Ryse has to be the goriest game available this holiday season. It's gritty, good looking and a good bit of fun with a few blemishes. The length of the campaign hurts the overall experience and unfortunately the online feels like a grind instead of fun.

As buildings crumble, soldiers fall and arrows fly, we were reminded of the action-orientated set-pieces that feature in the popular shooter franchises and the latest Hollywood blockbusters.

I was really impressed with this game and it is probably the best game I have played on the Xbox One and it is one of the cheaper games for some reason so I urge you not even to think twice about buying this game!

Extremely brilliant graphics... Very intense ... And very enjoyable. Don't get me wrong it has it's flaws (single player could be longer, and with lots of room for improvement for a potential sequel). It's single player story and gameplay is very good.

He says it's Fab! Great game, has enjoyed since receiving it at Christmas

At E3 2013 Microsoft featured Ryse: Son of Rome as a game that would show naysayers what the Xbox One was capable of; however, the general consensus was that the game had quite a ways to go before being a must have title.

If you thought you would like Ryse but listened to the reviews like myself and didn't pick it up, honestly the game is far from those scores. I picked this up at a decent price and the game exceeded far beyond my expectations.

This game was my very first purchase for X1. And for a next gen game it was really nothing to do back flips over. The fighting dynamics were very robotic and uninspiring. Almost a direct annex of other free form fighting games like Assassin's Creed.

Ryse: Son of Rome was originally announced in 2010 as Codename: Kingdoms, and was slated to be a Kinect game for the Xbox 360. As the game developed, Microsoft likely realized that the Crytek-built title would fill the cinematic gameplay in their upcoming Xbox One launch lineup.

graphics scream next-gen til they're hoarse; characters are convincing; deep combat system can be rewarding; gladiator mode is surprisingly fresh

long hallways inject boring gameplay; commanding troops feels tacked on; local multiplayer sorely absent; DLC; F2P elements seem greedy; no in-game collectible item tracking

Launch titles are strange beasts, with their range and quality often determining the number of early adopters of a new console. At least on paper, Microsoft had the edge in the lead-up to the Xbox One versus PlayStation 4 showdown, with a greater range of exclusive titles on offer at lunch.