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[Virtuoso]

Title: Rise of the Argonauts
Platform: PC, Xbox 360, PS3
Platform Reviewed: PS3
Genre: Action-Adventure
Publisher: Codemasters
Developer: Liquid Entertainment
MSRP: $59.99, £39.99, €59.99
Writer: Keia "Virtuoso" Atkinson

Liquid Entertainment is a company that is responsible for Desperate Housewives: The Game.

Let us let that sink in for a second.

Rise of the Argonauts Review

Alright, now that we’ve got that out of the way we can move along to the review of their most current project, an action-adventure romp set in mythical ancient Greece. Here the player encounters Gods, Titans, and many other mythical creatures, but for those of you expecting a God of War knockoff you couldn’t be more wrong. Once you get past the similarities in setting the differences are far more prominent.

The game begins with a wedding between our hero, Jason the King of Iolcus (the Isle of Zeus), and his bride-to-be Alseme. Just before the exchanging of vows is completed an assassin launches an arrow through her chest, killing her. From there he seeks to bring her back to life, and get revenge on the Blacktoungues, a tribe of pagans whose matron God is Hecate. He and his band of companions board the Argos (hence Rise of Argonauts) to sail the seas in order to eliminate the threat they face. Along the way they face death, betrayal, and an ancient evil.

Ok, so it isn’t exactly the most original story that has been written, but it’s also not a bad place to start. As the Oscars has proven time and time again the stories we encounter are often unoriginal, but it is the way in which it is told that matters. Aside from the sometimes predictable plot twists, the dialogue is well written and the voice acting is more often than not good. Not amazing by any stretch of the imagination, but it doesn’t detract from the overall experience.

The nicest part about the plot is the (admittedly small) ways in which the player can affect it through their dialogue options. For example, depending on what the player choose to say to a character before they kill him, the weapon they use and the method of execution changes. While the plot does not significantly differ between the various speech paths it is nice to feel as though the decisions you make actually change the actions of your character.

There are three main weapons to choose from during a battle: a short sword, a mace, and a spear. Using these weapons the player can string together devastating combinations of attacks that are both fun to execute and extremely cool to watch. In addition to the melee weapons at your disposal you also have your trusty shield and a variety of “God Powers” that do everything from heal yourself and your compatriots as well as rain down lighting from the gods. The combat is very enjoyable, although it is at times basic.

This game also has a number of light RPG aspects to it. Whenever a “deed” is completed (basically a quest) the player can dedicate it to one of four Greek Gods: Apollo, Athena, Hermes, or Ares. Once enough deeds are dedicated an aspect point is received that can be spent on either passive buffs or the aforementioned God Powers. In this way the game effectively offers four different skill trees that lend a fair amount of customization to the play style of the player’s choosing. In addition there are multiple weapons and armors, all of which offer different buffs and powers as well.

All in all the amount of variation in gameplay is enough to keep it both interesting and fun.

Like all games based on the Unreal 3.0 engine there are some odd issues that pop up from time to time. The game has a number of bugs that can be quite frustrating. After completing a battle area your hero must sheath his weapon in order to move on to the next area, but for some reason Jason will occasionally leave his weapon out and preventing the player from moving on. This can be very problematic, and can sometimes force the player to save and load from the last checkpoint, which sometimes requires them to repeat boss fights.

One other minor problem is the loading times that the miserably tries to hide. Like Mass Effect’s slowest elevators ever, the guards in this game must tiptoe to open gates between different areas.

The presentation of the cut scenes ranges from good to absolutely awful. Once in a while the voices will not sync up with the character’s lips, and even when they do the expressions rapidly switch from angry to neutral in an almost comical (and more often sad) manner. This being said, these issues do not affect to a large extent from the quality of the game.

Score: 4 out of 5

The Good:

• Gamplay is fun and interesting
• Environments differ significantly, keeping the scenery changing
• Customization options tailor the gameplay to what the player is comfortable with

The Bad:

• Facial expressions look ridiculous
• Loading times can be frustrating

The Ugly:

• The sometimes game-breaking bugs