Ryse has an entertaining story and sky-high production values. The gameplay that's there isn't bad – it just stops in its tracks before it gets anywhere near close to demanding. The multiplayer mode has some neat ideas, like a deadly, shifting Colosseum, but it's hamstrung by the same combat issues...

Amazing art and audio; Interesting story; Unique multiplayer

Limited combat; Repetitive boss battles

Ryse: Son of Rome is an interesting title for its developer, Crytek. Crytek has only made shooters until now, and pretty good ones at that (the first Far Cry, the Crysis series). Their CryEngine is aptly named, as it has broken the heart of many a PC gamer whose rig couldn't handle its stiff system...

○ Combat is fun; at least for awhile ○ Very nice to look at

Gameplay cannot hold its own; Multiplayer offers little of substance; Stunted campaign

I'm Marius Titus and I'm a high-definition, next-gen whirling dervish of destruction, spinning in a blur of reflective armor and incredible lighting effects. I block a barbarian's photorealistic axe with my shield and slash into his well-textured gut with my sword, casting particles of blood across...

Stellar visuals; Weighty; satisfying combat; Surprising story

Repetitive battles; Lack of enemy variety; Light on content

So much death. So much spilled blood. And depending on your level of affection toward precious, ancient stoneware - so much smashed pottery! Nothing is safe from the barbarians rampaging through Rome, thirsty to smash your head in with swords, axes, and some rather fancy flaming skull-batons.

+ A highly-polished looker with beautiful facial animations, great vistas, and some lovely effects; excellent voice-acting, + Interesting revenge tale, well-told; meaty combat feels responsive and fun

- Incredibly linear; repetitive enemy models; co-op horde-like mode feels slightly mismatched with gameplay; slow start, ?

and one of the hardest decisions for me was deciding what game I'd start this console generation out with. It came down to

+ Stunning graphics; + Great location diversity; + Executions are disturbingly fun; + Fighting in the Colosseum; + Who wouldn't want a War Elephant

- Bland story; - Combat gets repetitive; - Low replay value

One might think that the Xbox One launch wasn't as successful as Microsoft had hoped – at least when it comes to software sales. Last month Dead Rising 3 made the jump from Xbox One to PC, and this month Ryse: Son of Rome makes the same trip, albeit with a bit more success.

Positives Stunning 4K visuals and excellent character designs

Negatives Repetitive combat system is neither fun or terribly challenging; Limited character models is distracting; Pointless and meandering story; Poor co-op and slow character building

Ryse: Son of Rome on the Xbox One takes two steps forward with graphics, sound and music but more than one step back with the story. The gameplay is heavy with one on one combat along with some Roman era battles where you act as a centurion.

Other console/handheld formats: N/A In the case of Ryse: Son of Rome , it's a meeting of old and new: old because the game takes us back to ancient Rome and new because it's on brand new console hardware.

Ryse: Son of Rome is a bombastic action title filled with bloody battles, cinematic encounters, and gravely sounding centurions barking orders about glory and empire, but it's also very repetitive.

Crytek leaves behind the shooting of 'Crysis' for its historic entry in the Xbox One launch lineup, opting for spears, shields, swords and Marius Titus, a Roman soldier hell-bent on revenge.