Blackthorn Arena

Blackthorn Arena is a game on the verge of strategy games, RPGs and simulation , in which we manage our own arena and an army of gladiators. The game was developed by the independent team of Personae Game Studio and published by CreativeForge Games.

Plot

Blackthorn Arena takes us on a journey to a fantastic world, to be precise, to the Freelands, which after the fall of the Tali Empire became the only area where gladiatorial fights have retained their former glory. As the new owners of the arena, we have to make sure that it regains its former glory while trying to earn as much money as possible from this bloody sport. As it is not difficult to guess, for this purpose we will need an army of warriors, who will win for us and at the same time will remain obedient to us.

Mechanics

In the Blackthorn Arena the game is based on two foundations. The first one is to manage the army of gladiators and our own arena. Like RPG heroes, each of the slaves we've acquired has unique statistics and skills that can be developed over time. The gladiators become killing machines not only on the battlefield but also outside it, training hard in the underground or performing various missions for us, such as attacking caravans, tossing dungeons full of dangers (and potential riches) or even hunting mythical beasts.

However, even the best-trained warrior is not able to win with his bare hands, so we have to take care of the right equipment for each of our donkeys. More than two hundred equipment items have been prepared for the game, which differ in terms of their appearance and combat potential. It is also worth remembering that gladiators are not immortal and can die on the battlefield, which can be severe, especially when we invest a lot of time and gold in a given warrior. And since we are talking about money, we gain it by winning the arena or carrying out missions, as well as organizing fights at home.turf. In addition to new gladiators and equipment for them, we spend gold on improving the arena, making it a true (and dripping blood) pearl of the Freelands.

The second important element of the game are the fights in the arena. The fights, to which we send gladiators, take place in real time, with the option of active pause. Although we can only control one warrior at a time, the others, controlled by AI, can follow the previously prepared commands, adapting their behavior to the situation on the battlefield. Moreover, we can switch to automatic combat mode at any time, giving the artificial intelligence total control over the course of the skirmish.

The main enemies of our slaves are other gladiators who lead their own lives during the game, training, taking part in arena fights, completing tasks or... challenging our warriors to duels. Such NPCs can even die without our help, get injured or, on the contrary, grow in strength, becoming more difficult enemies. The last one also makes a gladiator defeated in the arena sometimes not worth saving; for you never know whether in the future one of our gladiators will not have to face him and be laid dead by him. Fighting other gladiators, however, is not the only thing a warrior does. From time to time warriors must therefore take part in the Venationes (their name is taken from the Latin venatio, which means fighting against wild animals organized in ancient Rome), during which they have to face over thirty kinds of fantastic creatures.

Game modes

Even though the Blackthorn Arena only offers single player mode, a substitute for the multiplayer is the opportunity to send your gladiators to battle with warriors belonging to other players.

Technical aspects

Blackthorn Arena uses Unity technology. Graphic design of this game presents itself decently, and you may like the scenic arenas and full of details elements of equipment of our team members.