Ryse: Son of Rome [XO]

well it's 500 quid pretty much for the machine and Ryse which is a silly amount regardless of how pretty it is, but I guess everyone needs a hobby

 

If u want it just for the visuals, i would say get a PC and there are many Cryengine mods that can put this to shame.....atleast in environments.......there are some really beautiful sceneries out there......check Crymods.....you just need a PC to run them well.

But by all means, if u like it so much, get a Xbone ! i m just saying...

 

No CryEngine PC version has the Ryse shading yet. And that makes a massive difference.

 

I am also a sucker for good art

 

Ya, I just came back to add that none of them are. set in the Roman era, though !

Get it if u like it so much, I love the visuals too, slogged through Crysis 2 n 3 just because of them(they weren't as good as Crysis 1 at all. Far Cry 3 is what these should have been,) but i have watched quite some videos now, I don't think I can toil through this gameplay, sadly. People might think me trolling or something, but I have not been able to watch a single youtube playthrough completely, because I find myself closing the window after five mintes due to the same thing over n over.
It sad for me, because I have a place for Crrytek in my mind, but they keep falling from that pedestal slowly. Warface isn't something grand either. Wish they come up with something special next time.

Sorry for the OT ramblings.

 

Not sure that the videos are really a substitute for actually trying the game play. I rather enjoyed it once it had got out of the annoying hand holding of the first bit of the campaign. Think MS really need to get a lot of demo consoles out with decent TV's to showcase the game, but I guess based on it's rating/subject matter thats easier said then done.

 

Yes, I understand that, but as of now there is no way for me to actually try it, so, youtube videos of people I follow are the only way to get a feel for me. Its not the real thing at all, of course. While playing a game, one is much more engaged in the gameplay than when just watching. For example, Demon Souls might not be fun to watch but playing it was just blissful !

When MS sets up some demo kiosks here, only then will I be able to try it out.

I should get out and hunt for some good screens and let you guys enjoy the game

 

Wow, just wow. I am speechless. I think I am in love with this image. Thanks for sharing.

Whether the gameplay is the best or not, they nailed the art style! They also nailed the setting, but the art style sets this game apart. If they play their cards right, Ryse 2 could be one of the best games in this new generation.

I barely played like 15-20 minutes, but the combat was fun -blackjedi and Silent_Buddha, your reviews are welcome, gotta share them with someone....- and I am playing on the Hard difficulty setting -not the hardest yet-.

I kinda like the difficulty level. Instead of just mindlessly confronting everyone, you have to sort of pick and choose what action is going to be good at what. If you have to go defensive or attack.

Hard difficulty level is quite tough, it's not a typical hack'n slash, it's more challenging and fun -talks about replayability-, and I can see myself replaying the game using different difficulty settings.

I shall let you know if I get stuck, but for now, I am really enjoying it and will have to go back and play Ryse some more tonight.

 

Http://sdrv.ms/1986GOw

Http://sdrv.ms/189ZW2u

I don't know how to link SkyDrive videos. Any help is appreciated.

 

Yup, just got to experience the strong attack and strong block moves last night. You don't get access to those in the first part of the game. I'm probably going to have to buy the XO from my friend. I think he's going to get annoyed me wanting to come over all the time just to check out Ryse and play with the voice commands.

I just wish he was more of a gamer, I'd like to try out some of the other games to see if it'd make it easier to swallow the cost of the console.

It certainly is a gorgeous game. Semi-transparent cloth effects are also extremely impressive in the game. That flapping bit of blue cloth that was in the video someone linked before. If you see it in action from multiple angles in bright sunlight in the game is quite impressive.

The only game currently out that comes even remotely close to this in graphics is Crysis 3 on PC, IMO. And while C3, still does some things better, it is also outclassed in other things by Ryse on XO.

That said, the game isn't perfect visually either. Some of the ambient artistic touches are excellent (like the graffiti on the the walls that include the paint strokes used to paint them) while other's are disappointing (like the fruit in the fruit stands in Rome).

Still, that said, there is no other game on current gen consoles that comes even close to touching the graphics offered by this title, IMO. I'm sure it'll be surpassed by future titles, but for the moment, out of the games available for purchase, this is head and shoulders above everything else graphically. Again, in my opinion.

Regards,
SB

 

Yeah, I wasn't being literal, I'm using two-button in reference to the simple attack/parry/counterattack style of combat that's used in games like Fable, the Arkham series, Assassin's Creed and now Ryse - those other games have other systems like stealth, magic, RPG mechanics, gadgets etc that flesh out the gameplay and make it far more compelling wheras Ryse is pretty barebones.

 

Not having a lot of complex fight mechanics doesn't necessarily mean a boring game. My absolute all time favorite franchise on consoles is... Dynasty Warriors.

It has a less complex system than Ryse. Yet I will gladly spend hundreds of hours in that game (do it all the time). Yes, it has jump, strong attack, weak attack, block. But you can progress through the entire game mashing a single button if you wanted to. Although some of the older games in the series would punish you occasionally for doing that.

At least in Ryse, if you don't use shield push, enemies will evade your attacks. Or shield enemies will block all of your attacks.
If you don't use shield block, you'll take lots of damage and die.
If you don't use dodge, you'll take lots of damage and die.

One thing that I do like in Ryse compared to the Batman games is that it is easier to animation cancel in order to block so that you can maintain a high combination. Batman combat likely seems better to some people because Batman is far more acrobatic and the combat animations for the basic attack button are more varied in presentation even if the effect is exactly the same.

Regards,
SB

 

Due to the nature of Roman style fighting and trying to stay somewhat authentic without turning the game into a stupid jack of all trades crapfest of dumbass moves....I think the developers achieved their goal. I've got the Day One edition but no console to play it on...lol.

I also got two free special shields redeemed to my Gold account that's not available for free with the Day One edition...

 

I found out you can issue voice commands without pressing a single button. I thought I had to press and hold LB but that's not the case. Voice commands are working perfectly.

I am not exaggerating, people. This is the first game ever in my life that made me think that 3D graphics with the same quality as 2D graphics (or artwork) is possible now.

When I played adventure games like Broken Sword or similar I thought 3D graphics could never achieve that. Time has proven me right. This is no longer the case.

Playing Ryse and looking at buildings around with almost no aliasing, the colours and lighting feeling right, global illumination, etc, makes me feel like I am contemplating "2D graphics", CGI quality stuff.

Sometimes it feels like a movie, but in real time.

 

I haven't got to that part, but it looks awesome!

One of my favourite cinematics is when

Spoiler

Marius reunites with his mother

. She is so well recreated... looks like a real person to me. That brief scene is sublime.

 

I'll have to give that a try the next time I go over. Both my friend and I thought you had to hold down the left shoulder button while issuing the voice command. If not, then voice commands make a lot more sense.

Regards,
SB

 

Its either the button or frantic voice commanding.

 

It's a shame that the images are heavily compressed, but still you can see that there is a lot of detail in the source material.
Indeed very impressive. Definitely next gen

 

Those shots are not compressed. Its upscaling and grain filter that unfortunately diminish some details and clarity.