Recent reviews by Amicus

Overall I would recommend this game. It has some really interesting and challenging game mechanics, and I love the freedom to go anywhere and live how I want to. It's also very beautiful and I find I can easily play for hours without issue.
There are some bugs, and frustrating game design choices. I also wish there was more... rounded, connected and richer stories. The game is great, and if it had a really engaging story or overall thematic, it would be up there as a non-AAA Witcher or Skyrim.

This is a beautiful, expansive and engaging game. I heavily recommend it.

There are elements I would want to improve;
- I encountered a couple of minor bugs, mainly assets not loading during cut scenes but this was literally 2 or 3 over 120+hrs.
- The game *heavily* pushes you to a 'Good' character. There are even specific 'Good' missions in the later game to help you get to max honor before the final mission. I understand the plot of a redemption arc but I would have liked a little more... acknowledgement of the ability to play as a low honor character.
- On the topic of honor... Arthur is an armed robber and murderer. Even for some low level theft, you are punished by the honor system. Also, he spoken to rudely by a townsperson, rudely answers, a fight starts where the townsperson draws and shoots Arthur, Arthur shoots back but then loses honor?! Frustrating, I felt like I had to play the game tiptoeing around playing like a criminal.
- NewAustin has barely anything in it, why bother including it? I understand it's nice to go back to the places from RDR1, but at least include a couple of stranger missions.
- I would have liked unlimited, randomly generated bounty, stagecoach robbery, homestead robbery missions and other criminal escapades. I felt disappointed that I could only try one tactic against each unless I saved beforehand and kept retrying.

But please don't take these negative points as a reflection of the game overall. It's still a massively enjoyable and fun game and... well I sunk 122hrs into it, did the main storyline with most of the side quests and got 85%.
I will soon return to do a low honor playthrough.

An incredible experience. With the exception of some very minor fine tuning, the first couple of areas are a fleshed out, populated pleasure.

I would say it's survival properly done. I don't die after 5 minutes in the rain, so why should my character. Valheim treats you like the nordic warrior you are.

The lore is great, there is a plethora of things to do but freedom to do them at your pace and desire. The controls are good, the graphics are basic but endearingly breathtaking at times.

If you like a more casual survival game, with Nordic elements, progressive gameplay, a heap of base-building and resource management as well as an amazing soundtrack, this game is for you.

The plot is pretty poor. But the gameplay makes me so happy. A really good first-person parkour style game, with some pretty balanced weapons and monsters. Love the engagement and events from the developers even now. Get it, get some time under your belt while you wait for Dying Light 2!

What a joke. Bethesda screwed Fallout. Blizzard screwed Diablo and now Value has screwed Counter Strike.

Give me my refund.

The graphics are amazing, the gameplay brilliant and storyline had me interested all through it. I just felt it was a bit short. For £35, especially a game based on an empire so expansive as the Roman, i'd have thought it'd have more gameplay. It also doesn't have a great deal of replayability. You could probably do it once or twice afterwards, but it's so linear that you'll just repeat everything you do. Adding collectibles doesn't make up for lacking depth. If you want a good example in game design, animation, gameplay, control layouts then this could be for you. Unfortunately, don't expect a game you'll sit on for days and realise you've lost your life inside Ryse: Son of Rome.

Quick Review;
Graphics - 4/5 Decent for their time, but as we're developing, we're leaving it behind. However, still very playable for an average gamer.
Controls - 4/5 Very General, there's nothing hard with the controls but nothing new really, your average shooter/rpg controls.
Storyline - 2/5 I hated it. I think they did an original storyline, decided that a game this size needed a longer storyline and so did a lot of copy and pasting.
AI - 2/5 Poor. Once you wipe out a outpost/road checkpoint, apparently, all the guys twin brothers arrive 5 seconds later and have set up defensive positions. Fed up of having to deal with 20 guys every 100m down a road.

Good Point - If you're looking for a game which is easy to get into, plenty of fun weapons where you can burn and shoot some general guys, then you're looking at the right game.

Bad Point - If you're looking for something where you call fall in love with the characters and the gameplay. I think there are better shooters and better RPGs.

Recommended.