7. Ryse: Son of Rome
Ryse is a game that's been in development for quite some time now and gone through some changes. Initially, Ryse was designed as a Kinect game, to bring a more mature audience to the device, but after realising hardcore gamers would never take to the Kinect, the game was redesigned for controllers. Ryse resurfaced at this year's E3 as a single-player, campaign-driven game with stunning graphics, a new third-person perspective and unique gameplay. The game looked awesome, and fans' opinions were changed. That was until people began to point out that much of the gameplay revolved around quick-time events like hitting X or B to perform cool-looking moves. This got many worried, but Crytek have said the game is about much more than quick-time events, including deep combat with aggressive, challenging AI. Ryse's multiplayer mode, Gladiator Mode, sets players against one another in a Colosseum style arena. In this mode, you can choose your weapons and attire, then while you fight you must try and entertain the audience. This is a great dynamic, and coupled with the arena's hidden traps, Gladiator Mode could be one of the funnest things about the game, depending on how good the combat actually is. Ryse looks really good aesthetically, and the lack of third-person action games set during the Roman Empire makes me excited that this could fill a real void in the market. How the game will be rated is really interesting and almost impossible to judge, but it looks great and should the gameplay be good, it could score really highly. However, if the gameplay is boring and repetitive, then it's unlikely to do too well. My best guess is that Ryse: Son of Rome will be a great blueprint and the start of a really special series, but the first iteration has spent too long in development Hell and changed too many times; I think this and general skepticism could really hinder its success.
Predicted Rating: 7