Ryse: Son of Rome was originally announced as an Xbox 360 exclusive featuring total utilization of Kinect at E3 2011.
Fast forward a few years and Microsoft has decided to make the game an Xbox One launch title that strips a huge chunk of Kinect's usage in favor of a more traditional control scheme. The transition from Xbox 360 to Xbox One has made Ryse: Son of Rome strikingly beautiful thanks to Crytek's CryEngine 3. Besides some of the most realistic facial textures and massive amounts of effects going on at once, the battlefield of ancient Rome is huge. It's as if Crytek took a page out of Call of Duty with a few set piece design choices which have a slick cinematic flair.
The ten minute E3 demo puts players in the Roman sandals of Marius Titus, a soldier literally participating in his first battle after being promoted to general. There's a huge D-Day vibe that comes from the demo as it begins with the Roman army storming a beach front fortress. There's even an opening set piece involving a boulder that crashes next to Titus. As Titus gets up in slow and blurred motion, the sound drains out as he gains focus just see the horrific effects of what just happened. Accompanying soldiers loses an arm and one struggles graphically to get an arrow out of his eye. It's all visceral stuff that blends cinematic inspiration of Ridley Scott's Gladiator with Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan. Ryse: Son of Rome just has that technical splendor that's made even more realistic due to some excellent animation that makes everything feel brutal.
That's until you realize its just a game.
Unfortunately from what was played, Ryse: Son of Rome just doesn't impress gameplay-wise though there are a few interesting design choices made. On the surface, Ryse: Son of Rome plays a lot like a slower version of God of War which isn't necessarily a bad thing considering the grounded reality Crytek is going for. From what was played, there was a command to attack, shield bash, parry and execution button once enemies health reached a certain point. Execution moves give way to quick-time events that are sometimes contextual; enemies can be knocked off ledges or have their faces pounded against the a wall. Between the simple and unimpressive combat, there are basic squad commands that can be given to soldiers around Titus. There was a section where Titus commanded his troops to fire arrows or destroy a catapult. The most impressive part of the demo came mid-way as Titus instructed soldiers to rally around him in formation to deflect arrows almost exactly like the scene in Zack Synder's film adaptation of 300. Players held one trigger to block arrows in one formation and another to throw spears between enemy volleys. Besides that, Ryse: Son of Rome felt bland as a whole.
Yes, Ryse: Son of Rome looks next-gen visually but doesn't feel like it from what was demonstrated. Crytek mentioned that there are more features to be announced in the future but there isn't anything special about it at the moment. Maybe the Crysis developer can turn things around before its November release.
