Stepping back into my love of mythology, I'll be looking at a game that does a spin on a Greek tale. This is based off of the epic poem, Argonautica, with Jason and the Argonauts going off to fetch the fabled Golden Fleece. This just puts it on a different take and, well, here is 'Rise of the Argonauts'.
(Its like Mass Effect meets Greek Mythology, only suckier)
Developed by Liquid Entertainment, 'Rise of the Argonauts' tells a tale of the hero Jason, with a group of other Greek heroes, going off on an adventure to find the Golden Fleece and resurrect his dead wife.
Gameplay-wise, lets be honest, you'll be doing a lot more running around than actually fighting. Conversations between characters will be dragged on and boring when you need to repeatedly do them. Combat-wise, the system is pretty different, allowing your character, Jason, to switch between weapons mid-fight to pull off different combos. These weapons have various strengths and weaknesses against certain enemies, which I'm sure you would've found out if you bothered to play the game in the first place.
I don't really see how the story would be able to carry though the gameplay, but lets find out, shall we?
The game starts with Jason's wedding where a group of mercenaries, lead by a Blacktongue (sorcerors who worship the titan Hecate) attack and poison Jason's wife Alceme. Jason, not wanting to let his love pass on, asks help from the Gods to save her. He gets a response from four of them: Ares, Athena, Hermes, and Apollo. They agree that the best course of action is to find the Golden Fleece, giving Jason their blessing to seek it out. Jason, with the aide of his close friend Hercules (pretty much guess who he is), get help from a shipwright named Argos, who allows them to use the newly built shit 'The Argo' for their journey, so long as he helps pilot it due to its rather advance set-up. Jason leaves his island home of Iolcus in the hands of his uncle, Pelias. Before leaving, Jason rescues a Blacktongue deserter named Medea, who agrees to help him stop the Blacktongues from achieving their goal.
So, Jason and his group reach Delphi, home of the Oracle. He encounters a satyr named Pan, who joins the group near the end of the Delphi run, and gets his will and resolve tested to make sure he'll do what it takes to save the one he loves. Upon meeting the Oracle, Jason is told to find decedents of the gods Ares, Athena, and Hermes (coincidence?) to help open a portal to Tartarus, where the Golden Fleece is stored. So, Jason is given the choice of where to go first: Mycenae (Ares' Island and birthplace of Alceme), Saria (Hermes' Island dominated by wildlife and centaurs), and Kythra (Athena's Island bounded by her strict rules and regulations). The players can choose whichever island to start with, though for this review, I'll start with Mycenae.
At Mycenae, Jason gets thrown in jail for failing to protect Alceme by her father, King Lycomedes In order to win back his freedom, Jason must fight in the gladiator arena. He gets help from the blacksmith, Daedalus, and manages to win his first two fights. His third and final fight is against Achilles, who has never lost a gladiator battle before. Here, the two fight to a draw and Jason is free. However, news of a tournament to replace Lycomedes as king of Mycenae gets Jason's attention, as Achilles wouldn't take part it in it since he prefers fighting over ruling and the rumors of a Blacktongue who is entering. Jason discovers the truth of Docon, the Blacktongue warrior who is entering the tournament, and Patroclus, the head of the arena, are conspiring to take the rule of Mycenae for themselves. So, Jason enters the tournament and, with the of Daedalus once more, reaches the final round against Docon. Achilles makes a surprise reappearance to the fight and, as Lycomedes feeling a bit downer since his daughter's death, invigorates the king. Docon and Patroclus try to seize the thrown, but get killed for their efforts (with Patroclus getting his death at Lycomedes' hands, which is pretty damn awesome). In the end, Achilles, Daedalus, and Lycomedes (who is descended from Ares) joins the Argo to help Jason recover the Golden Fleece. With Mycenae behind them, the heroes venture to Saria.
Saria has a lot of jungle to it, but thankfully a village of centaurs where our heroes can dock. They meet up with the leader of the centaur, Lykas, and get a story about a beast that can disappear from the naked eye. Jason gets assistance from the only human on the island, Atlanta (where later, its explained how her Blacktongue father left the group with a wife and both later died on Saria), who helps lead them to a fruit that should help Jason. It turns out the beast, a manticore, has the ability to disappear from sight by going into a realm of shadows or something of the like. The beast is eventually slain, since it can no longer hide thanks to the fruit, and Atlanta discovers something on its skin: a mark that bears the symbol of a centaur named Nessus. Turns out that he breed the manticore in service to the Blacktongues, who promised him open land and sky if he worked for them. Of course, the corrupt centaur doesn't survive his fight with Jason and his fellow heroes and soon dies after a lengthy battle. In the end, Atlanta decides to join Jason and his group for helping the local centaurs. Its revealed through Hermes that all centaurs bear his blood, with Lykas volunteering to join the Argo as well. With two islands down, its time to head to Kythra.
Apparently, Kythra was once home to the Golden Fleece before it disappeared and when the Argonauts first arrive, just about everyone they see has been turned to stone. As Jason and his friends venture through the island, they discover that it was home to two descendants of Athena, the brother and sister Perseus and Medusa (didn't see that coming, did you?). It turned out that a speaker named Phaedon convinced Medusa to focus more on her beauty and his own goals rather than that of her brother's or Athena's. It resulted in the island turning everyone into stone and Medusa becoming the hideous gorgon monster she was known as in the original mythology. The other inhabitants of the island get returned to normal, and Jason reveals that Phaedon is just another Blacktongue, who promptly gets killed for tricking Medusa. They also encounter Perseus, who asks to help save Medusa by breaking the symbol of her selfish beauty: a golden statue from before her gorgon state. This is about the only time I saw where your choices demonstrated who would come back to the Argo with you. If you decide to destroy the statute, Medusa returns to normal and she joins you willingly. If you decide to kill her instead, the statue remains as what she was before and Perseus joins you in her stead. Regardless, you get your descendant of Athena and make your way back to the Oracle. Unfortunately, a Blacktongue sneaks onboard the Argo and kills Argos, forcing Jason to steer the ship long enough to reach the Oracle's island (at least until Daedalus takes over).
Anyway, Jason and his argonauts manage to breech Tartarus and retrieve the Golden Fleece after battling several Blacktongues, including some enemies they recently killed like Docon and Phaedon. Once retrieved, the heroes head back to Iolcus, where they discover that Jason's uncle has started slaughtering his people. The heroes push through the hordes of Blacktongues and Jaosn himself manages to reach Alceme's resting chamber. In one final clash, he kills his uncle and resurrects his wife with the power of the Golden Fleece. Finally, the two can be married.
...and that's the game. I don't think it should really be called a game. It felt more like a movie: a very long, overly talkative movie. Pacing tends to slow to a crawl in several of the conversations taking place and there is far more of that than combat. When combat does happen, its pretty interesting to say the least, but nothing really worthwhile. The story seems to drag when going to each island and ends with a conclusion that is pretty lukewarm. Overall, if you ever see this at a bargain bin, save your money.
Until next time...
Rise of the Argonauts was developed by Liquid Entertainment.
Saria has a lot of jungle to it, but thankfully a village of centaurs where our heroes can dock. They meet up with the leader of the centaur, Lykas, and get a story about a beast that can disappear from the naked eye. Jason gets assistance from the only human on the island, Atlanta (where later, its explained how her Blacktongue father left the group with a wife and both later died on Saria), who helps lead them to a fruit that should help Jason. It turns out the beast, a manticore, has the ability to disappear from sight by going into a realm of shadows or something of the like. The beast is eventually slain, since it can no longer hide thanks to the fruit, and Atlanta discovers something on its skin: a mark that bears the symbol of a centaur named Nessus. Turns out that he breed the manticore in service to the Blacktongues, who promised him open land and sky if he worked for them. Of course, the corrupt centaur doesn't survive his fight with Jason and his fellow heroes and soon dies after a lengthy battle. In the end, Atlanta decides to join Jason and his group for helping the local centaurs. Its revealed through Hermes that all centaurs bear his blood, with Lykas volunteering to join the Argo as well. With two islands down, its time to head to Kythra.
Apparently, Kythra was once home to the Golden Fleece before it disappeared and when the Argonauts first arrive, just about everyone they see has been turned to stone. As Jason and his friends venture through the island, they discover that it was home to two descendants of Athena, the brother and sister Perseus and Medusa (didn't see that coming, did you?). It turned out that a speaker named Phaedon convinced Medusa to focus more on her beauty and his own goals rather than that of her brother's or Athena's. It resulted in the island turning everyone into stone and Medusa becoming the hideous gorgon monster she was known as in the original mythology. The other inhabitants of the island get returned to normal, and Jason reveals that Phaedon is just another Blacktongue, who promptly gets killed for tricking Medusa. They also encounter Perseus, who asks to help save Medusa by breaking the symbol of her selfish beauty: a golden statue from before her gorgon state. This is about the only time I saw where your choices demonstrated who would come back to the Argo with you. If you decide to destroy the statute, Medusa returns to normal and she joins you willingly. If you decide to kill her instead, the statue remains as what she was before and Perseus joins you in her stead. Regardless, you get your descendant of Athena and make your way back to the Oracle. Unfortunately, a Blacktongue sneaks onboard the Argo and kills Argos, forcing Jason to steer the ship long enough to reach the Oracle's island (at least until Daedalus takes over).
Anyway, Jason and his argonauts manage to breech Tartarus and retrieve the Golden Fleece after battling several Blacktongues, including some enemies they recently killed like Docon and Phaedon. Once retrieved, the heroes head back to Iolcus, where they discover that Jason's uncle has started slaughtering his people. The heroes push through the hordes of Blacktongues and Jaosn himself manages to reach Alceme's resting chamber. In one final clash, he kills his uncle and resurrects his wife with the power of the Golden Fleece. Finally, the two can be married.
...and that's the game. I don't think it should really be called a game. It felt more like a movie: a very long, overly talkative movie. Pacing tends to slow to a crawl in several of the conversations taking place and there is far more of that than combat. When combat does happen, its pretty interesting to say the least, but nothing really worthwhile. The story seems to drag when going to each island and ends with a conclusion that is pretty lukewarm. Overall, if you ever see this at a bargain bin, save your money.
Until next time...
Rise of the Argonauts was developed by Liquid Entertainment.
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