Rise of the Argonauts

There is a theory in cinema of herding.  Two studios can, independently, start making similar films that end up being released around the same time.  Step forward Deep Impact and Armageddon, Volcano and Dante's Peak, or The Prestige and The Illusionist.  It seems the same is now happening with games...

Built on the Unreal engine, based loosely around an ancient mythology, and sporting gameplay sitting firmly astride the line between traditional roleplaying game and action/adventure hack and slash, Silicon Knight's Too Human was released last year to great fanfare but little critical acclaim (you can see our take on it here).

Jump forward six months, and along come Liquid Entertainment with Rise of the Argonauts a game built on the Unreal engine, based loosely around an ancient mythology (Greek this time rather than Norse), and sporting gameplay sitting firmly astride the line between traditional roleplaying game and action/adventure hack and slash.

An example of video game "herding", and attempt to tap into the perceived market left by Too Human's failure or simply wild coincidence?  Given the gestation period of games the first or third options seem mostly likely, but this does suggest there is a market out there for the right game.  Sadly Rise of Argonauts is not that game.

Rise of the Argonauts follows the story of Jason, King of Iolcus, in his quest for the fabled Golden Fleece in order to bring his murdered queen back to life.  Cue the assembling of a rag tag team of allies (the Argonauts) in a desperate fight against the evil and pernicious Blacktongues.  So far so typical RPG backstory with a classical twist.

Technically there are a number of things to be admired in Rise of the Argonauts, not the least of which being the levelling and advancement system.  The majority of actions Jason undertakes in the game, from slaying enemies, to solving puzzles, to completing side quests, award "deeds".  These deeds can then be dedicated to one of four gods (Ares, Apollo, Athena or Hermes) in return for new or improved abilities.

In addition to this, favour with the different gods can be effected by conversational choices (accessed through a Mass Effect style conversation wheel) and even by Jason's choice of weapon.

Although even on a technical level, Rise of the Argonauts is not without it's faults. The combat, which is the heart and soul of any action RPG, is neither complex nor particularly taxing, with little other than personal preference dictating which weapons should be used, and no real need to experiment beyond the most basic of combos against the majority of enemies.  

The main problem with Rise of the Argonauts is that it's just so very dull.  In the absence of genuine action of there are hours upon hours of tedious conversations to be navigated through.  To make matters worse, the dialogue is unskipable and the voice acting is the very definition of phoning it in, leaving the player stuck staring into the glassy eyes of the lifeless characters as they fail to emote in pretty much equal measure to the bored and listless voice actors.

The real shame here is that underneath there seems to be a game that wants to be played, and a story that wants to be told.  Unfortunately it's hard to shake the feeling that the worthwhile core is rather small and has been padded beyond it's ability to hold up to the extra weight. The bottom line is it just isn't worth wading through the overlying dross to get to it.

..............

Want another opinion?