Review: Rise of the Argonauts

God of War meets Mass Effect? Not exactly ...

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called it! I knew this game was gonna suck :D

Well I was considering it after RPGamer gave it top marks in story but this review pointed out some potential game breakers.

Anyway... is Susan going to be voicing all reviews from now on?

I stopped playing after 2 hours. Worst game I bought in 2008 :(

Wow, I sort of had high hopes for this game, but that is because I love the story of Jason and the Argonauts. Consider it off my list. The fact that it's basically described here as "worse" than Mass Effect makes it the pinical of attrociousness.

I have similar hype for Dante's Inferno so let's just hope the same thing doesn't happen. *looks at EA in great anger*

The 4 hours I spent watching Jordan play this game were the worst 4 hours I have ever spent in the proximity of my Xbox. Even more so when I was informed that it was a bit less then 2 hours.

As someone who plays RPGs quite a bit, and is highly tolerant of cutscenes in general, this is not worthy of anyone who "iikes RPGs" or even likes talking to dialog trees. The RPG elements are more "talk to random people in a town where you can't use your weapons for 45 minutes and spam A until they shut up. Then watch their mouths keep moving after they finish talking. Then run for 5 minutes across the damn map to do it again. Repeat until something attacks you."

And the cutscenes are all in game, and usually of someone giving a speech while only moving their poorly synced mouth without any other part of their body/face.

As far as combat, while the finishers are fun to watch at first, there's only two per weapon. And that's it. You can do a normal attack or one of two finishers. You can also shield bash.

This game made me regret having a 360.

A shame - the tutorial that I played at PAX was genuinely entertaining, and I thought the combat and advancement systems really had promise. Which the review seems to confirm... it's just the *other* stuff that I didn't get to see that drags it down.

CantFaketheFunk:
A shame - the tutorial that I played at PAX was genuinely entertaining, and I thought the combat and advancement systems really had promise. Which the review seems to confirm... it's just the *other* stuff that I didn't get to see that drags it down.

You should borrow it and see just how fun it is. But only if you're willing to risk throwing your 360 through a wall.

I'm so disappointed. When I first saw that this was an RPG, I almost felt ecstatic for a breath of fresh air in the genre. The further away from the launch date of Baldur's Gate, and the less bearable RPGs become. Gothic 3 broke the series with a boring game, Fallout 3 was not the revolution in gaming everyone expected (or at least I expected after all the hype the series was given probably with good reason, but I wouldn't know), Mass Effect wasn't anything to write home about and Neverwinter Nights 2 Storm of Zephir, was even less than a Sims expansion pack in terms of content and story.

Watching Jordan play and putting together the video made me reminiscent of the Summoner series, right down to the use of Iona for a location. Summoner 2 was much more to the point as an RPG, and had comparable graphics / cinematics to Argonauts in a convenient PS2 package.

Sorry Argonauts. Maybe if Jason could turn into monsters, I'd be more interested.

They tried really hard to make the cutscenes the reviewer lauded be like the cutscene dialogs from Mass Effect. You can see the camera show allies in the background and/or scenes of interest. It just fell flat on its face though. Ive never liked the phrase "ram-rod stiff" but I think that describes how Jason and his interviewees stand while talking. I find it acceptable in Fallout (maybe im just used to it from Oblivion) because it was in first person. But when I can see the camera do a (slight) dynamic zoom in on a character standing nearly perfectly still, it just draws more attention to it.

Kross:

CantFaketheFunk:
A shame - the tutorial that I played at PAX was genuinely entertaining, and I thought the combat and advancement systems really had promise. Which the review seems to confirm... it's just the *other* stuff that I didn't get to see that drags it down.

You should borrow it and see just how fun it is. But only if you're willing to risk throwing your 360 through a wall.

I trust Jordan's judgment on the game, man :P No need to do that.

All I'm saying is that this confirms what I'd suspected - the stuff I'd seen at PAX was pretty competent, and the best part of the game. I just hadn't experienced the crap filler :P

I love this game, haven't finished it yet - the only bad thing I can come up with so far is that it's apparently a bit short. I also love Greek and Norse mythology, that may have something to do with it, but I like the cutscenes damnit!
I'll agree that it's not worth 60 euro, but there are very very few games that are.

Thanks for the great review. I was really considering renting this from gamefly. But instead I'll just replay Kotor, and pretend its this game.

Ronwue:
I'm so disappointed. When I first saw that this was an RPG, I almost felt ecstatic for a breath of fresh air in the genre. The further away from the launch date of Baldur's Gate, and the less bearable RPGs become. Gothic 3 broke the series with a boring game, Fallout 3 was not the revolution in gaming everyone expected (or at least I expected after all the hype the series was given probably with good reason, but I wouldn't know), Mass Effect wasn't anything to write home about and Neverwinter Nights 2 Storm of Zephir, was even less than a Sims expansion pack in terms of content and story.

"cough" kotor "cough"

PedroSteckecilo:
Well I was considering it after RPGamer gave it top marks in story but this review pointed out some potential game breakers.

Anyway... is Susan going to be voicing all reviews from now on?

Why not? She has an amazing voice (IMO).

On topic: When I first heard about this game I thought it would be interesting and I thought about buying it. I watched some of the reviews (I don't read reviews) and I'm glad I didn't bought the game.

Nivag:
Wow, I sort of had high hopes for this game, but that is because I love the story of Jason and the Argonauts. Consider it off my list. The fact that it's basically described here as "worse" than Mass Effect makes it the pinical of attrociousness.

I have similar hype for Dante's Inferno so let's just hope the same thing doesn't happen. *looks at EA in great anger*

Did you just say Mass Effect sucked? I think I need some rest, I'm going into shock.

This makes me sad... I wanted this game to be awesome :\ I was looking forward to it for over a year.

I'm gonna go cry in the corner and force myself to weather the bitter tyrrany that is Spiderman: Web of Shadow's side missions.

I was really looking forward to this game. Not since GTAIV have I been willing to go out and buy a game without reading reviews just becuase the idea was fresh for gaming and a genuine interest of mine. How could it fail? Gutted. But at least I've saved myself some money.

Shame.

Eipok Kruden:

Nivag:
Wow, I sort of had high hopes for this game, but that is because I love the story of Jason and the Argonauts. Consider it off my list. The fact that it's basically described here as "worse" than Mass Effect makes it the pinical of attrociousness.

I have similar hype for Dante's Inferno so let's just hope the same thing doesn't happen. *looks at EA in great anger*

Did you just say Mass Effect sucked? I think I need some rest, I'm going into shock.

Sorry man, I'm a bit of an elitist :/ It's too much "lol check out tha graphix!" and not enough "I just won because I've got skill"

oh, I do love the narrator for the video review.

Nivag:

Eipok Kruden:

Nivag:
Wow, I sort of had high hopes for this game, but that is because I love the story of Jason and the Argonauts. Consider it off my list. The fact that it's basically described here as "worse" than Mass Effect makes it the pinical of attrociousness.

I have similar hype for Dante's Inferno so let's just hope the same thing doesn't happen. *looks at EA in great anger*

Did you just say Mass Effect sucked? I think I need some rest, I'm going into shock.

Sorry man, I'm a bit of an elitist :/ It's too much "lol check out tha graphix!" and not enough "I just won because I've got skill"

If you want a game with punishing difficulty that requires tons of skill, play another game. Sure, Mass Effect has multiple difficulty levels, but the enemies just get more powerful and your weapons do less. It takes longer, it isn't harder. Mass Effect is supposed to be an interactive space opera of sorts and it excels in that area. The graphics aren't the nicest on the 360, in fact they're average and the textures aren't as crisp as I would have liked, but that isn't the point of Mass Effect. It's supposed to put you in the middle of this expansive universe and let you save it how you want. Have you ever played Mass Effect? The whole thing from beginning to end? Because if you haven't, please do so before you say it isn't good. It isn't the greatest RPG ever, but it's up there.

DonPauliani:
oh, I do love the narrator for the video review.

Yeah, Susan's great. She posts here on the forums every so often.

As for the game, I heard about it once, and I was underwhelmed by it. So this review was no real shock to me.

Eipok Kruden:

Nivag:

Eipok Kruden:

Nivag:
Wow, I sort of had high hopes for this game, but that is because I love the story of Jason and the Argonauts. Consider it off my list. The fact that it's basically described here as "worse" than Mass Effect makes it the pinical of attrociousness.

I have similar hype for Dante's Inferno so let's just hope the same thing doesn't happen. *looks at EA in great anger*

Did you just say Mass Effect sucked? I think I need some rest, I'm going into shock.

Sorry man, I'm a bit of an elitist :/ It's too much "lol check out tha graphix!" and not enough "I just won because I've got skill"

If you want a game with punishing difficulty that requires tons of skill, play another game. Sure, Mass Effect has multiple difficulty levels, but the enemies just get more powerful and your weapons do less. It takes longer, it isn't harder. Mass Effect is supposed to be an interactive space opera of sorts and it excels in that area. The graphics aren't the nicest on the 360, in fact they're average and the textures aren't as crisp as I would have liked, but that isn't the point of Mass Effect. It's supposed to put you in the middle of this expansive universe and let you save it how you want. Have you ever played Mass Effect? The whole thing from beginning to end? Because if you haven't, please do so before you say it isn't good. It isn't the greatest RPG ever, but it's up there.

Yeah, I agree. I'm not much of an RPG gamer, I mean, unless you count Bioshock, the only RPGs I've played and enjoyed were ME and KotOR, so maybe my opinion isn't so pure, but I consider ME the standout game of 2007. Sure, the combat wasn't that fun (although it did feel cinematic, which I like), but the universe was just so realized, with so much backstory (yes, I actually got so engrossed that I read all the Codex entries) that I don't know how you can't like it. I also liked some of Bioware's social commentary, like "AI" being deemed racist, with "Synhetic" being seen as the PC alternative. That really made me laugh, because I can see that happening.

EDIT:The "I agree" part is aimed at the bolded part.

hem dazon 90:

Ronwue:
I'm so disappointed. When I first saw that this was an RPG, I almost felt ecstatic for a breath of fresh air in the genre. The further away from the launch date of Baldur's Gate, and the less bearable RPGs become. Gothic 3 broke the series with a boring game, Fallout 3 was not the revolution in gaming everyone expected (or at least I expected after all the hype the series was given probably with good reason, but I wouldn't know), Mass Effect wasn't anything to write home about and Neverwinter Nights 2 Storm of Zephir, was even less than a Sims expansion pack in terms of content and story.

"cough" kotor "cough"

*cough* sucks *cough*
Seriously BioWare is the most unoriginal developer this shitty has planet has seen. Just check Baldurs Gate and you've seen everything they have to offer. Just looking at Dragon Age makes me puke, the most generic fantasy ever.
Obsidian on the other hand are awesome devs. Kotor 2 > Kotor 1 in terms of story, characters, atmosphere.
Yeah Gothic 3 sucked a bit but Piranha Bytes are making a new game that's coming out for Xbox 360 and PC - RISEN!

If there weren't so many bad games , the few good ones wouldn't be as enjoyable .

Darn and to think I was actualy looking forward to this game!! :(

Powas:

Seriously BioWare is the most unoriginal developer this shitty has planet has seen.

Did you really just go down that broken road?

Okay okay. One of the most unoriginal devs. Should be better now.

I'm about as surprised as I was when I found out Gordon Brown was ruining the country. Not very.

Powas:
Kotor 2 > Kotor 1 in terms of story, characters, atmosphere.

Serious? What're you smoking, and can I get some too?

I'm smoking Avellone awesomeness. Sure, go and play PS: T or KotOR 2.
KotOR 2 was more mature than any BioWare games will ever be. There was no simple light of dark. Characters were interesting not the same copy pasted people from Baldurs Gate. They had deep plotlines. The main story wasn't just another "blah blah blah save the galaxy" it was centered around you, The Exile. Around the hunger for force. Too bad Obsidian was rushed by those f*ckheads better know as LucasArts.

Darth Nihilus > all other Darths.

Well admittedly I didn't play it through very far. The presentation was pretty bland though, I think I was mostly put off by the cookie-cutter residences. Places didn't have as much 'character' (whatever that means). Didn't really feel like I was in a world so much as a series of rooms that had inexplicable item chests everywhere.

Definitely seemed like a rush job.

But the story was actually worthwhile you say? Maybe I'll give it a second shot.