Video Game / Hero of Sparta

Hero of Sparta is a Hack and Slash arcade-style action game made by the Spanish studio, Iberica in co-operation with Gameloft.

You are King Argos of Sparta and the hero of your home country (well of course), on your way home after a quest in the high seas, when a storm summoned by supernatural forces had you shipwrecked on an island of assorted monsters. As you attempt finding your way home while battling all kinds of enemies, you uncover a conspiracy threatening Sparta, and in order to stop it you embark on a trip to the Underworld.

Like every game of it's type, Sparta allows you to collect different weapons in conjunction with your trusty sword and shield, including axes, chains, twin scimitars and other equipment. You also collect orbs to restore King Argos' health and experience points for the penultimate face-off against the game's bosses.

An Immediate Sequel simply titled Hero of Sparta II was released in 2010. King Argos is sailing back to Sparta after the first games' events, only to realize the city is under attack from gigantic monsters. The gates of the underworld have been completely opened, and King Argos must find a way to travel back in time to re-seal it.

Both game were made available for the Android, iOS, Nintendo DS, and PlayStation Portable.

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Hero of Sparta - the duology - contain examples of:

• Alien Blood: Gorgons bleed green blood, and executing one with a Coup de Grâce Cutscene will lead to a fine green geyser into the air.
• Atlantis: The first game have a stage set in said city, an underwater fortress where windows leads to the seas.
• Badass Cape: King Argos wears a flowing, magnificient red one, and he's a capable warrior-king who slays monsters by the dozens.
• BFS: King Argos' default weapon is already pretty huge, but then he get the Sword of Damocles, a weapon with a thick blade taller than himself. Which deals a great deal more damage, but on the downside Argos will need to forfeit his trusty shield when equipped with this oversized weapon.
• Big Bad: Hades, the Lord of Darkness in both games, whose armies he had unleashed into the world that King Argos must fight, before defeating the Lord in the underworld. He returns in the sequel, where it's revealed Hades had followed Argos to the land of mortals for another attempt at conqueing humanity.
• Bittersweet Ending: How the sequel ends, with King Argos successfully reversing time and preventing Sparta's destruction, but he may never return to Sparta or risk having his kingdom destroyed.
• Brutish Bulls: The Cretan Bulls in the sequel are fierce bovine enemies who constantly tries goring Argos via Horn Attack.
• Brutish Character, Brutish Weapon:
  • Minotaurs tends to use axes, warhammers or spiked clubs.
  • Hades, the powerful Lord of Darkness, who's at least five times larger than King Argos, wields a gigantic fiery battleax. Coated in blue flames.
• Catapult to Glory: Near the end of the sequel, after defeating Hades' mooks Argos then launches himself towards Khrnonos' island via catapult while avoiding incoming flaming arrows. It's also one of the longest catapult to glories in history, the subsequent stage having Argos thrown through the skies and remaining airborne for two minutes.
• Coup de Grâce Cutscene: Both games throws in one of these whenever Argos executes a higher-level enemy using a special attack. Notably by jumping onto a minotaur's back and thrushing his sword through it's nape, knocking a gorgon down and slitting her jugular, performing a penetrating stab through a ghoul's gut, and so on. And somehow nearby enemies will not attempt to interrupt the cutscene!
• Cutscene Power to the Max: During the cutscene introducing the Axe of Ajax, a gorgon tries sneaking up behind Argos as the hero marvels at the weapon's beauty. Argos simply turns around... and decapitates the gorgon almost effortlessly like he's slicing butter. In-game, while the Axe deals higher damage than the Sword or Damocles or Ishtar's Tears, it's not that strong.
• Cyclops: The first boss of the first game, The Keeper, is a massive cyclops that Argos must battle while running circles around it.
• Derelict Graveyard: In the sequel, en route from Egypt to Sparta, King Argos must cross a "Sea of Dead Ships"... which is Exactly What It Says on the Tin. The same stage also have Fish People enemies and a second Sea Serpent Mini-Boss.
• Double Weapon: The Lightning Spear in the sequel, a two-sided spear King Argos obtains in Egypt. It can even shoot lightning from a distance or allow Argos to electrocute mooks with each stab.
• Dual Wield:
  • Ishtar's tears, a pair of nifty-looking scimitars smaller than Argos' default sword, but much faster. That he can wield to kick ass using both simultaneously.
  • The Sphinx Claws in the sequel, two gauntlets worn on each hand.
  • The Fish People enemies in the sequel use twin curved knives made of bones.
• Elemental Embodiment: A water elemental called "The Guardian" shows up as a boss in the second game, rising from a pool trying to drag King Argos down the water.
• Everybody Hates Hades: Played straight in both games, with Hades as a ruthless, Tin Tyrant-esque demon who wants to enslave Sparta and the rest of the world just because.
• Fire and Brimstone Hell: The Underworld level plays it straight, depicting hell as an underground cavern filled with pools of lava and burning walls of fire everywhere, and flames coming out from cracks in the floor which can damage Argos on contact.
• Floating City: The Floating Gardens, a series of platforms hovering over a massive waterfall where Argos travels to seek answers.
• Giant Mook:
  • Gigantic scorpions in the first game, whose stingers can skewer and lift Argois off his feet for extra damage.
  • The largest Minotaur-type enemies might count based on their size, if not for the fact that they're the Fake Ultimate Mook opponents who despite looking really though, is still really easy to defeat.
  • The sequel's Egypt stage have the "Big Mouth" enemies, demons with bulging girths and several times larger than other mooks. Whose size and kevlard makes it harder to defeat.
  • The Nemean Lion and Cretan Bull from the sequel, both of them large enough to attempt trampling over Argos.
• Go for the Eye: The first boss of the first game, the Cyclops, is finally killed when Argos leaps off a platform and embeds his weapon into it's eye.
• The Good King: King Argos, your playable character, who ventures in an out the underworld to save Sparta from various monsters. The second game even ends with Argos choosing not to return to Sparta in order to prevent the Apocalypse from happening.
• The Goomba: The blue-skinned, default Beast Men enemies in the first stage of both games are only there for combat practice, getting killed by Argos' default weapon without too much difficulty.
• Grappling-Hook Pistol: The Sphinx claws from the sequel is a magical version, a pair of clawed gauntets which can be launched to grab ledges and objects from a distance, and a powerful ranged weapon. The good news is obtaining it gives Argos an easier time in platforming areas; the bad news is to obtain it he must defeat the Sphinx Guardian, the claw's former owner who repeatedly swing circles around King Argos and trying to take potshots on him with the claws.
• Harping on About Harpies: Befitting the Greek theme, harpies - depicted as bird-women with wings - are a recurring enemy, firstly appearing in the Floating Gardens in the clouds.
• Healing Spring: Magical healing fountains are peppered throughout the game, and Argos can activate them to restore his health.
• Heavily Armored Mook: In the first game, the later stages will throw in heavily armored versions of the recurring Minotaur and Centaur enemies, who can expectedly take more damage than their earlier versions. Though they are still vulnerable to an instant Coup de Grâce Cutscene killing blow.
• Hellhound: A three-headed Cerebus serves as the boss of the underworld stage. Argos need to dodge it's attacks first, then pull a Quick Time Event to damage it's heads, one at a time, before dealing a fatal blow to the middle one.
• Hoist by His Own Petard:
  • When facing the giant scorpion enemies, King Argos' special execution move on them have him subduing the monsters long enough... and then stabbing them with their own stinger tails.
  • The sequel's first boss, the huge manticore, is finally defeated when Argos shoves it's tail through it's skull.
• Huge Holographic Head: The magic version appears in the sequel, with Hades projecting a gigantic hologram of his face to taunt Argos to NOT step foot into Sparta or risk the kingdom's destruction.
• Jetpack: The Icarus Wings in the sequel is a mythical version, which grants Argos a pair of golden wings when trigggered. Besides allowing him to hover momentarily between platforms and pits too far for him to jump, they also have Razor Wings abilities for slicing up mooks.
• Kill Enemies to Open: In both games, Argos is unable to proceed to the next area unless he kills every enemy around him. The path he needs to cross will be inaccessible, either blocked by flames, barriers or an Invisible Wall.
• Lighter and Softer: The game is this to primary inspiration. Argos's goals are more noble than Kratos's, and he lacks the latter's reckless disregard for collateral damage.
• Living Lava: Besides ghosts, the underworld levels also contains humanoid lava monsters inhabiting suits of armor, whose lower bodies is an endless stream of lava. They'll revert to a pile of charred armor and rocks when they "die".
• Living Statue: The Colossus in the sequel is a kaiju-sized version, who fires flaming arrows towards Argos as he tries making his way to Khronos' fortress.
• Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: Argos' default weapons are his sword and shield, and the latter can defend him from most enemy attacks from the front, with the downside that he's unable to fight back while taking cover.
• Magical Barefooter: The Oracle in the first game who guides Argos throughout the adventure and provide him with enchanted weapons doesn't wear shoes, only footwraps that doesn't even cover her ankles. But then again she Power Floats everywhere, and having shoes seems redundant for her.
• Oddly Shaped Sword: One upgrade turns the blade of Argos' default sword into the shape and colour of a burning fire. No, it's not a Flaming Sword, but only in shape.
• Our Centaurs Are Different: They're not too different compared to classical depictions of centaurs, save for having purple skin. They're also the only enemy who use arrows exclusively.
• Our Ghosts Are Different: Ghostly wraiths are enemies in hell (no surprise, right?), depicted as hooded skeletons constantly radiating a Sickly Green Glow to emphasis their ethereal nature. They are however vulnerable to Argos' weapons.
• Our Manticores Are Spinier: The first boss of the second game is a gigantic, building-sized manticore which attacks King Argos in an amphitheater. It looks strangely reptilian despite classical Manticores being based on lions.
• Our Minotaurs Are Different: Minotaurs are extremely common enemies Argos battles throughout both games.
• Panthera Awesome: The Nemean Lion is a recurring enemy in the second game, and it's a fierce monster whose body is constantly coated in magic flames.
• Pegasus: In the second game, King Argos needs to release an imprisoned pegasus form him to travel to Egypt for collecting another artefact required to save Sparta. The same pegasus gives King Argos a ride to escape from a Collapsing Lair in the same level it's introduced.
• Platform Hell: Platforming elements become a lot more common in the sequel, with Argos scaling rooftops, cliffs, and assorted Bottomless Pits. Luckily the Sphinx claws Argos obtains make things slightly easier...
• Portal Statue Pairs: In the sequel's Egypt level, Argos must pass through a series of Sphinx Statues in pairs, facing each other and can vaporize him via Eye Beams if he's too slow, in a level scenario that's a Shout-Out to The Neverending Story.
• Power-Up Mount: In the second game, Argos gains the ability to hijack enemies larger than himself with the grab move - cue a cutscene where he leaps on a giant monster's shoulders and stabbing his sword into it's back or nape, and then twisting his weapon to control the monster's movements. Including using it to attack other enemies. The monsters usually succumb on their own though.
• Pre-Asskicking One-Liner: Argos has plenty of these in both games:
  Argos: [facing a trio of succubi] You all belong to Hades, and that's where I'll send you!
• Quick Time Event: Bosses can only be harmed by dodging their attacks long enough, and then hitting a series of buttons for Argos to perform special moves to execute them.
• Scary Scorpions: Scorpions are a recurring enemy, who will repeatedly attempts to rough up Argos with their stingers. They come in three sizes - as large as puppies (dangerous but dies in one hit), human-sized, and gigantic brown ones who towers above Argos.
• Sea Serpent: King Argos fights one of these in the beginning of the sequel, when he returns to the shores of Sparta and realize there are monsters attacking his kingdom. It's a relatively easy Mini-Boss before the Manticore battle, and he fights another giant water serpent later in the game.
• Shadowed Face, Glowing Eyes: Hades in the first game, a powerful Tin Tyrant whose face underneath his helmet is a pair of glowing eyes in shadows. In the sequel he ditches his disguise and reveals his true face in the opening cutscene.
• Snake People: Gorgons are a recurring enemy in the first game, being depicted as monsters with a serpentine tail as their lower body.
• Spikes of Doom: A recurring trap, where rooms will contain grates with protruding spikes coming in and out regularly. These spikes are usually too tall for Argos to jump over, and he'll need to wait until the spikes retracts before running over the grates.
• Succubi and Incubi: The Fury enemies in the second game are purple-skinned, demonic horned women whom are succubi without being referred to by name. The Mook Debut Cutscene features three succubi trying to seduce King Argos, and then taunting his failure in saving Sparta, leading to King Argos slicing them to bits.
• Sword Lines: In both games, Argos' weapons will leave behind lines with each slash. The same goes for Hades and Khronos in their respective boss battles.
• Sword Plant: One of Argo's special attacks have him stabbing his current weapon into the ground, turning it into a Shockwave Stomp that damages all enemies around him.
• Time Travel: A plot point in the second game - when Argos returns to Sparta and realize the kingdom is about to be destroyed by monsters (having escaped the Underworld and followed him all the way back home), he then goes on a quest to seek Selene, the goddess of the moon to send him back in time before the attack.
• Virgin Sacrifice: The Oracle, your benefactor and guide for most of the game, was captured by Hades to be sacrificed for more power. King Argos interrupts him at the last moment, and the Lord of Darkness offers King Argos to perform the sacrifice for him in exchange for a way home - but it was subverted with the Oracle revealing it to be an illusion - and a Secret Test of Character for King Argos to prove his allegiance.
• We Can Rule Together: King Argos' final confrontation against Hades have the villain making such an offer to Argos. Which Argos declines on the spot.
  Hades: Rage could not corrupt your soul... perhaps ambition might? I offer you a place in my kingdom. You have guts, warrior... you are welcomed as the chief of my armies.
  King Argos: A Spartan King only cares about his honor. My only ambition is to return to my people and my only kingdom is Sparta!
• Wreathed in Flames:
  • Hades, when finally unveiling himself as a Final Boss, is wreathed in blue flames on his armor and battleax.
  • In the sequel, the Nemean Lion enemies are coated in fire which hurt Argos on contact.

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