Shadow of Rome seeks to rectify that somewhat with a fairly accurate recreation of ancient Rome, and a different take on Julius Caesar's murder. Many of the characters in the game are drawn from real-life people and the events are all mostly faithful to what we know about Roman history. The level of realism doesn't stop at the setting or the people, with much of the action that of ordinary folk. No spells or fantasy characters appear, with the bulk of the opponents being ordinary soldiers or fighters.

The main characters in the game are Agrippa and Octavianus, both playable in different stages. At the start of Shadow of Rome, Julius Caesar is murdered. Agrippa's father is found guilty of this and is sentenced to be executed by the winner of the Gladiatorial Games. The story follows Agrippa and Octavianus in their efforts to free Agrippa's father and prove his innocence.

Despite having interesting settings and a strong history to draw from, the characters remain strangely unlikeable and many players will not be drawn to them in the same way they were to characters of a similar period, such as those in the movie Gladiator, for instance. These are not characters that players can strongly identify with, and their development over the course of the game does nothing to help this. The resulting story based around these characters is not overly engaging, making progress that much harder.

Outside of the story the action is where Shadow of Rome comes to life. Agrippa is a centurion and a warrior, drawn to fight against the Roman state he once fought for in order to save his father. His moves are fairly basic, with separate left and right hands attacks using either his fists or whatever weapons he happens to find. His movements are even more basic with no jump or dodge option, a lumbering gait that means he will outrun no one, and a slow ability to even turn 180 degrees. Luckily a lock-on feature helps in circling an enemy, but this provides little help when fighting multiple foes. In fact, when there are multiple opponents the game's weaknesses in movements start to really show. With no easy way to turn Agrippa to face another opponent often the best course of action is to run away to allow more time to turn.

One feature that has been well implemented is the damage effect on weapons, shields and items. Using a sword will damage it. Use it enough and the sword will break. The same applies to most other objects that can be picked up, so in battles the life of an item also needs to be closely monitored as well as a character's. This adds a good amount of strategy and risk to battles. Finding a good weapon is only a temporary situation.

Agrippa's most exciting levels are those in which he fights in gladiatorial battles, and these are possibly the highlight of the game. Featuring a dozen or so other fighters in a large arena, Agrippa must not only win, but also win in a stylish fashion so as to impress the crowd. Certain moves are rewarded by salvos, which basically represents the crowd's approval. There are quite a few of these to discover, some accruing more than others. Winning a fight without the required amount of salvos will mean needing to repeat the arena, which lifts the game above being just a button-masher. Luckily there is quite a good, but often frustrating, compulsory tutorial to explain the finer point of getting salvos and even special weapons thrown into the ring from the crowd.