Ryse: Son of Rome Reviews
Crytek brings its Xbox One launch exclusive over to the PC and it's not great. But PC graphics enthusiasts should probably check it out anyway.
Play your part in protecting the Roman Empire as legionnaire Marius Titus, a man with a thirst for revenge and a penchant for particularly gory execution moves. Ryse Son of Rome could have been a great game but its repetitive gameplay holds it back from greatness.
If you played Ryse: Son of Rome on Xbox One, there's little reason to return on PC. It may contain higher resolutions and a more flexible frame rate, but otherwise it's substantially the same game.
Yes it screams "I used to be a Kinect game," yes it's limited in story as well as combat and yes, you've played many, many games like this previously, better games with more systems and gameplay but...but...crucially, Ryse: Son of Rome looks breathtaking. The perfect launch game, doing nothing new, arguably less so than current gen games but adequately showing off the new hardware - think of it as a tech demo with quick time event executions and you will not be disappointed.
At the end of the day, even though I had a good time playing Ryse: Son of Rome, it just didn't have too much to offer. Sure, it has online multiplayer and a gladiator mode, but these regurgitations of the single-player combat engine still feel repetitive and over-used. The story is shallow but well executed, with next-gen visuals and high-end sound production that make the experience worth having, if only once. I saw a lot of potential in Ryse: Son of Rome. With a little love, I could see a sequel to this game with several playable characters, combat styles, and a more diverse command structure that could seriously take this game to the next level. But for now, it is just a "pretty good game."
The almighty power of 'what could have been' is difficult to ignore when the Ryse formula works, but in its current form it's difficult to recommend as a must-own Xbox One title, despite the clear potential that regularly bubbles above the surface.
Well-designed gameplay and a consistent bare-bones narrative could have saved this. As it stands, it's a rental title, maybe.
Brilliant combat, a sumptuously produced story and some of the best visuals we've ever seen make up for the limitations of the gameplay. Ryse: Son of Rome is bloody good fun.
Ryse definitely looks the part, but the gameplay simply isn't up to scratch. It feels unfinished, or like a hardcore title whose mechanics have been dramatically simplified for the Xbox One TV crowd. Thumb down.
Ryse: Son of Rome is a gorgeous game that gives us a great sense of what the Xbox One can accomplish in terms of graphics. Sadly, the shallow combat doesn't shoot it passed your average 3rd person action game.
At its core, Ryse is beautiful, flawed, but still enjoyable. Xbox One owners should definitely give Ryse a chance. Eventually. Maybe just not now, nor at its current price tag.
There's no denying that it looks absolutely stunning, but sometimes a pretty face isn't everything and due to some extremely bland combat, Ryse: Son of Rome fails to be the killer app that many had hoped it would be. Still, for a launch title, you could do worse.
Gladiator may have won Oscars, but Ryse is much more like the movie 300 – nice to look at, mindless and silly at times, and the kind of experience you'll probably forget as soon as the credits roll.
For those who enjoy a simple hack-n-slash game, Ryse: Son of Rome fits the bill. This is no deep adventure, but rather a chance to burn your aggression by chopping your way through hundreds of barbarians, slowing only to enjoy the carnage during the brutal executions. Still, the stunning visuals and compelling setting will keep some gamers engaged throughout, making Ryse a flawed-but-interesting addition to the Xbox One launch lineup.
Ryse: Son of Rome rises above its rote hack-and-slash design with a handful of inventive ideas and a killer story.
Ryse is a bit of a marmite game, if you are looking for a great gaming experience that takes forever to perfect then Ryse is not for you. If you are interested in a Roman interactive movie with a solid story line then I'd say give it a shot.
We must say that Ryse offers no long-lasting value, it is definitely a renter at best, but it is a beautiful one. Once you complete Marius' story mode in about five to six hours and try out the co-op multiplayer once or twice, there isn't much else to it. Ryse does an excellent job at showcasing the capabilities of the Xbox One itself, but it lacks any real substance.
Ryse: Son of Rome is the most technically incredible title available on Xbox One. It is a display of graphic and communicative power, a lesson in style, and a clear example of the wonderful places where the Microsoft console will lead us. Unfortunately, it is also a rather boring title, too equal to itself, which fails to evolve. The combat system, in its foundations, works well: it is fluid and well guessed. But the choice to focus so much on Quick Time Events dampens too much the degree of challenge, and the structure of the campaign, excessively linear, is all focused only on the clashes.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Ryse: Son of Rome is a magnificent demonstration of the Xbox One, but if we want to take it as a finished product, it loses by far, relegating it to the sea of titles that are played inversely proportional to how good they look.
Review in Spanish | Read full review