A while ago, Toastman and I were independently working on a similar game mode – a Gladiator Based game on “Chariots”. You will have to wait for him to post his version, but in the meantime you can have a look at mine, Gladius and the custom Forge Map to go with it, Gladius Arena.
Gladius is a very tough mode, mainly because it requires player to cooperate and abide by the rules of the match – a very difficult task. A variation of VIP, this game mode requires multiple teams of 2 players each. The VIP is the only one that is supposed to kill or be killed – but of course you can still assassinate the 2nd on the team. I really wish Bungie would correct that behavior as it has cursed many of my custom game modes, but what can you do but grin and move on. In Gladius the gameplay is based off of using Mongooses (Mongeese?) to drive the VIP around in order to kill the other VIPs. Seems simple right? Well basically it is. The Mongoose, and non-VIP driver are invulnerable and the only weapon the VIP can use is the GravHammer. On top of all that, the VIP can barely move as their speed is at the lowest setting. So the non-VIP has to grab a ride and pick up their VIP in order to begin combat. The two then ride off to find someone to slaughter.
Overall it is a fairly easy mode to understand, but all too often the VIP is without ride and falls victim to assassinations, or the non-VIP is killed in a similar manner, not to mention that the GravHammers are very tough to use while riding on the back of a Mongoose. The idea is sound, but execution proved rather difficult and some get frustrated in the gamemode. Gladius Arena is the variation of Infection that I used to build the gamemode around. If Rat’s Nest were released at this time then I would have used that map as it is the more logical choice. I am working (slowly) on a Rat’s Nest version of Arena, but it is slow going so don’t look for it anytime soon.
If you can gather a couple of cooperative friends together then give this Mode/Map combo a try, it can be very funny and entertaining, but more often than not it becomes an on foot war with GravHammers and invulnerable drivers.
