlocks the nighttime version of those venue. Winning the Silver Cup unlocks the Underworld setting. Settings are cosmetic only, although "out of the ring" fatality animations and sound varies depending on scenarios. The playing surface and ring size are identical, and play is not affected.

 

Free Play[]

Mode free play icon

Free Play mode allows casual gladiator duels for either one player against a game-operated opponent, or for two players against each other using a split-screen view. Each player needs at least one Playstation Move Controller.


Gladiator Duel with two players (Kat vs Rin), each gets a view on a split-screen.


Each of the players may select either Bronze, Silver, or Gold level of difficulty. Bronze and Silver levels provide some game assistance to make play easier for novices, while Gold level provides no assistance. (When two players compete, each may choose a different difficulty level. This makes it possible for a more experienced player to provide a handicap to a less experienced player, by, e.g., having the better player use Gold and the novice player use Bronze.) In single player mode against a game-operated opponent, Bronze and Silver levels also provides easier opponents.

Free Play matches differ from Champions Cup matches in that Free Play contests consists of more rounds (usually best three of five).

The player chooses specific setting for Free Play. Not all locations are available initially; some need to be unlocked by winning Cups in the Champions Cup. Choice of location is cosmetic only: except for lighting conditions, it does not affect the duel.

Challenge Mode[]

Mode challenge mode icon

Gladiator duel Challenge Mode allows a single player to test attack accuracy and speed. The player is presented with a dummy target (Greg) to swing at.


Gladiator Challenge


The player faces a dummy character avatar. Specific hit locations (left arm, head, right arm, chest, left leg, right leg) are hi-lited in red. The player is to swing and hit that specific location on the target. A successful aimed strike scores points. Multiple consecutive hits adds bonus multipliers to the score. A miss sounds a tone. After each swing, hit or miss, a different hit location appears. The objective is to score as many points as possible in the time limit. Sports Champions keeps track of the player's highest score.

The Challenge Mode is not initially available. It must be unlocked by playing the first special challenge round in the Bronze Cup tournament of Champions Cup play (which in turn requires winning the first five rounds of the Bronze Cup tournament to access.)


Signature Weapons[]

Gladiator Duel provides the most distinctive collection of casual outfits and equipment for the character avatars, each using special custom armor unique to each character (visible when wearing the "casual" outfit). In addition, unique among Sports Champions events, each character begins with his or her own exclusive Weapon & shield, available only to that specific character. Even the bonus avatars from other sports, once they've been unlocked for play, each get their own special weapon for Gladiator Duel, no matter how incongruous their appearance in the arena may seem. (Bonus avatars don't have sport-specific costumes, however.)

Trophies[]

Some achievements in Gladiator Duel competition award Playstation Trophies.

Gladiator Duel Trophies
I Hit Someone Bronze Win a Gladiator Duel match in any mode.
King of the Ring Bronze Win 30 matches in Gladiator Duel by knocking your opponent out of the ring in Champion mode
Man or Machine? Bronze Score 15,000 or more in Gladiator Dual Challenge mode.
Supper Parry Bronze Successfully parry (block using just your weapon) a Super Strike attempt against all ten opponents in Gladiator Duel playing Champions Cup.
Super Striker! Silver Complete 50 "Super-Strikes" in Gladiator Dual playing Champions Cup.


Some achievements in Gladiator Duel, such as total Stars won in Champions Cup play, are components in other all-sports trophies. (See complete list of Sports Champions Trophies.)



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