Rise of the Argonauts Progress Report

[GameBanshee News]

IGN has whipped up a two-page report bringing us up to speed on Codemasters and Liquid Entertainment's mythology-based action RPG, Rise of the Argonauts.

Liquid's idea for Jason's abilities was to make them all distinct. Instead of concentrating on something like a percentage chance to hit bonus or something to that effect, the new skills will have dramatic effects on how Jason behaves. Or at least so says Liquid, and the developers cited an example where by enhancing Jason's offensive power you can more easily swat aside enemy shields, opening them up to attack.

In addition to Jason's abilities, he'll also be able to upgrade his weapons and armor. Instead of buying better versions from NPC vendors, the items Jason gets are tied into the story. In fact, you never interact with vendors at all, for items or anything. Clearly, Liquid is trying to streamline quite a bit of the RPG side of things, as there isn't even a currency system.

Jason eventually winds up in a dungeon and forced into a battle arena, an event for which he gets a fancy new suit of armor for. Here you meet up with a fellow prisoner named Pytheus, who accompanies you out onto the field of battle. Before the fight you'll be able to pick an AI attitude, telling Pytheus to either go all out or hang back and defend your flank.