If you are in the mood to spend a weekend enjoying some graphic ultra-violence with your brain turned off, then Ryse: Son of Rome should make a nice addition to your library, especially if you can find it on a Steam sale.

Brutal combat and simple mechanics are the “bane and the boon” of this Action/ Hack 'n' Slash game. Impressive in the beginning, grows weary, though, after some playtime, following Marius Titus’ journey for retribution. The stunning depiction of some territories of the ancient Roman Empire make it an eye candy and the extremely interesting multiplayer co-op feature adds extra play hours, making it a worthy buy.

The PC version of the Crytek’s game is coherent with its roots and that’s at the same time a good and a bad thing.

While Ryse's production values are amazing, its gameplay is painfully superficial.

Ryse is a decent game, given its length, but it's one that is certainly more fun to look at than it is to play.

A bad port and a gameplay that wasn't that great even on Xbox One.

It treats players like drooling idiots that expect games to play themselves. [13/2014, p.62]