Rise of the Argonauts Reviews
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In spite of its technical shortcomings, Rise of the Argonauts is still a truly fun game that has gotten a bit of a bum rap. The story is very intriguing, and the leveling system is handled superbly. While the combat may not be particularly heart-pounding, it's still quite enjoyable to bash in a baddie's head with a mace, impale and toss him with your spear, or chop him in half with your sword. Granted, animation and sound problems are annoying and unforgivable, but the title still manages to be fun in spite of all that, which is saying something. Much like the Greek heroes it portrays, Rise of the Argonauts is a flawed but otherwise noble and good game, and one well worthy of your time.
The second is at Gamer 2.0 with a score of 7/10:
Liquid Entertainment has done a good job in creating a gripping story filled with tons of mythological fodder to keep any fan interested, but the lack of a concrete combat system and the ability to actually make your own fateful decisions in dialogue truly hampers the experience. With an adventure at only 10 hours long with no redeeming co-op component, your first run-through should be enough to get what you want out of the game, which is a shame cause Rise of the Argonauts, could have been so much better.
The third is at Gamervision with a score of 5/10:
Earlier, the comparison to Alone in the Dark was made, a game broken by gameplay issues and technical problems but still worth playing because of the strides it made towards innovation in game design. While it shares several similarities with it, the largest difference is that Rise of the Argonauts isn't worth playing, it's simply too painful. At one point they might have had something special, but the entertaining combat and interesting leveling mechanics aren't good enough to prevent the constant, boring, grinding questing. The constant glitches are awful enough to dissuade even the strongest at heart from playing for more than a few hours, and Rise of the Argonauts might be one of the most dissapointing games of the generation.
The fourth is at The Gamers' Temple with a score of 55%:
Rise of the Argonauts seemed like a no-brainer. A classic story, swords, boats, Greece, gods and monsters. what could go wrong? Unfortunately, the game just didn't gel into one piece of entertainment; instead, it felt like a bunch of unfinished pieces of other games, smooshed together and sent to stores without much oversight in the quality department. This one might be worth it as a rental or off the bargain shelf, but paying full price probably isn't worth it, even your name does happen to be Jason (like me). In "Birdhouse in Your Soul," a song by They Might Be Giants, John Linnell sings, "After killing Jason off and countless screaming Argonauts." If an '80s rock band couldn't do it, Codemasters shouldn't be able to either. The band of Argonauts have been through worse than this game and stuck around in the collective unconscious, lets hope whomever grabs the reins next time does a little better job.
The fifth is at G4 X-Play with a score of 3/5:
Rise of the Argonauts is an unquestionably flawed game. This should not be taken to mean it's not fun to play. Even with the underwhelming aspects of the game factored in, this is a truly ambitious game. It feels like an A-list title made with a C-list budget, but there is heart to it. I believe the team at Liquid was trying to make something special, and while they didn't fully succeed, you can see glimmers of what could have been shining through fairly often. It's these moments - when you pull off a beautiful killstroke or endure a child's five-minute musical sales pitch or debate the merits of the Golden Fleece myth with a dissembling villain while senators cheer and jeer you on - that makes Rise of the Argonauts an odyssey worth a playthrough.
And the sixth is at Cheat Code Central with a score of 2.7/5:
If there's an upside to this game, it's that despite the shallow combat system, it's rather amusing to spill blood in battle. That's a small upside for a game that costs $60 and demands you sit through hours of talking just to kill stuff.
