For those of you who haven't seen Dave's article on the game site Gamezer, the site is basically intended to be a low-bandwidth gaming website with the highest quality graphics and quality possible. For this reason, Gamezer is wildly popular in areas of the world where broadband Internet is not yet quite as prevalent.

Since the site focuses on low-bandwidth gameplay, you would not really expect it to offer any addictive high-action games, because usually the more moving graphics and activity you have, the greater the bandwidth. For this reason, I was very surprised to discover one of the most addictive games I've ever played there. It is a head-to-head fighting game called Gladiator.

Enter The Arena & Become A Warrior

First off, I just have to say that I absolutely abhor those fighting games where your character rarely follows the keyboard and commands that you issue. After a while you find yourself just punching random keys to get your character to at least do something to defend itself from the onslaught of the opponent, who appears to be some kind of Ninja that can defy gravity.

Gladiator is different. If you click on the controls link, you'll see the keyboard keys that will control your character in different ways. Note that anything that reads "+ Click" means you need to hold down the key and left-click your mouse.

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When you log into Gladiator, you'll see all of the current, ongoing matches in the center pane. You can click to watch any of these battles, if you're more of a spectator than a gladiator.

gamezer gladiator

Whenever you're in any particular room, it won't take very long for someone to invite you (or you can invite any of the users in the left pane if you like). The moment you click on "Accept", you'll find yourself inside the ring, facing off against your opponent. It can be a little bit intimidating at first, but I'm going to share a few fast tricks that I learned so that you can reach expert level a little faster.

First off is the favorite defense among newbies and experts alike - the "Squat" (S key).

gamezer gladiator

If you hold down the S-key, your character will squat and hold the shield in front of them. This is a strong defensive position because it blocks almost anything (I'll show you how to overcome it below), but it is limiting because you can't inflict much damage when you do swing.

Next up, is the "Hit with Shield" (F-key). When you press the F-key (once), your character will lunge forward and try to punch your opponent with the shield. This is perfect for close-quarter combat, but not much else.

gamezer gladiator

So how do you get through the defenses of someone that's in a constant squat? It's the leg-attack. Pressing R will direct your sword in a lunging swing toward the opponent's legs. Whether they are standing or squatting, you'll strike a blow to their legs. If they are constantly squatting, just keeping hitting the R key.

gladiator on gamezer

Another good close-quarters attack is the Upper-Kick (hold down W and click). This is a good move if your opponent keeps crowding you.

gladiator on gamezer

If you hold down Q or E and click the mouse, your character will make some amazingly cool swipes with the sword that would make even Spartacus jealous. However, while you're hacking and slashing, your are also vulnerable, so make sure to get back into a defensive posture or back away when you're done.

gladiator on gamezer

Interesting Gladiator Community

One interesting thing I noticed while I was dabbling within the ranks of gladiators in this community is that it is predominantly visited by people from the Middle East. There is a whole lot of Arabic being used throughout the chatrooms and forums. I was surprised to see that when someone spotted the American flag by my profile, I started receiving insults from one particular user that started calling me a "dog american baby."

I'm not sure if he meant to call me a dog, a baby, or a dog baby, but it was pretty clear he had a problem with me only because I'm American.

Unfortunately, I hadn't trained enough to hand his ass to him on a plate, so after entering battle and getting the crap beat out of me a couple of times, I quit and decided to train a little more. Noting his username on a piece of paper for later, I invited a few friendlier faces to battle.

What I learned was that your opponent's approach is what should drive your behavior. If they are defensive, go for the leg attack combined with those crazy double-hits. If they are a more aggressive, it's best to concentrate on those double hits and moving your player just in and out of arm's reach. After a bit of training, I finally started racking up a few wins.

I couldn't find the hateful user that was insulting me, no matter how much I searched for his username, but along the way I did start taking great joy in seeing that "Winner" flash screen at the end of a particularly difficult battle.

You'll also find that Gamezer offers a great forum community where you can mingle with some of the opponents you've bested or who've destroyed you.

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Even though the majority of the userbase appears to speak Arabic, you will find forum pages under every language.

For a low-bandwidth game site, Gladiator is an impressive addition. It's like a hidden gem of a game that'll keep you enthralled for hours, and coming back for more. Try out Gladiator and let me know if you found it as addictive as I did.

Did you learn any other fighting tricks during your experiences there? Share your insights in the comments area below!