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Veni, vidi, PC - Ryse: Son of Rome hits Steam next month
Former Xbox One exclusive Ryse: Son of Rome expands its empire to Steam on October 10, and it's currently available to pre-order for $40 (£35/40 euros). The third-person legion-leading adventure shynes in 4K resolution according to Crytek, who's bundling in all the previously released DLC in the new Windows PC version. Also, all pre-orders score the game's soundtrack for free, which you can hear parts of in a new trailer below the break (that offer also applies at participating retailers selling the physical edition). If you're after the minimum requirements, check out the Steam page.
Deals With Gold: Dead Rising 3, Ryse permanently discounted
This week's Xbox Live Deals With Gold sale bring permanent discounts to the Xbox One's "top titles," while Capcom takes a hatchet to the prices of its various downloadable offerings on the Xbox 360. From August 6 onward, Dead Rising 3, Ryse: Son of Rome, Forza Motorsport 5 and Kinect Sports Rivals will be priced at $50 - a $10 discount off of each game's launch price. According to Microsoft, this new price is universal, so you'll be able to pick up any of these games either at retail or through the Xbox One's digital store at the new $50 price point. Capcom's discounts are much more impressive, as every game and DLC listed has been reduced in price by at least 50 percent. Highlights include Dead Rising 2: Off the Record for less than $7, Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara at $5.09 and the phenomenal Street Fighter 3: Third Strike Online Edition for only $3.74. [Image: Capcom]
Ryse: Son of Rome DLC adds to Gladiator, Survival, Solo modes
There's a fresh batch of enemies to brutally murder in Ryse: Son of Rome, thanks to this week's launch of the Morituri Pack. Season pass holders can get help themselves right away, but anyone else will need to pay $7.99 to sink their blade into more waves of squishy, stab-susceptiple gladiators. Among the Morituri Pack's locales are three new arenas for Gladiator mode: "Beacon," a raid on a barbarian camp, "False Gods," which hosts battles in Egyptian temples, and "Revolution," which plays out among the ruins of the Roman Empire. Survival mode also gets new content in the form of The Forbidden Forest and Sulfur River stages. There are five arenas newly "optimized" for Solo mode as well, with Beacon, Revolution, False Gods, Market and Garden rounding out the offering. Don't worry if your armor's a bit stained after all this - Morituri offers fresh attire in the form of armor owned by Oswald, King of the Britons, which you'll surely keep clean of blood for all of 30 seconds. [Image: Crytek, Microsoft]
Ryse: Son of Rome 'Mars' Chosen Pack' DLC coming February 28
Ryse: Son of Rome players will be getting new DLC, "Mars' Chosen Pack," on February 28, according to a Microsoft press release. Don't get your hopes up for Roman gladiators in spaaaaaace, a delicious treat or a funky soundtrack, though; the Mars referred to here is (probably) the Roman god. The pack contains a new, two-player co-op Survival mode, four new maps, one re-worked map and a skin. It will be preceded by 10 days of sales. The first sale, which runs from February 18 to February 24, knocks the Games on Demand version of Ryse down to $39.99 for North America and £34.99 for Europe. Major Nelson will announce new sales every day thereafter, up until the DLC's release date. Upon its surely-bloody debut in the arena, "Mars' Chosen Pack" will cost $8.99 in NA, £7.19 in EU territories. Two of the pack's maps, Firestorm and Dockyard, have been created specifically for Survival mode, while two more, Pyramid and Obelisk, will add to the game's Arena mode. An already-existing map, Courtyard, has been "optimized" for Survival mode. [Image: Microsoft Studios]
Microsoft: Over 50 million hours logged on Xbox Ones since launch
In the realm of esoteric statistics, Microsoft announced that over 50 million hours in "games and entertainment" have been logged on Xbox One systems since it launched on November 22. The console manufacturer added that over 415 million Gamerscore points were unlocked via achievements on the system. Microsoft also noted a few other in-game milestones achieved in individual Xbox One games, such as the number of miles driven in Forza 5 globally (90 million), zombies killed in Dead Rising 3 (three billion), combos achieved in Killer Instinct (150 million) and enemies defeated in Ryse: Son of Rome (186 million). By comparison, EA announced that over 140 million gameplay minutes were logged in its games on PS4 in the console's opening five days. To add to today's numbers, Sony announced that global PS4 sales exceed 2.1 million, though we're not certain how that translates to hours spent or zombies destroyed or how close that is to the moon when you stack them all, etc.
Gaming deals: $200 Batman, The Last of Us PS3 bundle, Xbox One games, Battlefield 4 for PS4 $50
Black Friday is making our wallets cower as it looms in the distance, but why wait until then to start your financial downfall? Kmart is currently offering a 250GB PS3 with The Last of Us and Batman: Arkham Origins for $200. If you've already jumped into the current console generation, Amazon is selling select Xbox One games for $50, including Dead Rising 3, Forza Motorsport 5, Ryse: Son of Rome, LEGO Marvel Super Heroes and ... Angry Birds: Star Wars. If you'd prefer to play on the PS4 and are generally optimistic, you can also buy Battlefield 4 for PS4 for $50 and hope that its issues are resolved before it reaches your doorstep. Since we're talking deals, Steam users can pick up Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit and Rage for $4.99 each this weekend, the latter of which can be played for free until 4pm Eastern Time. The ARMA series and most of its DLC can also be had for 80 percent off, meaning you can pick up Steam's ARMA selection for $18.98. Update: Amazon is also offering select games from the PS4 launch lineup for $50 apiece, including Knack, Need for Speed: Rivals, Call of Duty: Ghosts, Madden NFL 25 and FIFA 14. [Thanks, Jack!]
Review: Xbox One
We'll be rolling out Xbox One review coverage all the way through launch on November 22. Read all of our news and reviews right here! Some of the close-to-final functionality of the Xbox One was only made available this week, so this review is a living document for our thoughts on the platform. Stay tuned for more updates from now until launch! Update 1: Added additional content on game installation, Kinect features and gameplay clip editing. Update 2: More writing about Smartglass, Skype and system favorites. Added a terrible joke. Update 3: Conclusion ... concluded! Xbox, On(e) With the Xbox One, Microsoft trusts that today's living room configuration is still set around a dominant television, a large window into games, movies and long-form storytelling. This is a games machine in the vein of the successful Xbox 360, complete with online games and Achievements as always, but Microsoft is looking to provide a platform for all your entertainment this time, whether it's from Hollywood or HBO. This glut of content and features is hard to corral, especially when players and consumers want to be unhindered in their demands. The interface can't just be aimed at those who identify themselves as gamers. With more processing power, an enhanced Kinect camera and an interface designed around surfacing and serving content of all sorts, the Xbox One serves as a strong backbone for the living room, though it requires some patience and effort from the people seated in front of it.
Machinima to premiere live-action series based on Ryse: Son of Rome
Crytek and Machinima have partnered to produce a live-action webseries based on Xbox One game Ryse: Son of Rome called "The Fall." This four-part story will explore the character of Marius Titus, who is also the main character in the upcoming game, and will be stabbing its way to a computer near you on November 5. Martin McCready, a British stage actor, will take on the role of Titus, while Brian Beletic directs. The trailer, which you can check out above, shows no signs of the game's infamous QTE executions. You can decide for yourself whether you are or are not entertained by that.
Ryse $20 season pass grants access to four DLC packs
Microsoft announced a season pass program for Ryse: Son of Rome today. The $20 season pass will give players access to four DLC packs over the course of multiple months following the Xbox One exclusive's November 22 launch. Ryse's four pieces of DLC will feature a new mode, 14 multiplayer maps, six new skins for players, a new equipment tier and level events. The season pass is a 25 percent discount on the combined, as-yet-unannounced individual prices of the DLC packs, and will also come with a sword and shield exclusive to season pass holders. The Crytek-developed game will include 11 multiplayer maps at launch and an extra one specific to the Day One edition.
The brutal, proactive combat of Ryse: Son of Rome
When I saw Crytek's Ryse: Son of Rome demonstrated during Microsoft's E3 press briefing, I was worried. The once Kinect and now controller-driven game, apart from being visually impressive thanks to an Xbox One upgrade, looked pretty generic. When I sat down to play it at an event later that night, I learned something that improved my outlook dramatically: Ryse has no block button. It's still too early to tell whether or not Ryse's hack-and-shield-bash combat will hold up over the course of an entire game, but this one simple fact is enough to give me hope.%Gallery-191091%
Crytek's Ryse: Son of Rome demoed for Xbox One, available as launch title
With Microsoft's Xbox One hardware reveal out of the way, the company's shifting focus to its launch lineup. And here at E3, we got a first look at just what the One is capable of with Crytek's previously announced Ryse: Son of Rome. The game, an exclusive for the platform, lets players take control of a Roman General and features gameplay that'll have players slashing through hordes of warriors, engaging in quick time events, all set in the Roman Empire. From what was demoed on stage, Ryse looks to be a technically impressive feat, showcasing strong particle effects, lighting and a massive number of onscreen characters. It'll be available as an XBox One launch title, so if you're planning on a pre-order for MS' next-gen console, this is a future purchase worth considering. Follow all of our E3 2013 coverage at our event hub.
Ryse is now Ryse: Son of Rome, coming to Xbox One at launch
"But the Gods know what once was can be again," an English narrator says of Ryse: Son of Rome, the upcoming Xbox One game from Crytek. The game stars Roman general Marius Titus. The reveal then cut to a beach invasion, showing a squadron of Roman soldiers assaulting an entrenched enemy force. Eventually, a Roman soldier squares off against a Barbarian in one-on-one combat, revealing contextual kills and a parry system. Ryse: Son of Rome will be an Xbox One exclusive and available at the console's launch.
