Ryse: Son of Rome is about as fun as dialing a phone number

The Xbox One exclusive, Ryse: Son of Rome, has been getting tons of praise for its stunning visuals but not as much for its bland, repetitive gameplay. One reviewer compared the gameplay to dialing a phone number.

If you’ve ever watched Lost, you’re familiar with the character of Desmond Hume. The former monk was stranded on the series’ mysterious island, and was tasked with repeatedly pressing the same series of buttons on a keyboard for weeks at a time. Why he had to do that is still pretty confusing to me (as is the rest of the series), but I was reminded of Desmond’s task for the duration of my time with the demo for Ryse: Son of Rome. I spent two hours with the Xbox One title, but it felt like I was entering random numbers into a computer rather than actually playing a video game.