Treat players to a brutal milirary campaign through the eyes and actions of a Roman general. Although you're usually fighting as a one-man wrecking crew rather than issuing orders

The hack n' slash, quicktime event gameplay is gratifying for the first hour of play. After that it quickly loses its appeal. A larger amount of kill animations would have helped this issue

Ryse is the best looking game I've played on Xbox One. The character models were great, mocap animations were fantastic, and lighting was expert. But the title is still held back due to it only outputting at 900p resolution

A boiler-plate plot exists only to provide forward movement, plot "twists" are seen from several miles away

The sights and sounds of battle are executed very well through ambient swordplay and visceral war cries