Shadow of Rome(TM) Official Strategy Guide (Official Strategy Guides (Bradygames)) [Paperback]

Dan Birlew (Author)

Book Description

Series: Official Strategy Guides (Bradygames) | Publication Date: February 4, 2005

BradyGames' Shadow of Rome Official Strategy Guide includes the following:

 

• LEARNHOW TO PLAY AS BOTH AGRIPPA AND OCTAVIANUS
• WALKTHROUGH AND MAPS
• BOSS-BASHING STRATEGIES!
• GAME SECRETS AND CHEATS
• ALL GLADIATORIAL EVENTS COVERED
• COMPLETE LISTING OF SALVOS

 Platform: PlayStation 2

Genre: Action and Adventure

This product is available for sale in North America only.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Brady Games (February 4, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0744004381
• ISBN-13: 978-0744004380
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 8.5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,984,455 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dan Birlew is an author and video game expert who has been writing official, published video game strategy guides since 1999. His original career goals included acting and directing. Video games always excited Dan since he was seven years old, but at the age of twenty-six he began honing his playing skills with the goal of becoming an expert gamer. He enjoyed publishing online documents regarding games, known as "FAQs". Dan inadvertently created an online persona for himself when he wrote and self-published on the Internet a plot analysis of the highly popular survival horror video game, Silent Hill. "The game's story was somewhat vague, and demanded that someone try to explain it," says Birlew.

Upon receiving an overwhelming number of positive responses from other Silent Hill fans, and after some gentle nudging from his wife, Birlew decided to set aside his acting and directing activities to establish a career as a video game strategy guide author. He sent writing samples to several publishing companies. Based on the merits of his very first submission, he was hired by a major publisher within 24 hours. Birlew says, "It was as though I had won the lottery."

Birlew has authored over sixty published video game strategy guides and seeks other methods of publication, such as review columns, articles, and other non-fiction video game-related books. Birlew says of his passion for games, "I love exploring video games, the industry, the culture, the fans -- and there is so much of it about which I can analyze and write." He also bears a strong desire to publish fiction, and is currently working on a novel concerning the paranormal.

Dan Birlew is a native of St. Louis, Missouri, and has lived in Pennsylvania, Texas, and California. He now resides in Las Vegas with his wife of seventeen years. He graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Texas at Austin in 1993. Besides video games, Birlew also enjoys Japanese films and dining with his family and friends in the restaurants and clubs of Las Vegas.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars incomplete, April 18, 2005

By 

P. Strang "killer" (michigan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shadow of Rome(TM) Official Strategy Guide (Official Strategy Guides (Bradygames)) (Paperback)

The guide is not worth the money ! It is incomplete , the very end of the game is not even in the book ! There is another fight with Antonius that is much harder and a battle with Sextus . Worst of all the not so easy battle with the twins !
No explaination , no strategy , no nothing that is helpfull .
Do not buy this guide . Consider the intelligence and mentality of a person who insults my mother over a review ! After the cage fight with antonius the guide ends and the game continues with a long fight in the city and 3 boss fights . Shadows of Rome is an awsome game , one of my favorites , but the guides is not worth th $ .

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars good guide, February 24, 2006

By 

Nick M. "nicklesm17" (chicago) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Shadow of Rome(TM) Official Strategy Guide (Official Strategy Guides (Bradygames)) (Paperback)

despite the other reviews i took a chance on this guide. i could not get past a scene featuring octavianus. this guide may be too helpful. i got past that scene and found myself reading ahead. now i don't figure out any of the challenges, i just use the guide to hurry up and get to the next gladiator scenes. the book also tells you how to beat up each of your opponents more easily. as i said this book may be too good. so if your stuck, it's worth the purchase price. it covers every mode of attack, where hidden items are and how to get to them. it also is written in order of sequence, so as you play keep turning the page as needed.

3.0 out of 5 stars Kept in the Dark, March 18, 2009

By 

Jesse J. Robinson (the F.C., NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shadow of Rome(TM) Official Strategy Guide (Official Strategy Guides (Bradygames)) (Paperback)

When it comes to strategy guides I want them to be over the top helpful. I don't think anyone would disagree with that. I really wanted to give this guide a 2 star rating, but I think the guide offers up just enough information to earn 3 stars.

To some of the other reviewers the reason why the book stops after the final arena battle is because it wants to offer up a surprise ending. By this stage in the game if you have to have a detailed explanation of how to beat the remaining bosses then I don't know what to tell you other than to do hit and run attacks. With all the adversity you face with Agrippa these battles should be nothing more than sitting back and learning the bosses fighting styles if you don't beat them on the first try.

Where this book excels and where I could have rated it higher are the details given to complete the missions. Which is why, I chose to give 3 stars instead of 2 stars.

Of course with that said I wanted to give a 2 star rating or perhaps even a 1 star rating for the following reasons. It says it tells you the secrets of the game. Don't be fooled, it does not. All it gives is a list of salvos' and tells you about the mini games. I guess potential buyers should also note that a strategy guide that is only 128 pages long is not that informative. Detailed explanations to perform the different types of salvos' could easily have taken up an additional 15 pages. Maybe 30+ if they included photos. Personally, I would have loved a detailed explanation of the chariot scarecrow smashing race, a guide through the Labyrinth would have been sweet, and overall a detailed explanation for all the mini games.

So, in the end the guide is worth buying for help with the missions when you get stuck and are in need of help. Outside of that don't even bother looking up any other additional information as the rest of the book is quite useless. For a gaming company to place their seal of approval as an informative guide is shameful. If I was the head of Bradygames I would have never let this book see the light of day.