With the Xbox One celebrating its birthday in November 2014, the new console generation really feels established. We at GamingExcellence might have been too poor to afford to immediately jump on the console upgrade when the One released but now that we have one we thought looking at where it started...

Gorgeous visuals; easy to pick up and play; online co-op is a lot of fun; DLC adds a lot of variety to the online

Combat can get repetitive pretty fast; campaign lasts about five hours; thrown weapons suck

When I finished playing this game, I felt like I wanted more. That's the mark of a good game. I also felt like I had played something fresh. If there were 20 games about Rome, this one might not stand out as the most outstanding.

The very first camera shot of Ryse: Son of Rome gives you a view of barbarians attacking the beautiful imperial capital; Then the camera zooms in on a single soldier, Marius Titus, as he tries to fight off the barbarians; That shot tells you a lot about what you'll see in this game.

Ryse: Son of Rome is a game on rails; That means it moves from one scene to another in a linear path, often giving the player the illusion of choice, but in reality requiring them to stay on the prescribed path; Sometimes that isn't a problem, like when you fight your way into a large arena.

Demonstrating a positively Emmerichian grasp of history, Ryse: Son of Rome dares to ask the question 'what if all of Rome's Imperial age took place over the course of a simple three-act revenge story?

Nailing a double execution and watching Marius flit back and forth; gutting two men simultaneously

Killing the exact same guy five times in the same fight

You play as Marius Titus, a Roman Soldier on a journey for revenge after his entire family was murdered by Barbarians. You'll play through his life, primarily in flashback form, beginning with the murder of his family then following his battles across the Roman Empire before finally getting the...

Stunning graphics; Wonderful narrative

QTE executions have no real substance; Combat becomes boring and repetitive; Incredibly linear

It's a fighting system all about learning basic patterns and clearly signposted executions. Combos are short and simple, battering your opponent enough so that a skull appears above his head.

, the launch games lineup is a key factor deciding whether the games machine will sink or swim in the increasingly competitive market. For this reason exclusive IP is worth its weight in gold for game console makers.

We first join our protagonist at the end of his storyline, with Ryse portraying each of its subsequent chapters in flashback.

Beautiful visuals; Excellent performance capture; Dumb storyline

Repetitive combat; Dull multiplayer; Not enough variety throughout

RYSE is a third person blood bath that's focused on finesse, rewarding the player for perfect timing and precision. If you perfect your timing you will see glorious results with executions getting more brutal and bloodier with each perfect strike that you land.

Much has happened since the international release of Ryse: Son of Rome . The studio behind it has all but fallen to pieces, which means no matter how you looks at it, this is likely the one and only chance you'll get to play this new IP on console.

Best graphics on console to date | Voice commands that actually work

Very short adventure | Lack of Variety | Combat gets repetitive once mastered

Rome is burning. As Roman Centurions do what they do best-kill the enemy in nasty, nasty ways with gladius swords-Emperor Nero cowers in his vault with General Marius Titus as he hopes the big, beefy man will save him from impending doom. Not exactly.

Stunning; breathtaking visuals; Fun hack-and-slash combat; Can change execution bonuses at any time for player's need; Online multiplayer gladiator mode

Fun hack-and-slash combat; Online multiplayer gladiator mode