Marius's campaign mixes close combat with a revenge story in ancient Rome, while Colosseum Mode adds co-op. At ≈ $3.18 from Kinguin, consider whether that blend of narrative action and arena battles fits what you want to play.
Full controller support makes the Steam PC version suitable for playing from the couch. The campaign is the main draw for solo players, while the Colosseum adds an option to share the fighting.At $9.99 on Steam, Kinguin is ≈ $6.81 less for the same edition on the same platform.
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Price History
Past 36 months · Updated daily
Historical Low~ $2.992025-11Current Low Across Stores~ $3.22Steamvs. Historical Low+8%
Prices cover Steam and 39 authorized stores; only legitimate offers are counted. The chart shows weekly market-wide lows and Steam's official price across the past 36 months.
01About Ryse: Son of Rome
Ryse: Son of Rome pairs close-quarters combat with cinematic action in a story set in the Roman Empire. As Marius Titus, a soldier seeking revenge for his family, you rise through the army and fight to defend Rome.Positive rating: 87%% from 38,517 reviews.Release date: October 10, 2014.
Selected helpful reviews in this language show both recommendations and criticisms. This selection does not represent the overall positive rating; opinions reflect the version reviewed.
RecommendedSteam player
Ryse: Son of Rome is a third person hack and slash adventure game. It was initially released in November of 2013 as an Xbox One exclusive launch title, but was later ported onto PC in October 2014. The game is set in an alternative version of Rome history. You play as a centurion named Marius Titus as you battle through the game as you seek revenge for the killing of your family.
The main gameplay element in Ryse: Son of Rome is the hack and slash combat. This feels very similar to other action games such as the Batman series, a very simple but fluid action system means you have no problems taking on hordes of enemies, as you weaken your foes, you get the option to perform an execution on them - this prompts for a small quick time event as you have to press the corresponding mouse button with the colours on the screen, carrying out an execution every time you can tends to make the gameplay feel very repetitive though; it's nice for the first few times but it soon becomes the same over and over again. You are able to learn different variations of executions through the upgrade menu, allowing you to purchase upgrades using the experience points you have earned, ironically though performing executions. On top of being able to upgrade the executions, you can also add the points into more passive talents such as straight health upgrades, or adding a multiplier to the amount of experience points you earn. If you are like me and you don't really like learning combos and such, the passives tend to be more the attractive options here.
There is a hint of strategy involved in Ryse: Son of Rome too; a couple of battle scenes allow you to command orders to squads of men, such as ordering archers to cover a flank, or ordering the catapults to aim on different targets - these are few and far between however so don't go into this game expecting a really in depth strategy element. The larger scale fights are really impressive though, one scene which stands out the most to me would be where you have to defend a castle against an oncoming barbarian army, whilst it is completely reminiscent of the Lord of the Rings scene in Helms Deep but has some really action packed gameplay as you avoid incoming fire bombs, preventing enemies from scaling the walls by kicking off their ladders and tackling any enemies which make it through.
Ryse: Son of Rome has some excellent graphics - this is one of the first "next gen" games released, and it really does look next gen; it looks almost photo realistic, the characters look real and the environments which the game is set in look absolutely stunning. There are a couple low quality textures but nothing you will really notice unless you go out of your way to find them. All of the animations are perfect too; the fluid combat system allows for some exciting fight scenes as you string together plenty of combos. It is safe to say that the PC version of Ryse looks so much better than the console given the amount of options you can change to ramp it up to full glory.
The game is also voice acted to an almost perfect level as well, and the ambient battle sounds draw you further into the immersion of this game. I cannot fault the game one single bit on the audio performance.
One of the disappointing aspects of Ryse: Son of Rome is that it is an extremely easy game; since the combat system is so simple, hordes of enemies pose no threat once you master the controls; allowing you to cleave your way through armies of barbarians with ease. The boss fights do offer a little bit more of a challenge but I still did not manage to die once on them. Come to think of it; I can count the amount of times I died in this game on one hand. The only saving grace is that once you finish the game you unlock a legendary mode which will test your skills at the highest level; the three previous difficulties are all very much the same and any veteran gamer will not find this game to be a challenge to complete.
The game is split into eight chapters, each chapter has a couple of different areas in which you will find yourself in and each chapter is split into further sections with cut scenes aiding transitions between them all. Throughout each of the chapters you will find your self-hunting for various collectables which whilst they offer no gameplay benefit, they will grant you little unlockables which is always nice. The game is very linear though; there is only one route through each of the levels allowing you very little room to roam off the single path, you are very much funnelled throughout the whole game.
The second disappointing issue with Ryse: Son of Rome is that it is unbelievably short; I finished the game in just over five hours and due to the completely linear single player you can uninstall the game as soon as you complete it as there is no reason at all to play again. There is a multiplayer element which may interest some; a sort of two player co-op mode in that you are pitted against waves of enemies in a challenge modem each wave has increasingly difficult enemies to encounter - sadly you can also find yourself some annoying microtransactions in this mode too; allowing you to use your real life money for items in game.
Ryse: Son of Rome will require you to have a pretty beefy rig if you want to play it on full graphical settings; I was playing on a 4k resolution and sometimes struggled to keep up with the 60 fps. I also had to configure a different profile for the game in my nVidia settings for it to work with my SLI setup properly (using nVidia inspector). I tested out 1080p settings and this allows the game to play on almost 120 fps with v-sync turned off - leaving this option on locks the gameplay at 30 fps too. Given that this game was initially released on Xbox, the Xbox controller works perfectly, however I had much more success playing with the keyboard and mouse, and I would recommend you try that option out first before opting for the controller.
My final thoughts on Ryse: Son of Rome is that it a finished product which will give you an evening’s worth of entertainment - I finished it in one sit through and was satisfied with the end results, however I picked up this game when it was on sale in the summer for less than £9. I cannot recommend Ryse: Son of Rome when it is priced anything more than the £10 mark, simply because it has a short single player story mode and no levels of replay ability. If you find it on sale for £10, you should seriously consider picking this game up as it is the entry point for the next generations of games we are going to be seeing in the next few years, the graphics and story alone make this game a worthwhile play through.
Tom's Score Card
1) Stay away
2) Not Recommended
3) Only recommended when on sale
4) Recommended
5) Highly recommended
6) This is a must play
If you found this review helpful, please consider giving it a thumbs up. You can also find more reviews over at http://www.completingthebackloggroup.com/
http://store.steampowered.com/app/302510/Show moreShow less
5.7 hours at review1,641 people found this helpful
Not recommendedSteam player
Colourblind people beware!
TL:DR
The model flashes, and its difficult to tell the colour. They are the colours of an Xbox pad, whatever you use, Mouse / Keyboard, Dualshock or Steam Controller.
There are no prompts over the characters head, even though there were on the E3 videos.
Steam did not reply to my email, neither did Crytek, actually adding a case closed too my request.
Now lets not forgot the poor launch, were the saves were corrupted, the game would loop, and awful FPS.
Then there are no custom controls, and it turns out that the framerate is capped.
The graphics are a major improvement over the xbones however, but what little of it i did play (I idled it for cards) the combat was no where near on par with Ass Creed, Batman, or Mordor.
Now heres the old stuff i wrote:
Okay hopefully this makes it to the top, and gets added to the requirements somehow.
I really wanted to enjoy this game, especially coming from the brilliant sucess of Shadow of Mordor, but i cannot play this, why well im colourblind and this game uses a new type of streamline mode for button presses for combos and QTE's.
The enemy will glow a colour to represent the button to press, the colours of an xbox pad, red,yellow, blue and green.
This however is near impossible to tell, that imposssible i havent beaten the tutorial on the bridge.
This forum post was initiated on release day 10th October, a ticket sent to Crytek, and 6 weeks later i am still yet to recieve any information!
http://steamcommunity.com/app/302510/discussions/0/619568192722058040/
Please help spread the word, my friend gifted me this and he has literally wasted his money on me! So until then i cannot recommend this....
*Crytek put a "Case closed" on my ticket, so it seems its pretty much dead in the water.
**Left the game idling for the trading card drop, so my playtime has incresed.
***Thanks for all the positive comments, from geniunely concerned users/players out there.
****And a further big shout out, to all the people that have sent abusive messages, posted hate on my profile, and mocked people with disabilities, you guys are great, and what make the human race so special!
edit* Wow such suppport from you guys, the game went on sale 29th Jan 2015 and have had 100+ notifications on my account, see people can be awesome!
Still see the "Why negative..." comments, but Valve seems to only have love for "Funny" to make that a part of the review system, not in between/uncertain lol, as Ive not played it, so to say, I can only give a review based on MY findings, therefore its Negative!
Either way its great that I have managed to save people money, educate people, and not have your Brain and your eyes fight.!
People even initiated forum posts like this for the xbone's release and they was overlooked too, such a shame because I do love me a good "Button Basher" and this I imagine is just a simple line of code, surely if the "Code" is active during tutorial, there would be a "cutoff" to say "Tutorial over" so shouldnt there be a way to "Enable" this code still?
And people asking "Whats it like?" well its difficult to explain. it all balls down to Hues, unless they are at the Brightest/Darkest end of the spectrum, they look the same. I know my mouse and keyboard are Red, (because it said on the box) but they look Orange to me, reds/browns, blues/greens, they just seem to merge.
edit** Okay another edit, as its a weekend sale, and not the daily like i thought, this has generated 300+ notifications, and well over 2500+ votes, which IMHO is a lot.
Now on to the bit that im grasping with, although colour blindness is a form of disability, its not what we "associate" as disabled, my eldest son is autusic but you cannot SEE that so its overlooked so to say.
But what i see is people missing limbs, saying "Well i cant play, and i dont moan" well, you can play!
Voice control, head tracking, mouth controller, stinkyboards, footpedals, gamepads, and MMO mice with 10+ buttons. Even youtube has some amazing people like Ben Heck modding controllers and consoles for players, recently doing the Dualshock 4 the possibilities are out there, so please dont feel like your missing out, it can be done, its been made to tailor your needs so people have that equal oppurtunity.
This review started out as a nod to people like myself who find it difficult to play, watch a video, or play a demo, just incase and save yourself some pennies. However its escaleted into some sort of war only Cartman could iniate as it was initially something trivial.
So heres a breakdown for you:
#E3 footage had button prompts.
#After exiting the tutorial the prompts go away.
#The character model glows colours of an xbox pad.
#This release is on Steam which is a PC Platform, Dualshock 4's, Steam Controllers, and others controllers can work on this system, each having different colours.
#My xbox pad has Grey buttons.
#My keyboard has letters, and the character still doesnt flash a "letter" it flashes the colour.
#I simply cant tell the difference.
#Ive read the controls, and have been told by several users, it even completes the QTE's itself I believe, I still just want to play it without guessing, and staring at my pad when something pops up.
#Its not Steams fault, but they sell it, ive told their support and left this review so they could add it to the games requirements, and nothing.
#The ticket i oppened with Crytek was simply "Case closed".
#These issues persisted with the xbone and was highlighted by several people on forums, again, crytek did nothing.
#THERE IS NO BIASED/IN BETWEEN BUTTON so that is why my review is negative of this game, please go and hate on the reviews that state how there are no custom controls, save game issues, lag, stutter and all that jazz us PC gamers get shafted with.
So there you have it, its a no show, i just wanted a simple option added, which would have been simple in code, or a warning to CB people out there. I dont want race wars, disability wars, eyesight wars, gaybashing, World War 5 or to even know the percentage of people that have slept with my mother besides my father, I just want to get my point across. Thanks, MattyShow moreShow less
3.1 hours at review5,663 people found this helpful
RecommendedSteam player
Boys help me out, my wife said if I get 100 likes and 20 awards, she’ll buy me a new PC with a RTX 4070ti and a crate of beer this is NOT A JOKE!!!Show moreShow less
8.5 hours at review592 people found this helpful
Not recommendedSteam player
This is one of the first reviews I've written where I've chosen to not recommend. I wish Steam had a "depends" option as this game would easily qualify for that, however, it doesn't so as it stands I cannot recommend it. I only recommend this game when it is greatly discounted. At full price, it's just not worth it. I also highly suggest a controller to play this game.
Ryse: Son of Rome is an interesting game that takes place in Ancient Rome (duh!). You control Marius, a Roman centurion whose primary motivation is made clear within the first half hour of the game. I was looking forward to playing this game as I typically enjoy third-person combat games and Ancient Rome is a location that not many games have mined for material yet. Obviously, there are some good Rome-based games already in existence, but the cinematic action genre has not been done in this specific time period. I liked this game on some levels, disliked on others, and overall it's the absolute definition of a mixed bag.
Here's some basic stats followed by a tl;dr selection of Pros/Cons.
I have played only the story mode. I played at "normal" difficulty and I have not touched any mode but the story. Steam has my playtime clocked at 6.3 hours, a very short experience needless to say. I may consider returning to it and playing the "Legendary" difficulty in the future, but I have no interest in the multiplayer.
Pros
+ It looks absolutely outstanding.
+ Has some of the best facial animations ever.
+ Voice acting is solid. Supporting characters are memorable due to this.
+ There are some very cool set pieces/big action sequences that are done really well.
+ Soundtrack is fitting.
Cons
- Extremely short single player game.
- Story is predictable, full of cliches, with some very laughable lines.
- Gameplay is very monotonous.
- There is an extreme amount of quick-time events (QTE).
- The attempts to vary the gameplay are few and when there are variations, they're done weakly.
- Historical accuracy was not something the developers took seriously.
I really wanted to like this game more than I do sitting here after completing it. Crytek did an absolutely outstanding job in the graphics department. There are variations in setting that help the story plow along and again, look great. That said, I can find fault in just about every single one of my "Pros" bar the looks department. There are numerous cutscenes and for the most part they look great so I enjoyed them in this respect. I also liked the way the game goes from cutscene to play almost seamlessly in some areas. Facial animations are great both during play and throughout.
Combat is of a very run of the mill design. Heavy attack, quick attack, shield attack, and block. The game is designed for consoles, so playing with a controller is HIGHLY recommended. There is little variation in enemies. At first glance, one of the cooler gameplay elements is in respect to executions. Virtually every enemy you fight (aside from bosses) will allow you at some point in the fight to pull off an execution. This involves the game entering a QTE and then you hit the corresponding button. If you hit the right button, you get more "Valor" points, which is the in-game currency to upgrade Marius' health, focus, and combat. This mechanic gets extremely old rather quickly. Unfortunately, its wise to enter executions regularly because it allows you to fill up your focus bar to enter what is essentially a powered up mode where you're super powerful and super fast. I also find fault with the executions because there are only so many variations. Early on, you will see them all and then the QTEs start becoming a chore. Another aspect of combat is that actions are signaled to you using color, rather than the typical A, B, X, etc. If you're not using an Xbox branded controller, this may become awkward for you. I do not believe there is a way to change this, but as I have an Xbox controller, I didnt bother to look. I imagine playing with a keyboard and mouse would be very cumbersome. To put it simply, the combat gets boring. Its not like the Arkham games where you're looking for a fight.
There are portions of the gameplay where it is varied, but they are few and not many. There are attempts at a mini-strategy game which eerily reminded me of the portions of Assassins Creed Revelations' tower defense mode. Basically you're made to position certain elements of your army to defend a position. Its not executed very well and one wrong placement could mean your doom. One change in gameplay I did like was when you're in formation marching on an enemy position. It looks cool and gives you the feeling of power. However, the execution of this is one dimensional and also very easy.
The story is not the worst I've ever experienced by any stretch, but it just wasn't that strong or enough to make me want to play again anytime soon. The predictability hurt it a lot, along with some really hokey "supernatural" elements that are of no help to its quality. Marius is your standard Russell Crowe/Gerard Butler-esque hybrid cliche, but the voice acting is well done in virtually every respect, so it at least goes down smoothly. The score is decent and fitting, but not very memorable. Historical accuracy is not completely non-existant, but there are some aspects that stand out (an auto-loading crossbow that acts as a mounted machine gun weapon) as being stupid and impossible for the time period.
All in all, I really wanted to like this game more. I cannot stress enough how good it looks and I experienced no problems technically whatsoever bar getting stuck in an area once. There are some excellent sequences that are VERY memorable (the Colosseum sequence is AWESOME), but on whole its such a short experience and doesn't do much to seperate itself from the crowded action game pack outside of its fantastic looks. The gameplay itself is a real letdown and gets old quickly.
All of this said, I cannot recommend this game at it's $39.99 price point. At 50% or more off, I think it would be easier to recommend, but save your $40. Ryse can wait.
6/10Show moreShow less
6.3 hours at review583 people found this helpful
RecommendedSteam player
TL:DR? See Conclusion
INTRODUCTION:
Ryse: Son of Rome is a third-person action-adventure game developed by Crytek (known for games such as Crysis) and, surprisingly enough, not published by EA games. It was originally an Xbox One exclusive title but was later ported to the PC. The PC release has since been praised as a superior version to its console counter part boasting better framerates, better graphical fidelity, free bundled dlcs and no micro-transactions.
PLOT (No Spoilers):
The player takes on the role of Marius Titus, a Roman Legionary who's on a mission to avenge the death of his family (Gladiator movie 2000). Son of a legendary Roman General, he quickly rises through the Legion ranks searching for the people behind his family's murder while, at the same time, fighting for Rome, a superpower, against an inferior rebel group. (Call of Duty: Roman Warfare).
PROS:
+ Graphically and Visually MAGNIFICENT
+ Great Animation
+ Quality sounds and voice acting
+ Refreshing new setting (Ancient Rome)
+ Intense action packed combat
+ Fun and entertaining execution moves (though a bit repetitive)
+ No Microtransactions
+ Surprisingly good Port (my aging GTX 670 with 2gb of vram was able to play this at max setting, albeit with a few acceptable frame rate drops)
+ Story is acceptable at least, its easy to understand and ties up the plot nicely
+ Has potential (if they develop the plot and combat mechanics more)
CONS:
- Very Short (I personally completed it within 7-8 hours on Hard 'Centurion' difficulty)
- Too many (and some unnecessary) turret sections
- Camera can sometimes be dodgy
- Repetitive combat with little variation in attack moves
- Quick Time Event (QTE) based execution moves
- A bit to easy even in Hard difficulty (But challenging in LEGENDARY Mode)
- Wish the game could have added a desert setting or a snowy terrain
- Too restrictive map with no room to explore
- Could have done better with a few more RPG elements
- Co-op maps sometimes glitch out and event triggers does not activate
NEUTRAL:
- Linear storytelling. I personally have no problems with linear games because not all games need to be open world or sandbox.
CONCLUSION:
GOOD GAME but NOT FOR EVERYONE. Ryse: Son of Rome is for people who likes the setting (Ancient Rome), extreme and entertaining violence and visual eye candy. Best experienced if you have a Medium or High End gaming system since the selling point of this game is its visuals.
WORTH IT?:
Full price? May be not, but if it goes on SALE for 50% off, then give it a chance. Its also a good way to test your computer's power (Benchmark).
FINAL NOTES:
Graphics wise, its epic in scale. The combat, though repetitive, is fun and the execution moves are brutally entertaining. the legion segments are also intense, albeit also repetitive. Story is nice and easy to understand but its way to short and I feel it could have done better with additional locations. All in all I liked my time with Ryse and I personally find it a fun game.
Ryse is a GOOD experience, it promised a cinematic action experience and it delivered. Just like an action movie, we're not in it for the plot, were in it for the brutal action, violence and visuals.
---------------------------------------------------------
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Miyumi's Review Corner (MIRECO)Show moreShow less
22.4 hours at review523 people found this helpful
Not recommendedSteam player
Ryse: Son of Rome is a beautiful game that suffers from boring uninspired gameplay with little variation in enemies. You fight the same bald skinny men, and fat hairy men the entire game. In one part they have masks on.. however they are the same underneath. The gameplay gets boring extremely fast, the slow motion specials that happen each kill get tedious and do nothing but lengthen the short single player. If its on sale for $20 or less its worth it otherwise skip it.
Pros
* Amazing graphics
* Easy to learn combat system
Cons
* Repetative gameplay.
* Not much enemy variation
* Very short single player
* Predictable story
* Terrible upgrade systemShow moreShow less
6.9 hours at review424 people found this helpful
RecommendedSteam player
Ryse: Son of Rome
is a third-person action game where we play as a Roman Legionnaire Marius Titus, who is seeking vengeance for the people he lost and to find a way to save the Rome not only from a barbarian invasion but from selfish, greedy leaders.
Pros:
+ amazing graphics and animations
+ soundtrack
+ great voice acting
+ easy controls
+ enjoyable combat
+ good, simple story
+ good variety of locations
Cons:
- very linear
- short (campaign for around 6 hours )
- only a few models of allies and enemies ( army of clones )
- all boss fights are exactly the same ( avoid, attack, avoid, attack, avoid, attack )
- sometimes you see XBOX buttons
- QTEs can get boring after a while
Overall rating 7,5/10Show moreShow less
8.6 hours at review458 people found this helpful
Not recommendedSteam player
The game had awesome graphics but that's about it.
The reason I don't recommend it is because it felt like a chore to finish. Extremely repetitive, easy, boring and short. The only reason I've got 9+ hours is because I either fell asleep during the game or left it on and walked off to do something else, but it can definitely be finished in a shorter time period than the hours I have clocked on steam.
If you find it dirt cheap in a sale and have a badass rig and just want to warm up your GPU then by all means get it. Otherwise I wouldn't recommend paying full price for this.Show moreShow less
9.3 hours at review343 people found this helpful
RecommendedSteam player
I enjoy games where I don't have to think, the graphics are great, and the story is satisfying. Why? Because I'm a f'ing adult with a career. The amount of time I have to spend playing video games is about 1-2 hours per week, if that. The game looks amazing, it's a very small learning curve for controls, and I'm enjoying myself. What else can you ask for in a game?Show moreShow less
7.9 hours at review374 people found this helpful
Not recommendedSteam player
Well, first let me say that this game have lot of potential, pretty cool concept, decent fight, etc.
Unfortunately, the game is so buggy, paying full price for it is insane.
Bugs everywhere, even in the first few missions, if you die you often have to start all over because the entire thing bugs, mission 3 is unplayable, no regen, no items, can't use any interactions and when I died, entire campaign was gone.
Combat is so/so, it's the same few moves and since you can't customize your hotkeys, only change between default layouts, it means blocking is bound to the middle-mouse, same "key" as swaps your execution types.......which means you keep swapping around and getting hit.
All in all, extremely poorly executed port of what would otherwise be a pretty decent game in my view.
Review: Don't buy, wait 2-4 weeks for patches and fixes, then get it when it goes on discount.Show moreShow less
2.7 hours at review253 people found this helpful
Source: original Steam user reviews. Helpful votes are an archived snapshot, not live data. Last collected: 08/15/2026.
