Changing Perspective – An Introduction to Ryse: Son of Rome

“Ryse: Son of Rome” has come a long way since being revealed in a very early form at E3 2010.

Back then, the game was still known as “Codename: Kingdoms,” and only hinted at the bigger picture of what we would soon set about bringing to life. At E3 one year later, the name “Ryse” was out in the open and a more in-depth trailer revealed it to be an Xbox 360 exclusive built primarily around Kinect-controlled combat.

Since then, things have obviously shifted again; with today’s “Ryse” having built from those early iterations and evolved into an Xbox One launch title. So, how exactly did the game come to shift from first-person to third-person, from Xbox 360 to Xbox One, and from being primarily played with Kinect to being played primarily with controller?

Firstly; the shift in perspective and control methods. “Ryse” certainly started out as a first-person game, and we were toying with various ideas as to how we could blend the point-of-view with the potential of Kinect. There were various suggestions on the table, and that ultimately led to the creation of three prototype versions of the game – one played exclusively with Kinect, a second that combined Kinect and controller, and then one final version that was not only played with controller, but that also showed our lead character, Marius, on screen.

Every version had its fans within the company, but over time we saw people were increasingly leaning towards the third, controller-based, prototype that showed Marius on screen. This also tied in neatly with the fact we were now imagining “Ryse” as a much more cinematic, character-led experience. Our earlier vision of a more on-rails offering just didn’t seem compatible with the ideas for the game we were now committed to. And so, with all that in mind, we presented this reinterpretation of the game to Microsoft. They shared our excitement and agreed that a shift to third-person perspective and more controller-led gameplay was the right path for “Ryse”.

Next came the move from Xbox 360 to Xbox One. In the first instance, the jump became a possibility simply because our decision to change the game’s perspective and control scheme naturally meant it would take longer to finish. There was a lot of work to be done; work that seemed likely to make “Ryse” a very late entry into the Xbox 360 catalogue of games.

Of course, initially, Microsoft hadn’t laid out any plans for their next generation console, but we knew it was coming. With that in mind, we started developing “Ryse” in its new form as if it was going to be a next-gen game. One major advantage we had on this front was the fact we use our own technology in CryENGINE. We were already developing a very high-end game, and the leap to the new system was one we were confident of being able to make. That, combined with our expertise of working for PC and console, meant we were used to being versatile during the …read more