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.

Ryse looks spectacular, as you'd expect from Crytek, and the basic combat is extremely satisfying - even if it doesn't evolve much over the game. Meanwhile, the Gladiator Mode gives the game longer appeal, but is poisoned by randomised, monetised, loot.

Well; it looks great; The combat basics are great; Excellent; well-acted story

Combat doesn't evolve; Cheap instakill moments; Elephants

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.

As a fan of all videogames, I try to be objective in what does or doesn't make a videogame fun to play. If you have ever played a hack-n-slash or beat-em-up game, you are already prepared for what Ryse has to offer.

Ryse: Son of Rome brings with it enough visual pizzazz to impress anyone, though what you see is pretty much what you get.

Highly impressive graphics; Solid combat mechanic

Quick time based executions; Limited overall scale

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

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

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!

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 is a lot of fun to play. I didn't find it hard at all, even on the highest difficulty, which is great if you get bored with games easily this is probably the one for you as its not overly long, and it has a decent story.