Ryse: Son of Rome Review (Xbox One)

The biggest question related to the launch of Ryse: Son of Rome is simple: can a huge spectacle with solid graphics and limited gameplay be considered a good video game?

The Crytek-developed experience is certainly grand at times and does deliver some exhilarating moments during its first few hours, but this is a shallow game with a story that drags on and battles that quickly run out of new ideas for the player to enjoy.

It is also the kind of game where one can stop and simply enjoy the view, even if it involves hordes of barbarians running around trying to kill Romans and bring down the mightiest Empire that the world has ever seen.

Ryse: Son of Rome is a good launch experience because it shows what the Xbox One can do and how powerful the hardware that powers the console really is.

At the same time, the game itself is bad and could have been condensed into a free tech demo that should have only lasted two or three hours.

Story

The name of the main character of Ryse: Son of Rome is Marius Titus and this bland choice is just the first sign that the narrative of the Crytek title is somewhat uninteresting, while also failing to take into account real-world history.

In a move that will surprise no one, the game begins in the middle of a roaring fire, beautifully rendered, which is consuming Rome and the player starts telling his life story to the cowardly Emperor Nero.

This is a fantasy take on Roman history and after a few hours of gameplay, a number of supernatural elements start appearing, which makes the already flimsy narrative even harder to follow and connect with.

The title makes heavy use of cinematic sequences, but the only ones that stand out are those that are literally borrowed from the movie 300 and deliver a cel-shaded look.

Gameplay

Ryse: Son of Rome does not aim to match the scope of the Roman installments of Total War and focuses on the one-on-one combat of the era, with a system that encourages the player to pay attention to the actions of his enemies, understand them and then deliver a killing blow.

The entire experience is blood filled and exciting at first, but even as the rivers of blood are increasing their flow, the interest on the part of the player will begin to slowly fade.

All the cool battle combos and all the executions are revealed in the first couple of hours of Ryse, as are the sections that involve pilum throwing and the moments when gamers need to protect others using a fixed weapon in an emplacement.

Battle rage

Roman city

Speaking of which, the barbarians only offer a few types of combatants to thrash around and it would have been nice for the Crytek team to examine the unit line-ups in Total War: Rome II for some inspiration.

Ryse also does its best to use the new and improved Kinect of the Xbox One, allowing players to issue orders via vocal commands at certain points, but these occasions to command troops are rather few and the actions of the gamer have a very limited impact on the outcome of the battles.

Ryse is also annoying because it hints that there’s a larger Roman world that the player could explore, but it never opens it up to visitation.

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I love the TV series Rome and Spartacus and I wanted to travel through a city, deal with other citizens or see the inner corridors of power, but the larger settlements always remain in the distance and Marius is condemned to always fight barbarians and never return to civilization in any meaningful way.

The world of the game is made up of a small number of friendly characters, most of which end up dead, and an endless stream of enemies that rarely get any motivation for their actions.

I would have liked to see Ryse attempt to tell a bigger story about the Ancient Age and use its clearly impressive engine to create more than simple battle arenas.

Graphics and audio

Ryse: Son of Rome does look great, creating on the Xbox One from Microsoft the kind of beautiful, lavishly detailed experience that has traditionally been associated with the PC.

The main character is carefully animated and his body and armor look very close to being real, if we ignore the fact that they are still gleaming in the sun even if they should be covered with the innards of hundreds of barbarians.

The enemies are also detailed and move in natural ways, especially when they are subjected to one of the gruesome executions, and the various environments are also a beauty to look at, especially the grand structures of the Roman Empire.

Story style

Roman tagging

The sound department does not match the quality of the graphics and only the actor for main character Marius does a good job with his lines, while the supporting cast tends to be over dramatic in its delivery.

Multiplayer

Ryse: Son of Rome has an interesting idea when it comes to multiplayer because it asks two players to work together rather than confront each other, aiming to complete a series of objectives that encourage them to collaborate in interesting ways and deliver some cool combo moves.

Unfortunately, the combat is not tweaked in any interesting way and Crytek and Microsoft introduce a system of boosts and items that are bundled together in packs that are randomized and can be acquired using in-game gold.

A lot of grinding is required to get the in-game currency needed to buy one of the packs that are offered. This means that it's easier for a player who lacks the time to play Ryse over and over again to just reach for his wallet and pay with real-world money, something that Microsoft clearly wants to see happening.

The Good

The Bad

Conclusion