Coming hot off of my playthrough of The Order: 1886, Ryse is an odd beast to play now. It’s hard to imagine a more cynical showpiece game than The Order, and the reception for Ryse back in 2013 left me expecting a similar experience. Needless to say, I was surprised to find a game largely devoid of pure QTE sequences, with a combat system that tries something new and very nearly succeeds. The end result is an imperfect spectacle that looks amazing, plays decently, and feels like an odd amalgam of character action games and a Call of Duty-campaign.

3/5

Closing Thoughts are reviews-in-brief, meant for games I play that are either too old or too small to write a full review for. That, or it’s the only part you would have read in a full review anyway. The world may never know.