Ryse: Son of Rome Doesn't Inspyre Confydence - Preview
by Jake Weston , posted on 13 June 2013 / 4,704 Views
Every generation's new hardware needs a killer introduction. The game that wows audiences with its presentation and innovative gameplay, and sells them on the unique new features of the console. As the first major Xbox One game showed off at Microsoft's E3 conference earlier this week, Crytek's Roman sword-and-sandals epic Ryse: Son of Rome should be this game. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if I'm feeling it. In fact, Ryse: Son of Rome doesn't really make me feel anything at all.
The demo on E3's show floor was the same showed off at Microsoft's press conference on Monday, beginning with players controlling Roman general Marius Titus as he leads his soldiers on a beach assault against an enemy fortress. Allusions to Saving Private Ryan are plentiful and annoying, but it can't be denied the game looks great. I wasn't super impressed with the visuals during Microsoft's press conference, but seeing it up close really sells me on the power of Xbox One's visuals. The promise of playing FMV quality games now seems closer than ever.
If only playing the gameplay inspired such confidence. Combat is definitely a little more engaging than the quick-time event-laden press conference demo would suggest (though there are a LOT of quick-time events, more on that later). There's a standard sword attack that is used to hit enemies with. There is a shield bash attack that is used to hit enemies where the sword attack doesn't work. Riveting! Surprisingly, I'm actually a big fan of the the block move, performed by moving the control stick in the direction of an enemy's attack and pressing the A button. It's simplistic and easy to pull off, but there's a viscerality to it that makes the game at least somewhat engaging, and the response times are quick despite the "heavy" feel of the gameplay. It evokes feelings of the recent Batman: Arkham games, though admittedly not nearly as enough finesse is required.
As for the numerous quick-time events that are used to finish off enemies, I just... meh. There's really nothing engaging going on there. This seems to be the one of the earlier levels in the game, so I'll refrain from speaking too much of the QTEs, since they just don't inspire any feelings, good or negative. One thing I did like, however, was that the QTEs appeared to be context sensitive. Many animations were played twice or thrice during the demo, but stun an enemy near a wall, and you'll slam is head into it. Finish an enemy by a ledge, and Marius will throw him off. Contextual QTEs are nothing new, but hopefully the power of the Xbox One will provide greater diversity as the single-player progresses.
When it's all said and done, Ryse doesn't inspire confidence. Yet, I can't help but feel strangely intrigued by the game. It's the only AAA Xbox One title that seems solely dedicated to single-player. It's the first non-FPS game from Crytek, a developer who has traditionally only developed first person shooters. All of these things are good, given an E3 conference that was definitely saturated by online shooters. Ryse: Son of Rome shows that Microsoft is willing to take risks on their gaming projects. I just wish the game shown was more ambitious. I guess we'll see when Ryse: Son of Rome launches with the Xbox One later this Fall.
