Shadow of Rome - Reception

Reception

Shadow of Rome received generally favorable reviews from game critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the game received an average score of 75, based on 52 reviews, which indicates "general favorable reviews". Also, at GameRankings, which uses a similar grading scale, Shadow of Rome received at 76.40% ranking, based on 60 reviews.

Several critics did not like the stealth sections of Shadow of Rome. Simon Cox of 1UP.com thought the levels affiliated with Octavianus were boring, saying "it's lack of experience with stealth action creates a multitude of sins for the other 50 percent of the game: the tedious drudgery that characterizes the Octavianus stealth levels." Video game critic Kristan Reed also did not like the Octavianus sections of Shadow of Rome, calling it disappointing and saying, "From the very first to the very last they're just never that enjoyable on a basic level". Bryn Williams of GameSpy called these levels "dull".

Heather Newman of the Detroit Free Press gave Shadow of Rome a favorable rating, saying the gladiator levels with Agrippa were "fun to control, fast-paced and challenging". The New York Times editor Charles Herald, however, thought the gladiator levels, at times, were "goofily over the top", saying that "Some of Agrippa's weapons are as big as he is." Despite that, Herald positively noted the gameplay, and the game a favorable review. GameSpot's Greg Kasavin gave Shadow of Rome an 8.2 out of 10, meaning "great". He complimented the storyline, saying the game has an "intriguing storyline and great-looking cinematic cutscenes". Ed Lewis of IGN also commented on Shadow of Rome's storyline. He claims the Octavianus sections "weigh down the game but the rest of the game is enough to pull the game through to the end."