Ryse: Son Of Rome - "Is As Fun As Dialing Phone Numbers"


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If you?ve ever watched Lost, you?re familiar with the character of Desmond Hume. The former monk was stranded on the series? mysterious island, and was tasked with repeatedly pressing the same series of buttons on a keyboard for weeks at a time. Why he had to do that is still pretty confusing to me (as is the rest of the series), but I was reminded of Desmond?s task for the duration of my time with the demo for Ryse: Son of Rome. I spent two hours with the Xbox One title, but it felt like I was entering random numbers into a computer rather than actually playing a video game.

 

It?s clear what Microsoft and developer Crytek are shooting for here. At launch, they want a big budget, epic action game that clearly demonstrates next-gen visuals. Ryse is undeniably pretty, but that?s about all it had going for it in this demo. After a painfully generic story intro, the game began teaching me similarly uninspired combat mechanics. While it tries to sound like an in-depth action game with familiar elements like perfectly-timed blocks and focus meters, the actual experience is anything but deep.

 

I?m hoping that later levels introduce some more difficult enemies, as the dozens of encounters I had consisted of all the complexity of dialing phone numbers. Almost every fight started with me hitting the attack button a couple of times, then pushing the enemy in an effort to stop him from breaking my combo. Then, I?d continue attacking until he was weak enough for the execution sequence. Once this occurs, the game slows down and the enemy flashes various colors. You press the face button of the appropriate color, and your protagonist Marius dismembers or murders the foe in dramatic fashion.

 

It?s so basic and predictable, I began testing to see if I could get past most combat situations with one hand. With my left hand completely off the controller, I was able to slice and dice through tons of enemies simply by inputting the same sequence ad nauseum. On a couple of occasions, the game would shift to sequences that involved me defending an area with crossbow stations or ordering my men to block arrows with their shields. These were somehow even less exciting than the tedious swordplay.

 

When I sat down at the Ryse: Son of Rome station, I was a fairly blank slate when it came to knowledge of the title. I knew it was developed by the talented team at Crytek, and I knew it was gorgeous based on the videos I had seen at conventions, so I was prepared to be impressed. What I didn?t expect was a desire to get up and leave the demo about ten minutes in. I stuck it out in hopes that it would prove itself a deeper experience over time, but its only success was ensuring my wallet will be $60 heavier when the Xbox One launches.

 

http://www.gameinformer.com/games/ryse_son_of_rome/b/xboxone/archive/2013/11/06/ryse-son-of-rome-is-as-fun-as-dialing-phone-numbers.aspx

 

Confirms my thoughts about this game. Looks terrible IMO

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Lol. We all knew this since E3 despite the protestations of a few (mainly neowinians). The fact that they also decided to integrate an "Art Deco" theme also put me off. Gameplay has never looked good.

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It?s so basic and predictable, I began testing to see if I could get past most combat situations with one hand. With my left hand completely off the controller, I was able to slice and dice through tons of enemies simply by inputting the same sequence ad nauseum.

 

ROFLOL

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That's very disappointing.

Of course some are enjoying this because they like the negative news, but I just think it sucks that they did not spend the time on the gameplay to go along with the visuals.

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I don't know why Crytek bother, they'd be better off just sticking to the engine licensing business, occasionally release a cheap tech demo title for the PC with mod tools to raise adoption.

 

They never were and never will be a company that understands gameplay (or really story), they should stick to what they're good at. Making fancy engines.

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funny, the usual suspects at the beginning of this thread.

 

many outlets are liking this game. I will reserve judgement until I play it.
 

Though some may continue to hold a grudge against the previous demonstrations of Ryse, it thoroughly impressed me with addictive combat and stunning graphics. More time with the game is needed to see if the top talent Crytek brought in can make the story shine through, but it certainly shows us just how far game design has come from the launch of the Xbox 360. The very items people used to criticize the game just may make it the most memorable for getting them right.

Read more at http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/topics/xbox-one/10722-Ryse-Son-of-Rome-Preview-Summary-Execution#zzsWGPryripX5XfY.99

and IGN.

 

Ryse Son of Rome Redemption

 

http://ca.ign.com/videos/2013/11/06/ryse-son-of-romes-redemption

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Well I hope it turns out to be a fun game.

I liked the visuals and settings for this game. I was hoping for a quality title that wasn't an fps game, something a little different.

I guess we will see as more videos and reviews are put out.

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funny, the usual suspects at the beginning of this thread.

 

Usual suspect of what? :s  Am I back to being a "Sony fanboy" on this forum? Damn, I can't keep up with the labels.

 

FWIW I have never liked the idea behind this game from the moment it was announced years ago. I haven't suddenly changed my mind because of the X1 or Microsoft's recent history.

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Usual suspect of what? :s  Am I back to being a "Sony fanboy" on this forum? Damn, I can't keep up with the labels.

 

FWIW I have never liked the idea behind this game from the moment it was announced years ago. I haven't suddenly changed my mind because of the X1 or Microsoft's recent history.

Just ignore them.

I think the people that troll or are fanboys are the ones that get enjoyment out of negative news.

I haven't seen you enjoy such news.

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Usual suspect of what? :s  Am I back to being a "Sony fanboy" on this forum? Damn, I can't keep up with the labels.

 

 

 

Its the nature of this twilight zone website. I was called a "Sony fanboy" for criticizing Microsoft putting streaming content behind a paywall even though I have 2 Xbox 360s and the last Sony console I bought was a PS2 in 2001 (which I barely played.)

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Its the nature of this twilight zone website. I was called a "Sony fanboy" for criticizing Microsoft putting streaming content behind a paywall even though I have 2 Xbox 360s and the last Sony console I bought was a PS2 in 2001 (which I barely played.)

Maybe you guys only live on this website, but that kind of irrational, illogical, 'twilight zone' thinking is very much internet wide. Start with youtube comments and work your way out.

Fanboys and trolls will spin things because they either simply want to antagonize people and don't actually care about the product they defend, or they are so obsessed with a brand that they must go after anyone or anything that is negative.

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People shouldn't pass judgment on something, any type of media, off of one review or something. In the end we're talking about something that's different to people. Like I said, one review does not make or break a game. This is why I look at gameplay videos and try demos, lots of games that get average review scores I end up enjoying and so on.

 

Just look at reviews for lots of games in the past, one site will score it 8/10 and another might go as low as 4/10. 

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There are conflicting reviews out there :/ Don't know who is more believable. The combat looks like Batman / AC to me, so why is that suddenly a bad thing?

 

The part about execution happening automatically is wrong too.

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There are conflicting reviews out there :/ Don't know who is more believable. The combat looks like Batman / AC to me, so why is that suddenly a bad thing?

 

The part about execution happening automatically is wrong too.

 

Maybe it's conflicting because some people only got to play it for a short time?  Who knows, like I said, it's better to try it for yourself, if there's a demo on the XB1 for it.  Then you'll know for sure.    I agree about the combat, it's close to the batman games.   Some people comment about the enemies standing there waiting for you to attack them, it could just be that they've set it that way in the videos to show off combo moves, so the difficulty could be set to easy/low or w/e.   Hell, I just finished playing the recent Batman Arkham Origins and at times the AI stands and waits for you, specially if you get a free flow going, and other times, if you're off a bit and break the rhythm then they decide to crowd in and attack in force.

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I guess the views on this game will be down to the type of game you like playing, theres only so much you can do with a sword and stuff so the combination buttons wouldnt be very taxing. If you dont like swordy type of games then youd prolly get bored with this, although if its like spartacus series where you can kick em down and slice bits off and smash em in the face with your elbows and stuff it would be awesome.... holy ###### what if you could control a game like that with the kinect, actually fight your fight bit like on Real Steel where the guy puts the bot into shadow mode and fights the last round again Zeus. It would be hulla complex but would be so good

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I'm looking forward to this game a lot to be honest. I've been looking for a good Rome game for a while.

 

Also, speaking of reviews: "After getting the chance to properly sit down with the near-final version for an hour or so, I came away pleasantly surprised. "

 

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/436917/the-highs-and-lows-of-the-xbox-one-launch-games/

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