The Post-Game - Ryse: Son of Rome

Hack. Slash. Shield bash. Repeat. That's Ryse: Son of Rome in a nutshell. The more I tried to objectively assemble a list of positives and negatives, the more I realized that Ryse has little unique to offer (those graphics, though!). However, there is real promise in several areas, and I had fun in an arcade-y way. Ryse is worth a purchase at 75% off or more, but certainly not at full price.

You can view the game's opening here.

What's to like:

+ The graphics for sure. If you have a killer rig and want an awesome-looking game to showcase your hardware, this is your game. The developers didn't phone in the backdrops, either: the vistas are huge, the backdrops extensive. The undergrowth in Britain is deep, detailed and lush. The water looks like real water, not shiny, shifting, reflective plastic. Character detail is superb, though facial animations still look just a bit stiff.

+ The voice acting is great, and carries the game at many points. Everyone delivers a superb performance (player-character Marius and npc Vitallion are both stand-outs).

+ The story has emotional impact, though if you're at all a fan of the time-period, the careless mixing of old and new legends will probably annoy instead of satisfy. Still, it's enough to keep you moving forward.

+ The soundtrack is a decent emulation of Zimmer's Gladiator score (not surprising).

+ The combat is slick and swift, and easy for newcomers.

+ A lot of effort clearly went into designing the two-player co-operative multiplayer; there are at least a dozen maps and four game modes. It's a lot of fun to team up with someone and slay enemies in the arena, but matchmaking is not that good at the moment, if a match can be found at all.

+ Well-optimized (for Radeon, anyway). In an era of increasingly shoddy PC ports, Ryse ran great on my moderate hardware (A10 6800k + 2GB R7 260X); I averaged around 50fps @1080p Medium settings.

And now, the not-so-awesome stuff.

-  Linear as hell. Rome may look awesome in the distance, but you can't go there.

-  While the story works, even the slightest bit of historical research will reveal there is nothing even approaching “accuracy”. If you were hoping for a cool Roman-era hack'n slash, you'll get it. Historically accurate? Nope. Just a mix of the cool stuff.

-  No real large-scale payoff to the story. Marius has closure, no question. But the larger implications including that he was somehow an instrument of the gods – are never addressed. We just get these god-figures who appear at the end (and are glimpsed throughout) with some decent speeches about purpose, rules, and Rome, and that's it.

-  Combat is limited and repetitive. Hack, slash, shield-bash, repeat. Maybe dodge here and there. It definitely bored me by the sixth chapter (out of eight). A missed opportunity to maybe dual-wield swords, or have a spear and shield, but nope. A sword and shield the entire game.

-  Staying with combat for a minute, finishing moves are a QTE-fest. I don't mean every few minutes; every other second you're performing some kind of QTE. I suppose this was easier than programming more complicated forms of combat.

-  I loved some of the contextual battle choices – where to deploy your archers, advancing on a line of archers in the testudo formation. But these are under-used, and offer little variation.

-  Upgrade skills are ridiculously cheap. I've played enough of the Batman Arkham games to be able to string together a 35-hit combo without much trouble. A big enough combo and correctly-completed QTEs grants tons of “honor” points that are used to level up. If the game were harder, upgrading would have meant more...

-  ...perhaps. Aside from new execution animations, the upgrades didn't seem to have much effect.

Ryse: Son of Rome is a linear hack'n slash that will satisfy in short bursts, but anyone looking for deep gameplay and customization will be disappointed. The potential is there to be something truly great, but sadly that potential remains unrealized.  

The Post-Game: DOOM Multiplayer Open Beta

I played the DOOM Open Beta this weekend and found it rather easy, with not much content on offer at the moment. Get a good team together, and matches are a breeze. That's great for people who are new to the franchise, but come on now. If companies constantly chase a new audience, they'll lose their old one. Yes, I realize the game is still in beta, but only two modes and a handful of maps? There better be a lot of content in the pipeline for release, but with publishers frequently choosing to offer content as DLC, I'm not certain that will be the case. The only thing going for the game at the moment is the great character customization (including weapons).

There are some balancing issues (most related to OP weapons and large hit-boxes), but that's something that is excused because of the beta status. Old-timers looking for DOOM nostalgia will be bored quickly, but newcomers will find it a fun, fast-paced arena shooter. This is a larger problem in the game industry: it's assumed the "old timers" (those who have been loyal fans for years) will be so happy there is something new in their favorite franchise that they'll overlook the "dumbing down" that is designed to appeal to a larger audience. They won't. Which leaves the new folks to carry the burden of the game's success. But there's little that is new or unique on offer; if the final product is anything like the beta, the DOOM multiplayer component will be yet another "flavor of the month" game until something else comes out.

To address the giant demon in the room:

Why would anyone pay $60 for DOOM with the promise of DLC when Xonotic is completely free and offers tons more content (which is also free)?

And this isn't even getting into the single-player campaign, which is still under wraps. If it proves to be another phoned-in campaign that is clearly playing second-fiddle to the multiplayer, I expect DOOM to crash and burn hard. 

The Post-Game: Tomb Raider Legend

Tomb Raider Legend is a story-driven platformer that is fun to play, but a near-game-breaking bug and some awkward mechanics belittle the overall positive experience.

The story is decent, if a little disconnected. Lara is searching for an artifact that killed her mother years ago. A great excuse to send Lara to a variety of diverse locations, from a sleepy South American town to the frozen mountains of Nepal. Zip and Alistair provide some snarky commentary as she proceeds through the levels – some of it almost breaking the fourth wall. It helps keep the proceedings light-hearted and fun, even if what is happening is quite serious. Lara herself is keen, quick-witted, whip-smart, and always ready with a snappy come-back. TR: Legend was actress Keeley Hawes first time voicing Lara, and she does an absolutely fantastic job.

The platforming is well-executed and slick, with timed movements (move quickly before the platforms collapse) and required momentum (remember to HOLD the spacebar to jump in some places, or Lara won't jump far enough). Gun-play just feels odd; lock on to a target, use the arrow or WASD keys to switch the lockon from target to target. While doing this, Lara can run, jump and dodge. There is a free-aim mode, but once engaged Lara cannot move at all, so the lockon mode will be the one used most often. I rebound the keys to what I wanted, so there is that. There are no waypoints; not really an issue in a game this linear. The climbing puzzles are generally well done; remember to use Lara's binoculars first to scan an area for hints before trying to solve a puzzle. Some bosses can only be defeated with the help of the environment, so if a boss seems like it is taking no damage, start looking around for switches and levers (and things to grapple). Nothing is handed to you in this game, though once you figure out a puzzle or boss, it will be solved or defeated in a matter of seconds.

Now for the issues, and there are more of them than there should be. Lock-on would sometimes result in strange camera movements, and the camera doesn't immediately auto-rotate to the forward direction when riding a motorbike. The platforming direction controls aren't always intuitive. A similar issue plagues the QTEs; the onscreen arrows don't always indicate the correct direction, resulting in multiple fails until finding the right button-press. Disable Next Generation Content in the graphics settings; TR: Legend looks better with it, but this will eliminate nearly all crashes. And there is the near-game-breaking bug in the Nepal temple level. A cutscene, then Lara needs to run to a door, hit it (I won't say with what, because spoilers), the door will open, triggering another cutscene and a platforming section. But hitting the door doesn't always make it open, meaning progression through the game is blocked. Just keep re-loading a save until the game works the way it is supposed to (it took me seven tries the last time I played it). Ridiculous, but there it is.

The saving grace through all of this is Lara Croft herself. Unlike more recent versions of Lara, this one has no lack of confidence. You never hear Lara telling herself, “I can do this.” She already knows she can, and can worry about other things. I still highly recommend Tomb Raider: Legend despite the game's issues, because there is nothing truly game breaking, and this remains one of my favorite “older” versions of Lara. If story-driven platforming and puzzling is your preference, or you just want more Lara Croft, absolutely get this one.

The Post-Game - Murdered: Soul Suspect

Ronan is a criminal-turned-cop who is killed by the mysterious Bell Killer. Playing as Ronan's ghost, investigate a series of crime scenes (sometimes with the help of teenage medium Joy), searching for the identity of the killer. Many supernatural elements come into play – ghosts, witches, demons – and some flashbacks of the witch trials are pretty gruesome (drowning, burning, hanging).

As the investigation progresses, you'll explore a graveyard, an apartment house, an old mansion, a police station and of course the obligatory asylum level. While the game world is small, it is open, with the ability to just wander around the town of Salem. It's a gloomy place – the game occurs entirely at night – but is well-dotted with NPCs and collectibles. Obtaining collectibles can unlock other stories (usually brief, narrated cut-scenes), and some NPCs will provide side-missions. There's a decent amount of stuff to do, but most collectibles were easily found as I explored the town or level.

Investigations require exploring a a crime scene, finding evidence (“Press E to analyze”) and sorting through the collected evidence (“Press Q to conclude the investigation”). Walking (or later, teleporting) around as a ghost feels fun; Ronan can walk through walls, possess people (mind-reading), and turn on random stuff to mess with the townsfolk (poltergeisting). Especially cool were the impenetrable “ghost walls” from past times that can block Ronan from exploring – or even provide new hazards (watch out for the ghost train!). Oh, and you can possess cats, too. This is actually crucial to progress through several stages of the game.

The demon sections, though, dragged the experience down a bit. Demons will sometimes spawn after completing an investigation. Their existence does have a crucial part to play, and they're easy enough to defeat with a little patience. Given that this is a supernatural tale, it would be rather weird if demons of some kind weren't in the game, and having some stealth sections added some variety to the gameplay. But after a while the demons became annoying distractions from the story.

And the narrative is where Murdered: Soul Suspect stands strongest. There is a lot of backstory to be found about Ronan and his wife (via collectibles). Sometimes collectibles are merely annoying, but they are worth pursuing here. Jason Brooks (as Ronan) and Cassidy Lehrman (as the medium, Joy) provide stand-out vocal performances. The graphics (Unreal 3) are great – murky and dark. Jason Graves' score provides a classic horror-story undertone. Murdered: Soul Suspect is a well-crafted detective game with a few quirks that holds its story aloft as its best attribute. If that sounds good to you, then go ahead and get this one.

The Post-Game: Consortium

Consortium is a short, dialogue-driven indie drama defined by the choices you make. Short, because its length feels like an episode rather than a full game (took me four hours to complete a run-through). You have the ability via some satellite thingy to travel into the future and inhabit the body of someone else in that future. You wake up in a cabin aboard a plane / airship and have to immediately come to grips with your new surroundings. The entire game is spent aboard this plane; you'll look for a traitor among the crew, negotiate with a mercenary, and try to keep the plane repaired and running. The moment gameplay starts, the conversations and choices begin.

Which are two of the primary strengths of Consortium. Choices abound, and result in genuinely different outcomes – NOT the same out come with minor variations. This means that, though short, replayability is high. There are a lot of dialogue options, with staying silent being a valid choice as well. With so much talking, the voice acting needs to be top-notch, and it is. A few characters seem a little flat, but the primary characters are unique and reactive. There are some very funny sci-fi references as well; like when you find someone dead, one of the conversation choices is, “He's wearing a red shirt; why should I care?” (Star Trek fans will know.)

A supporting strength of Consortium is the lore. This is never forced on you – you have to go find it – but there are questions that can be asked, and bulletins to read that explain a lot of the world you find yourself in. Ranks are modeled on chess pieces (you play as a “bishop,” while answering to a “rook,” and primary crew are “pawns”). And gun play is good, though shooting doesn't need to happen much if you don't make certain choices. I did choose the more violent route, and the shoot-out on three decks of a plane / airship, blacked out, with only red emergency lights pulsing on and off, was a creepy yet exhilarating setting for a deadly game of cat and mouse.

The three decks of the plane / airship are fully explorable (including the crawl spaces). Characters are generally well-modeled, though assets are re-used frequently (while every character's face is different, all men have the same body type, as do women). The graphics and environment are fully 3-D, which is an interesting choice since the game could have gotten away with being a 2-D point-and-click (would have lost that feeling of freedom to explore if the devs had done that, though). The graphics quality is plain but utilitarian; it fits the setting.

Usually a game's shortness would count heavily against it, but the high level of replayability counters that. Go into Consortium expecting dialogue-driven drama, and you'll easily get your money's worth. The game ends on a cliffhanger, but with the sequel recently Kickstarted, I hope the next episode comes soon! Value-wise, worth getting on sale for around $5, but if you want to support the developers, consider purchasing at full cost. Highly recommended.

Note about crashes:
I had a few where the game would just lock up and CTD. I set the game to run in Windows XP SP3 compatibility mode, and the crashes disappeared. The load times are long, though, and if you open the Task Manager it will say Consortium is “No Longer Responding”; ignore that and be patient, the game should eventually load.

The Post-Game: Rise of the Argonauts

Rise of the Argonauts is a game that gets very little notice today. When I bought it, I didn't know anything about it beyond the store page description. Yet several of my friends, on seeing some of my screenshots show up their activity feeds, commented, "I LOVED that game!" With some not aware there was a PC port. It's understandable, I guess; Codemasters is more famous for their Formula 1 games than for dialog-driven RPGs based on Greek mythology. Still, there is a lot of fun to be had with Rise of the Argonauts if a dialogue-driven hack 'n slash piques your interest (as it did mine). The use of Greek legend provides a great ambiance, and unique ways to upgrade and play give it some replay value, too. An easy game to recommend if you are looking for a change of pace.

Gameplay

+ Combat flows well. Plenty of weapons and armors to acquire and choose from. They all differ visually and provide unique bonuses.

+ Plenty of slow-motion finishing moves.

+ Skill trees are organized around a different Greek god, and your combat develops in the manner your favored god prefers. Ares, Apollo, Hermes and Athena each have their own styles, buffs and debuffs.

+ "God powers." I took most of Hermes' upgrades; calling forth lightning and great winds was very cool.

+ Bosses can be quite hard (though since much of the game is easy, this might be seen as an unexpected difficulty spike).

+ Three of the key locations - Saria, Kythra, and Mycenae - can be visited in any order. 

+ Conversation choices sometimes result in different outcomes. 

+ Some conversation choices are timed, some are not. Watch carefully. 

+ Some unique uses of the dialog options - like the forum debate on Kythra.

+/- Non-boss enemies are easy, even the minotaurs (get the Hermes "strike from behind" damage bonus and they'll fall in three hits).

+/- Long levels, but they're generally narrow corridor affairs. If you arrive at some open ground, that telegraphs horde or boss level combat is about to happen.

+/- Manually saving the game does not save your immediate location; it saves your last checkpoint.

+/- Lots of dialogue. I like BioWare games like Mass Effect and Dragon Age, so I wasn't bothered by it. But there were times that my sword-arm began to itch from inaction.

- Only four "god powers" accessible at a time. Clearly an effect of being ported from a console. Would have been better to bind them to the number keys, allowing the use of up to 10. Though that might have made the game TOO easy.

- Not much enemy variety. Your standard mobs and mini bosses in a variety of numbers and spawns.

- No co-op. With Jason being accompanied by two other Argonauts on most missions, seems like there was an opportunity to implement co-operative play, but it is an opportunity missed.

Characters

+ Rise of the Argonauts is clearly inspired by some sword-and-sandals epic movies from the early '00s. If Gladiator or Troy (or even some classics like Spartacus or The Robe) are something you like, you'll find yourself enjoying this one. I found myself rooting for Jason, sympathizing with Lycomedes, disgusted by Achilles (though still admiring his prowess), admiring Atalanta's power and resourcefulness, sorry for Medusa... The characters are generally well done and a great draw. Hercules is let down badly by his voice actor.

Narrative

+ You play as Jason of Iolcus, king of ancient myth, whose wife Alceme is murdered by nefarious assassins. Instead of accepting her death, he sets out upon a journey across Greece in search of the one artifact that is reputedly able to reverse death: the Golden Fleece. Visit the Oracle at Delphi, and find descendants of Hermes, Athena, and Ares in Saria, Kythra, and Mycenae. Then venture into Tartarus and, upon returning, defend Iolcus. That's the story in a nutshell. 

- The enemy force, the "blacktongues," are your standard dark-magic mobs.

Graphics etc.

+ Graphics are fairly decent (Unreal 3). Showing their age, but still colorful and vibrant (if low-res at times).

+ SUPERB soundtrack. Composer Tyler Bates channels the feel of Troy and Gladiator and perfectly sets the mood. In some cases, the music saves the game from other, less-excellent elements.

+ Light on system resources. Rise of the Argonauts uses Unreal 3, and it is well-optimized here.

+ Cheap. $9.99 in the store? and even cheaper during sales? That's a good value, considering the amount of content.

+/- Characters (women AND men) are all idealized representations of the human form. Translation: the women are sexy, and the men have bulging muscles and ripped abs. This didn't bother me, but if you're hoping for something more "politically and socially correct," well, you won't find that here.

- Mouth movement not always synced to the dialog.

- The voice-acting is bland, whether due to the level of writing or the actual effort of the actors is hard to tell. A few stand out - like Pan and Lycomedes - and Brian Bloom as protagonist Jason does his best, but overall the effect is forgettable. Disappointing because dialogue plays such a large part in the game.

The Post-Game: Red Faction II

Red Faction II is the sequel that fans of the Red Faction franchise would rather forget. Decent graphics for the time, trouble free gameplay (no crashes & full 1080p), multiple environments (some levels are completed on foot, others in planes, others in tanks, others in power armor), and great voice acting (Lance Henriksen and Jason Statham).

So what are the drawbacks?

Red Faction II contains little or nothing that made the first Red Faction game a classic. The game is linear as hell. So was the first game, you might say; but even within the levels, there often were multiple ways to progress. Not so in Red Faction II. What about Geomod and destructible terrain? Well, that's still here, kind of. There's plenty of stuff that is destructible. But instead of unlocking different routes, Geomod's role is reduced to the only path. One level begins with Alias in an alley with both ends blocked off. There's no way to progress forward. Oh, wait, shoot those barrels. Boom! The wall explodes and (realistically) crumbles, opening a hole to walk through. There's your Geomod.

Also missing is the Everyman character. Parker (Red Faction), Alec Mason (Red Faction Guerrilla), and Darius Mason (Red Faction Armageddon) were all ordinary joes called upon to be heroes. In Red Faction II, we play as a Nano-agumented super soldier who is already special. The plot might look fine on paper – super soldiers attempt to overthrow a despot – but the execution isn't even up B-movie standards (maybe C-movie standards). And while the voice acting is good, there's no emotional attachment with Alias (your character), even when he is betrayed and has to fight an entirely new enemy about half-way through the game.

Red Faction II is also short for a fps. A complete run-through clocked in around 5 hours. The enemies are generic and repetitive (even the “zombies” of later levels present little challenge). If you're good at getting head-shots, you'll be able to coast through this one. The boss battles do present a decent challenge; the final boss is insanely hard / old school at first. Then I realized his pattern (from which he never deviates), and beat him in 90 seconds. There was one boss that had a charged electrical field for protection; if he got too close, and you became electrocuted, all of your controls become inverted (left is right, down is up). That was fun and a great challenge.

But one unique and fun boss isn't enough to save a game, and unfortunately Red Faction II has little else of interest. Skip it unless you can get it REALLY cheap.

Of note: If battling bots is something you like, you might be interested in Red Faction II's highly customizeable Bot-Match mode. There are quite a few maps and a great variety of weapons. Though why wouldn't you just play Quake 3 or Classic Nexuiz if that's what you're after?