Roman tablet? Why Ryse’s use of SmartGlass on Xbox One is “natural” – not a gimmick
“This is the level of implementation you can expect from the majority of first party titles.”.
It’s taken me a while to warm up to Ryse: Son of Rome’s Xbox One SmartGlass features. I like how they work on paper, but they seem troublingly out of synch with the game’s fiction – how are players supposed to feel steeped in that lush barbaric world, if you’re going to urge them to pull out a smartphone or tablet? But I’m perhaps being over-sensitive – as is my wont – and at the end of the day, Ryse’s SmartGlass features are optional. Here’s a little chat with Justin Robey, Microsoft’s senior producer, about how Crytek and the manufacturer have made those touchy-feely auxiliary mechanisms feel like a natural extension of the game.