Ryse Son of Rome Review

"Rome is failing it's children.  You are a vital piece in the Game of Man, and you like all of us have a role to play, Marius son of Rome."

Xbox One kicks off it's launch with another potential hit, Ryse Son of Rome.  If you are interested in playing the hybrid offspring of the movies 300 and the Gladiator,  then Ryse: Son of Rome is the game for you.

Story
Ryse: Son of Rome opens with an epic battle that gets you familiar with all the game mechanics as we are introduce to the only playable character in the game, Marius.   After Marius escorts Emperor Nero to a safe spot in the treasure room, the game shifts to a back story that details what events lead to the fall of Rome.

Over the course of game-play, we learn Marius is a humble and loyal General that lost his family to the salvage vengeance of northern barbarians known as Brittons, but later learn that the Emperor Nero had Marius family killed because Marius's father was a senator that wanted to strip the power away from the Emperor and give it back to the citizens of Rome.  Later, we Marius fate is tied to a similar path of another soldier known as Damocles, the spirit of Vengeance.

If you're a history buff, then you know the reason the Senators wanted to remove power from the royal family was due to the fact Emperor Nero was a paranoid psychopath and his two sons, Basilius and Commodus, were incompetent, over-sexed, glory hounds. 

Like all good Roman tales, Gods use a little divine intervention to ensure the course of history is written fairly. Marius gets second chances and pointed in the right direction by a few Goddesses to rewrite history and avenge his fallen soldiers and family.  

Eventually, Marius fights on the battlefield until he is defeated, and he gets a second chance at life with the help of the Gods.  With a second chance at life, Marius takes his military combat skills to the Roman Colosseum where he plays the game of politics and samples the theme from the movie The Gladiator, "Win the crowd, Win you're freedom"!

Game-play
As a leader in the Roman Army, Marius works with the Roman infantry by giv­ing com­mands to attack by formation or raised shields to defend like Spartacus in the movie 300.  The best part of the game are the combos and executions played out through quick time event con­trolled fin­ish­ing moves dur­ing combat.  

Pros and Cons
Ryse: Son of Rome has a good story-line that is borrowed from bits of history, the movies 300 and the Gladiator; but it's solid and keeps you interested.  The game-play is innovative with the executions, but sometimes it becomes frustrating as you notice some A.I. can only be attack on the 3rd or 4th attack like clockwork.  Being able to command a legion is a strong point and good display of the Xbox One console's power, but it really does nothing to aid the game.  The puzzle solving is simple: find the glowing object. I really wish there was more depth than what I played through.  It came off more as demo then a complete game.  I felt developers captured the story-line well, but failed to make a potential open-world game like Batman Arkham Asylum or Borderlands that would have made Ryse: Son of Rome more re-playable instead of being stuck in the mud with the regular play through.

Rating 
Ryse: Son of Rome is short and very linear.  There are moments where you feel a bit cramp and can easily overlook key items as you feel rushed by the moment of the game and charging soldiers.  The repetitive A.I. needs more investment because you'll notice you fight the same 5 barbarians over and over again.  There are near rape and nude scenes, mixed with graphic decapitation, blood, and gore that will throw off younger gamers.  Overall, it was a nice idea but the Ryse: Son of Rome needed a lot more development then it got so I give it 7.5/10.