At E3, I sat down with Crytek’s CEO, President and Founder (and head cheerleader, most likely) Cevat Yerli to participate in a hands-off session with Ryse: Son of Rome.
Ryse seems to be dividing those who’ve seen it. From the moment it was announced at Microsoft’s E3 Media Briefing, critics have said it’s either a gorgeous looking game, or a gorgeous looking movie that masquerades as a playable game. Those who’ve had hands-on with it have said that they’ve got full control of Marius, the game’s main character. Others say that the game largely plays itself.
To be honest, everyone’s right.
Ryse doesn’t appear to be on rails, but it’s definitely meant to be a cinematic experience. As Marius progresses through the game on his mission of vengeance – he’s after the men who’ve murdered his family – you’ll be able to travel down a linear path, fighting enemies at every corner. You control Marius’ strikes and combos, but when you get to quicktime-esque executions, that’s where animations will carry out regardless of your additional input.
So you see, you’ve got control. And you don’t.
Those execution sequences allow you to select a reward upon successful completion of the buttons shown on-screen. If you complete a sequence, you’ll be granted health, or xp, or riches. If you don’t, you lose the same. Suddenly, the game goes from playing itself to integrating a risk-reward scheme.
Even more interesting, when played on Hardcore mode, you won’t even see those button prompts during executions. Instead, you’ll have to listen to audio queues to input the correct button sequences at the right time.
“Oh, we’re going to make you fight for your loot,” Yerli said as he explained the concept.
You’re not going to be bored while doing fighting, either; Yerli said there are over 100 executions in-game, each more brutal and spectacular than the last. As you progress through the game, Marius becomes more and more enraged; each kill, after all, will take him closer to his family’s murderers. Not only will you be able to see that anger in Marius’ executions, but in his eyes and motion-captured movements, Yerli said.
“We wanted to fully capture Marius’ emotion and intensity. His anger, his worry that things won’t work out,” he said, stressing that it will extends beyond cutscenes.
There’s still much more to learn about Ryse in the coming months. Multiplayer has been confirmed, but Crytek isn’t talking about it yet. Kinect commands will exist in the game, but they’re not mandatory.
Yerli said Crytek will provide more information about Ryse in the months to come, but for now has left us with Crytek’s goal for the game, to create a title that’s “old school in combat, but very modern in presentation.”
From what we’ve seen, he and Crytek are damn close.
This article may contain affiliate links, meaning we could earn a small commission if you click-through and make a purchase. Stevivor is an independent outlet and our journalism is in no way influenced by any advertiser or commercial initiative.
