Screenshots & trailers
What players say
Why the number is what it is: aspect mentions counted across 303 sampled Steam reviews (268 positive / 35 negative), recent and most-helpful. Plain keyword counting, fully reproducible; nothing here is written by a machine.
What positive reviews talk about
- Story & writing32% mention it
- Combat24% mention it
- Visuals & art20% mention it
- Grind & repetition10% mention it
- Performance6% mention it
What negative reviews complain about
- Story & writing49% mention it
- Performance37% mention it
- Combat31% mention it
- Visuals & art26% mention it
- Grind & repetition20% mention it
Satisfaction by hours played
Same score, different games: see how sentiment holds up the longer people play.
Under 5h
69%
90 reviews
5-15h
97%
183 reviews
15-40h
96%
26 reviews
Review sentiment over time
Weekly positive-review rate (green) and review volume (bars). Dashed lines mark significant patches; the amber line is the start of the current scoring window. Hover the dots to see what drove a dip or a jump.
How this score was computed
The VGC Score is a weighted blend on a press-comparable 0-100 quality scale. Steam approval rates are first calibrated (95% positive on Steam ≈ 89.5 quality, since Steam approval skews high). Press and tracked creator reviews each count ~2x a player review and share one cap against player evidence (creator buy/skip calls pool into an approval rate, calibrated like Steam approval); all-time sentiment is capped and halved (it's context, not verdict); reviews of the current build carry the most weight when a fresh patch anchors the window; and a 'typical game' prior keeps small samples from pegging the scale. Because press reviews and Metacritic user aggregates describe the launch build, their weight decays as the game ages (3-year half-life after a 1-year grace). That's how a game that launched rough can outgrow its old reception once updates win players over. Reviews under 2h playtime (the refund window), non-Steam activations, and free copies are downweighted.
| Component | Positive | Quality (0-100) | Weight (pseudo-reviews) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Press reviews (OpenCritic) | – | 64 | 23 |
| Creator reviews (3 tracked) | – | 77 | 1 |
| All-time Steam reviews | 87% | 81 | 1000 |
| Metacritic user ratings | – | – | 0 |
| Post-patch Steam reviews (trust-weighted) | 92% | 87 | 126 |
| Calibration prior (typical game) | – | 72 | 50 |
Scoring window: last 30 days (no significant patch detected) · 300 reviews sampled · 361 total reviews in window · weighted 163 up / 13.4 down · computed 2h ago · full methodology →
Press & Creators reviews (77)
Individual verdicts from outlets we track: scored reviews first, most trusted outlets first among them. The small badge is each outlet's trust score: how well its scoring history aligns with players.
- 60
“Ryse: Son of Rome is the typical example that summarizes a well-known phrase in the gaming community: games are not just about graphics. Despite being very impressive visually and having an excellent soundtrack, the game falls short by featuring repetitive and unchallenging gameplay, combined with a short campaign mode.”
read full review ↗ - 62
“Ryse is a rather short, repetitive, beautiful game that is going to be a tough sell for many while others will adore it.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“Rome wasn't built in a day but you'll easily complete Ryse inside of one - but you'll also enjoy the adventure whilst it lasts.”
read full review ↗ - 50
“Ryse is a little better than its reputation as a tech demo in search of a game. But not much beyond a mediocre combat system in want of something more than its predictable, opulent story.”
read full review ↗ - 65
“Ryse: Son of Rome is a great tale set in the Roman period, with its visceral limb chopping and an authentic weight to its centurion credentials, but as a third-person action adventure it's something of a one shot deal with little to pull you back in once you've seen Marius' journey through. Its gorgeous visuals and in-your-face combat may wow, but their shine dulls with unfortunately little to be offered in their place to reignite that initial excitement.”
read full review ↗ - 66
“Ryse: Son of Rome was one of the games I was looking forward to for the launch of the Xbox One, and I was a bit disappointed. While the visuals and soundtrack helped in getting me through the game, the repetitive combat and a "been there done that" story made it hard for me to get into it.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“Unfortunately, Ryse: Son of Rome is not a production that can exceed the average level, with its excellent graphics, moderate sounds, weakness of the combat system and the story. With a slightly longer gameplay time, more detailed story processing and a few adjustments to the combat system, Ryse, which can actually be quite successful, cannot go any further than resembling a true technology demo in this state.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“Great graphics are not everything ... Ryse will offer you an intriguing (though trivial) story in a great climate! Damage to untapped potential...”
read full review ↗ - 83
“Ryse: Son of Rome is a solid game and arguably has the best graphics of any console game to date. The combat is engaging, and the multiplayer extension feels like the Shadows of Rome multiplayer that never was. Although the title does come across as a one-trick pony, a fair amount of care was put into that element. Ultimately, I found the game to be the most enjoyable of all Xbox One launch titles, and putting this much emphasis on a new IP is always commendable. If you want the best-looking game on the new Xbox One console, Ryse is the easy choice to make, and the combat is enough to keep your interest until the end.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“Ryse: Son of Rome is a wonderful experience. The simple, yet always dynamic combat is how it really sinks its teeth into you. By the time you really get hooked, though, the game will be over, and you'll be left wanting more.”
read full review ↗ - 75
“By the time you've seen that ending, though, you'll have unlocked the majority of Marius' upgrades, and there's nothing like enough substance to the gameplay to tempt you to run the campaign on another difficulty setting or to lure you into long-term engagement with the two-player arena mode. There's no brains, no muscle, no fibre beneath Ryse's extravagantly engineered good looks - this game rings loud but hollow. Crytek likes to contrast Marius' moral strength with the vanity and cruelty of Nero and his made-up sons, but Ryse feels like a product of their dying empire. It's just empty decadence.”
read full review ↗ - 50
“Ryse: Son of Rome is a repetitive and tedious homage to the gruesome battles showcased in the film 300.”
read full review ↗
Portal E7
VGChartz
Pure Xbox
PC Invasion
GameWatcher
ZTGD
Merlin'in Kazanı
PPE.pl
Worth Playing
The Escapist
Eurogamer
GameSpot…and 65 more tracked reviews.
Patch history
- Patch #153 is now outOct 22, 2014significant · resets scoring window
- Patch #153 is now outOct 22, 2014significant · resets scoring window
- Hotfix - October 10th, 2014Oct 10, 2014
- Hotfix - October 10th, 2014Oct 10, 2014