Deadliest Warrior: The Game

Deadliest Warrior: The Game is a fighting game based on the Spike documentary TV series Deadliest Warrior. It was released for Xbox Live Arcade on 14 July 2010. A release for PlayStation Network will be released in the near future.

Gameplay
The game pits two warriors from different time periods in head-to-head combat in an open arena. Each warrior features different attributes which players must adapt their playing style with in order to fight effectively. For example, the Ninja is quick and nimble but is equipped with very weak armor, while warriors such as the Spartan or Knight are able to carry heavy shields that give them extra protection against attacks while sacrificing speed and agility.

The game features realistic weapons damage that can cause amputation of limbs and instantly fatal wounds; subsequently fights may last as little as a few seconds. It is also possible to simply wound a warrior's limb rather than amputate it, impacting their ability to perform certain combos and negating any ability to carry shields. Because of this, the game has drawn comparisons with Bushido Blade, a fighting game known for featuring brief fights because of its realistic weapon-based combat.

The game features online versus and tournament multiplayer modes, as well as a number of single player minigames such as slicing up pig carcasses against a time limit and surviving waves of opponents on a single life bar.

Warriors
The game features 8 playable warriors. Each can be equipped with a number of weapons and armor, of which most which must be unlocked by playing through the single player arcade mode and completing various in-game challenges. The warriors include:


 * Apache
 * Knight
 * Ninja
 * Pirate
 * Roman Centurion
 * Samurai
 * Spartan
 * Viking

Seven of the warriors were profiled on the first season of the TV series, with the Roman Centurion the sole season 2 subject. The developers deferred to using historical warriors as they felt that modern warriors, such as the special forces units profiled on the show, and in particular their contemporary firearms, would change the dynamics of the game too much. The game does, however, feature a warrior armed with early single-shot firearms, the Pirate.

Additional warriors will be available later as downloadable content. Spike has since made a poll revealing some of the possible warriors to be released as downloadable content, the most popular being the Rajput, Vlad the Impaler, William Wallace, and the Shaolin Monk. New Deadliest Warrior host Richard "Mack" Machowicz revealed the Rajput as the first downloadable character on August 20, 2010 during the Live Aftermath. The Rajput will be available for the game Early 2011. Spike has confirmed that no famous individuals from the show will appear in the first DLC pack.

Development
The game was first announced at the Spike Video Game Awards held on December 12, 2009. The game was also present at the Game Developers Conference and at E3 2010.

The game features motion capture by the various martial artists who appear on the television series.

Reception
The game received mixed reviews overall from critics. It currently holds a Metacritic rating of 58, based on 17 reviews.