Less trying are the "phalanx" moments, when you and your boys line up as if to play Red Rover, but then just walk ahead and spear-stab everyone who gets in your way until your formation breaks up or you kill your target - usually a big enemy like a war elephant. They feel bolted on (the elephants have a remarkably tough time hurting you) but it's unique, at least. So are the moments when the sky darkens and you have only a second or two to tuck yourself completely under your shield before a rain of arrows hammers down from above.

There are more than 20 canned, three or four-button combos to unlock and learn, along with a half-dozen or so Wrath attacks and upgradeable gear. They're not quite enough to keep things from getting monotonous and sometimes frustrating when you seem to be fighting the same six enemies over and over, four of which are hunkering under shields as the remaining two circle round to stab you in the back. And though the characters are all chiseled hunks of manhood who pause to talk smack way too much, the graphics themselves couldn't outwrestle a 100-pound bank teller. But this is still a better game than you might expect, given its relative out-of-nowhere-ness.