A Look Into Ryse: Son of Rome

Let me poke you.

I was reading an article written about Ryse: Son of Rome, an exclusive title for the Xbone. You can find  the article here. I'll put up a direct link to the video as well.

I took a look into things, and I got to thinking, is this game going to be any good?

In the article, Kotaku mentioned that Crytek spoke to GameReactor about their intention behind the game. The concept of "mashing to mastery" can be demeaning to gamers who take games seriously, but honestly, I think this is a very nice concept. It can be daunting for new gamers to experience this fun we have, especially when everything looks difficult. This game, while looking graphically remarkable and offering intense action, can be played by complete beginners.

Really, it isn't that hard. I analysed the video, and found that I don't even need to look at the prompts to know what I'm doing. Keep in mind however, this is probably the "intro" level, which in games means the easiest level. Since the gameplay is trying to showcase their combat system, let's talk about combat.

You get dropped off shore and the demo starts there (by the way, a huge thing smacking in like that might cause someone to loop in and out of consciousness instead of the whole pinging sound (WAY too overused). The protagonist encounters barbarians. Here's what I saw:

1. Protagonist slashes once or twice.
2. Prompt appears.
3. Player goes into QTE (Quick Time Event), and needs to input correct buttons to slay the enemy.
4. Protagonist continues his conquest.

Really, really simple, right? The combat is EXTREMELY shallow. Now, I am going to break it down, without judging, so just hear me out.

Granted that this is probably the intro "level", you are not going to enter into some difficult fights, which might explain the ease of weakening enemies enough to enter QTE. One or two slashes put enemies into a weak state. Blocking with your shield staggers your enemy.

All enemies who are weak enough will have ONE button prompt appear above their heads, "B". Look through the whole thing, "B" is the sole button used for entering into QTE. People might have referenced the God of War series after seeing this.

Then, the player enters into QTE, right? I'll break you in on a secret - you don't need to look at the button prompt. Just look at your character. *SHOCK* 

No, really. 

If the protagonist is poised to strike with his shield, press "Y".

If the protagonist is poised to strike with his sword, press "X".

There, I've done it. I unravelled the mystery of the game. Thank you everybody. Goodbye.

No, come back. See, the "A" button is, I believe, used exclusively for interacting with things. "LB" is for issuing commands to your troops and to look around, whereas "RB" is for actions during events.

That's what I have gathered so far from the demo.

To those who are drawing comparisons with God of War, you have every right to do so, but mind you that this game is painstakingly dumbed down to accommodate a larger range of players, if they wish to play it. If you belittle God of War, I believe you must have played it in a casual manner, in which case I prompt you to take on the more challenging difficulties. Ryse is a lot easier than God of War. I just broke down its QTE into simple bits, and I think I can pretty much take on the game without any challenges.

Anyway, back to talking.

The combat is really, really SHALLOW. I cannot stress that enough. The grace period you have to block an enemy's attack is really long. The QTE is awfully simplistic, more so than God of War's. You do not seem to get punished enough for being bad at the game, such as allowing an enemy to circle around your back or timing your javelin tosses badly. No, really. The enemy ONLY hits you once if he gets behind you, with no conceivable damage whatsoever. Doing badly when you are in the phalanx formation punishes your soldiers, instead of failing you (game over). Really, just, yeah.

Crytek is appealing to a larger consumer base, make no mistake about that. They want to appeal to casual gamers and non-gamers alike, by combining other studios' recipe for success. What do I mean by this?

• Naughty Dog's cinematic experience for gamers (Uncharted, The Last of Us)
• Activision's heart-pumping action (Call of Duty)
• Santa Monica Studio's shot at epic games (God of War - QTE's included too!)

In return, we get an extremely simplistic game. No challenge whatsoever. Don't expect to be filled with ecstasy after defeating an opponent. You won't. 

As a dedicated gamer, I am rather disappointed at this. Of course, Crytek delivers great visuals, yet again, but at what cost? The gameplay? Was it worth it? I will wait for players' response when they have actually played the game. Truth be told, I'm not expecting much, and neither should you.