Ryse: Son of Rome

I do not think that Ryse was an instant classic and must be in your collection, but I do highly recommend it by borrowing from a friend or grabbing on sale.

On PC, the Cryengine really speaks for itself, and gives Marius Titus and his bloody story the shine it sometimes deserves.

Brutal combat and simple mechanics are the “bane and the boon” of this Action/ Hack 'n' Slash game. Impressive in the beginning, grows weary, though, after some playtime, following Marius Titus’ journey for retribution. The stunning depiction of some territories of the ancient Roman Empire make it an eye candy and the extremely interesting multiplayer co-op feature adds extra play hours, making it a worthy buy.

Ryse: Son of Rome has amazing graphics and execution scenes. However, it features a bad story, boring fight scenes and linear gameplay.

On PC, Ryse: Son of Rome is technically sumptuous as expected, but apart from that, few will wait for the Emperor's thumb down once a few hundred of butchered barbarians will bite the dust.

The PC version of the Crytek’s game is coherent with its roots and that’s at the same time a good and a bad thing.

While the PC port features the same shallow gameplay from the console version, its visual quality is boosted to incredible heights. Ryse may not be a great game, but as a blunt spectacle with impeccable graphics, costly cut-scenes and brutal combat it still can be quite satisfying.

The action fan in me is entertained sumptuously by the brutal battles and the beefy revenge story.

Ryse is very simplistic, but at least it’s beautiful to look at. No wonder Microsoft made it a launch title for Xbox One – it is an ideal introduction to slashers. Unfortunately, if you have played other, better-designed games, Ryse will quickly disappoint you.

Crytek offers us the most visually beautiful game in recent months but the improvements that could be done are numerous and concern mainly the gameplay, the campaign duration and some serious bugs.

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.

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.

While Ryse's production values are amazing, its gameplay is painfully superficial.

There's no doubt Crytek has done a great job on the visual side, also on PC, but the gameplay still feels empty.

The new version of Ryse for PC is an exceptional visual show for PC with better resolution and FPS than Xbox One version. However it is a linear and too simple Beat'em Up.

Ryse is a decent game, given its length, but it's one that is certainly more fun to look at than it is to play.

Ryse: Son of Rome has the visual fidelity of the future, while its gameplay and storytelling are stuck in the past.

Ryse: Son of Rome's combat and incredible graphics are entertaining, but it's too narrow and repetitive, even for a short game.

A bad port and a gameplay that wasn't that great even on Xbox One.

This is a sample of an average hack and slash game of the ancient Rome era with the overpolished graphics, that gets on PC thanks to the well-made conversion. Unfortunately, on the inside it is still that empty game like it was a year ago.

Looking back on this review, I’m actually a bit depressed that the highlight of the game (for me, at least) was simply how good Ryse looked. It’s obvious that Crytek is capable of so much more, but Ryse simply borrows the best that a few franchises has to offer, and instead chooses to cobble them together quite lazily with a few superfluous mechanics thrown in for good measure, rather than refining and building upon the core game.

Even though it looks infinitely better on the PC, Ryse: Son of Rome still remains a dull tech demo that's repetitive and offers very little gameplay-wise. It's very pretty to look at, but extremely boring to play.

Ryse is a little better than its reputation as a tech demo in search of a game. But not much beyond a mediocre combat system in want of something more than its predictable, opulent story.

I could never call it good, or imaginative, or varied. I can see through its obvious attempts to appeal to my most primitive impulses. But I can also say that Ryse succeeds in tickling your brain stem even when you know your time is better spent. I don't believe, however, that it deserves congratulations for having done it.

It could have been a decent game, if the fighting system would be more refined, if the AI would react better. Like this it is little more than a tech demo to show the immense power of CryEngine 3. And as this, it is very powerful.