Never judge a book by its cover
These days, with lazy movie tie ins and sequels being the main stay for games, first impressions are normally spot on.
However From time to time the first impression of a game can be wrong. And so it was with Rise of the Argonauts.
There is a good game well hidden in here!
The story starts with King Jason (of Jason and the Argonauts fame) getting married. Just as the ceremony is getting into full swing, his wife to be is murdered by an unknown assassin. As you can imagine our Jason is not best pleased, and you are quickly thrown into battle to dispose of the assassins.
What follows is an action RPG that will take you through an intricate story to find out who, why and what… Oh yeah and to bring you wife back from the dead!
Anyone who followed my original tweet will know that at the start of playing this, I was nearly put off games for life. The reason for this is three fold.
The graphics, the acting and the plodding nature of the beginning of the game.
I have to get the first two out of the way before getting on to what makes this game worth having.
The graphics are shameful for a next gen game. Using the Unreal engine they seem to have managed to be worse than most pc game from 2 years ago. The models are ok, but the resolution is low, the shadows are terrible and at times the animation is just laughable. The textures seem to have a life of their own, with constant tearing and to top it all off it suffers from the worst slow down I have seen in ages.
As for the voice talent the less said the better, at best the actors seem bored, at worst they seem to be trying to out do each other in how bad they can be.
Right now that is off my chest on to the good stuff.
The story is first on my list. It is full of myth and legend and is truly a compelling romp that once it gets going will have you gripped. The main mission is great and the sub plots and missions will keep you on your toes.
Remembering that this is at heart an RPG, the combat system is pretty good. You have 3 upgradable weapons, a sword, a spear and a mace. Each has its own uses and they all need to be used at the right timed. Combat is simple but enjoyable, based on combinations of light, heavy and special attacks, interspersed with dodging and the use of the shield. This is not God of War, nor does it try to be. This is what I had to get into my head when I started. We are looking at an RPG here. The fact that there is a decent real time combat system should be applauded.
As with all RPGs you can upgrade your abilities using points and awards that you get during the various combat and decision making phases of the game. A great idea, but sadly not made enough of and you never really notice the upgrades!
This is not a fast pace, fight a minute kind of game. It is about talking to people and making decisions. The menu driven conversation is easy to use and in many ways is similar to Mass Effect. You don’t choose what to say, but more the emotion you wish to convey. Sadly the outcome of most conversations has no bearing on the overall story.
Games like this make me sad. On the one hand Rise of the Argonauts is not a bad little RPG, it has issues but they can be forgiven. On the other this could have been so much more. It plays out like a stripped back RPG, which it should never have been given the source material!
That said, I do recommend this game to people who like the idea of RPGs but don’t want to lose their life to them (yes Mass Effect that means you!!). At it’s heart there is a good story and it will keep you entertained for about 10 hours of your life… that’s all you can ask for some times!
The Bad: Poor graphics and voice acting. A bit slow.
Bronze Y Award