Ryse: Son of Rome Reviews
Sure, Ryse: Son of Rome is a gorgeous game, possibly the best looking Xbox One launch game despite its sub-1080p resolution. But really, it's more than that. It's slower paced, tactical combat is fun, even though it never evolves throughout the game.
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.
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."
Wait for a price drop if you're in no rush to get either this game or an Xbox One entirely. The story, acting, and visuals hold it up, but the gameplay weighs it down hard.
For every dollar that goes into technical and visual design, that's one that doesn't go towards amplifying a combat system, and I'm okay with that tradeoff so long as the gameplay is fun, if not incredibly deep. In a world of limited budgets constraining unlimited potential, Crytek's priorities were not misplaced. 'Ryse: Son of Rome' is an absolutely gorgeous game with a combat system designed to look flawless. For the most part it absolutely does. I'd never make the argument that Crytek is going for something too far away from shallow thrills, but if the potential of the new generation is in the execution of progressive, game-enhancing visuals, then that potential has been fulfilled.
Rome wasn't built in a day but you'll easily complete Ryse inside of one - but you'll also enjoy the adventure whilst it lasts.
Great graphics are not everything ... Ryse will offer you an intriguing (though trivial) story in a great climate! Damage to untapped potential...
Review in Polish | Read full review
Unfortunately, Ryse: Son of Rome is not a production that can exceed the average level, with its excellent graphics, moderate sounds, weakness of the combat system and the story. With a slightly longer gameplay time, more detailed story processing and a few adjustments to the combat system, Ryse, which can actually be quite successful, cannot go any further than resembling a true technology demo in this state.
Review in Turkish | Read full review
Ryse is exactly what a launch title in 2013 should have been. It is gorgeous, it does not overstay its welcome, and as it is now on Game Pass it is easy to recommend to anyone who has Game Pass on console. It is also available on PC, but you need to buy it outright there. On the whole? If you have not played this game and you liked the HBO series Rome and seeing the same execution play out 1500 times? This is the game for you!
Ryse: Son of Rome is a game you need to have for your Xbox One for the great pictures and detailed, realistic environments in the ancient Roman Empire. Furthermore, this game offers little original. It's a very solid game in which you can make your move, as long as you have good timing. Keep your cool, because those enemies who attack all at once are working the nerves when you try to go off your beautiful little bit of buttons. Ryse does, however, give you a nice challenging game that has virtually no weird glitches.
Review in Dutch | Read full review
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.
Ryse is an entertaining ride that often values spectacle over skill.
Ryse: Son of Rome was one of the games I was looking forward to for the launch of the Xbox One, and I was a bit disappointed. While the visuals and soundtrack helped in getting me through the game, the repetitive combat and a "been there done that" story made it hard for me to get into it.
Ryse: Son of Rome is not only a magnificent shell with an inconsistent soul but most of all a colossal wasted opportunity: at the dawn of a new generation, it's sad to see a game so incredibly beautiful to look at, yet at the same time so shallow to play.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Beautiful graphics and scenery, but Ryse's combat fails to reach the level expected of modern brawlers. Worth a playthrough for action fans, but little lasting appeal outside showing off your rig's technical chops.
Ryse is fun at points but is ultimately held back by its repetitious nature. Still the game is a great way to show off the graphical capability of the Xbox One.
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
Still, beautiful visuals can only do so much to redeem a game, and as beautiful as Ryse is to look at, it's still more than a bit underwhelming to play. Which is sad, because, with a bit more thought put into the game design side of things, this could have been the Xbox One's standout launch title.
Ryse: Son of Rome is a great tale set in the Roman period, with its visceral limb chopping and an authentic weight to its centurion credentials, but as a third-person action adventure it's something of a one shot deal with little to pull you back in once you've seen Marius' journey through. Its gorgeous visuals and in-your-face combat may wow, but their shine dulls with unfortunately little to be offered in their place to reignite that initial excitement.
Ryse: Son of Rome is a bloody, gorgeous adventure. It's a shame then that there's so much squandered potential. Its short length and the lack of variety bury what good the game has to offer. I wouldn't be averse to a sequel if they can flesh out the experience and tell a purely human story, but as Ryse stands it's hard to recommend at full price.