In this feature, we’ll be taking a look at fifteen such disappointing Xbox One exclusives- note that some of these games have been improved significantly since launch thanks to updates, and that we’re primarily talking about disappointing launches. Also note that for the purposes of these list, we’ll only be looking at Xbox One console exclusives.

With all that out of the way, let’s get into it.

RYSE: SON OF ROME

Ryse: Son of Rome took our breath away when it was first revealed, showcasing stunning visuals and looking like the kind of cinematic action adventure killer app that the Xbox family had always been desperately searching for. What we got was a disappointing mess that didn’t even come close to achieving what we had all hoped it would. Sure, it still looked good- but that’s about as far as it went with positives.

Microsoft have tried pushing out a lot of new IPs this generation so far- they started this generation by pushing Ryse: Son of Rome and D4: Dark Dreams Don’t Die for the Xbox One, then pushed out Sunset Overdrive the next year. This year alone saw them try with Quantum Break and ReCore, while next year sees them release Sea of Thieves and Scalebound.

The problem, of course, has been the uncertainty surrounding all of these new games- when Sony push out a new title, chances are that it will be developed further beyond that one game, and into a series or a franchise. However, at this point, are you really expecting a Sunset Overdrive, Ryse, or Quantum Break follow up? Especially given that the developers for all three of those games are now openly working on other projects not exclusive to Xbox One? At that point, can you even hope that Microsoft’s new IP next year will get follow ups, ever?

Speaking on Twitter, Xbox boss Phil Spencer discussed Microsoft’s need to balance the push for new IPs with commercial success, noting that new IPs need sales and room to expand if Microsoft is to look into developing them further. “Sales are part, IP has to have room to expand and team to expand. I’m always learning, sometimes painful, sometimes with a smile,” Spencer said on Twitter. In response to a fan stating that not knowing whether or not they will get to return to the world makes them enjoy a game’s characters less, Spencer added, ” It’s the same with TV shows or movies. But we’ve also all seen sequels that did as much harm as good. Balance is really tough.”

I suppose I must give Spencer credit for being honest here, if nothing else- at least he hasn’t strung people along with false hopes that every single game that Microsoft put out may be something that gets revisited eventually in the future. That said, I hope some of Microsoft’s new IP next yer fare better than their efforts so far have.

Crytek’s Ryse: Son of Rome is now available for the PC, retailing through Steam and GameStop for $39. Originally released alongside the Xbox One in November 2013, Ryse was originally hailed as a console exclusive before being announced for PC this year.

The PC version includes all previously released DLC, which means four content packs, and some new graphical options such as 1080p resolution and even 4K resolution support. The game apparently “takes full advantage of the platform’s power and offers players the chance to experience the Roman Empire like never before” according to Crytek.

In terms of gameplay, Ryse: Son of Rome was originally criticized for its repetitiveness and the sheer unimaginative nature of combat, which boiled down to multiple QTE events in every fight. Regardless, will you be picking it up for PC? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below and stay tuned for more information on the PC version.

Regardless, the studio continues to soldier on. It’s bringing Ryse: Son of Rome to PC and boasting a fair number of graphical upgrades to justify the purchase. HUNT: Horrors of the Gilded Age will also be arriving in the coming months and even with all the apparent instability, senior producer Brian Chambers doesn’t sound too worried. GamingBolt recently caught up with Chambers to talk about the PC version of Ryse: Son of Rome, the chances of Ryse 2 releasing and ever arriving on the PC, and much more.

"The decision to bring Ryse to PC was logical to us, not only did it allow us to respond directly to our fans, it was an opportunity for us to show off an aspect of what CryEngine is capable of."

Rashid K. Sayed: I was under the impression that Xbox One was the only place one could play Ryse on. Can you let us know what kind of exclusivity deal did you had with Microsoft regarding Ryse?

Brian Chambers: Ryse was an Xbox One Launch title. The Ryse IP belongs to Crytek which enables us to now bring it to PC.

Rashid K. Sayed: So why is Crytek bringing Ryse on PC, as opposed to the PlayStation 4?

Brian Chambers: The game’s arrival on PC is a direct response to interest from gamers. The PC community, as well as Crytek fans reached out to us and asked for it. We also feel the growing public appetite for 4K experiences makes this the perfect moment to bring it to PC.

Rashid K. Sayed: I find the decision to PC rather interesting. Crytek had layoffs in the last few months and obviously you would want to recover some of the money back. Why not launch Ryse on PS4, a console that has apparently sold over 10 million units and is leading the new console cycle, especially with Cevat stating that they are not happy with X1 sales?

Brian Chambers: The decision to bring Ryse to PC was logical to us, not only did it allow us to respond directly to our fans, it was an opportunity for us to show off an aspect of what CryEngine is capable of. The PS4 has gained a large user base in a short time and Crytek will develop titles for it the near future, such as HUNT: Horrors of the Gilded Age. Currently there is no announcement regarding Ryse coming to PS4.

"Ryse 2 was never announced by Microsoft or Crytek and therefore we hope you'll understand that we can't comment on it."

Rashid K. Sayed: Ryse Son of Rome was and is still perhaps the best looking game on the Xbox One. What kind of graphical updates can players expect in the PC version of the game?

Brian Chambers: Thanks, we worked hard to bring players the level quality that we had on Xbox One, and we continued to push it for Ryse PC. 4K resolution support enhances textures and high-frequency shading details.

• Higher resolution shows more of the texture details, especially on Marius, as the textures contain so much detail at the top MIP levels that it’s often not even visible on 1080p res.
• Higher resolution also means less perceived aliasing since geometry is rasterized more accurately, pixels are smaller.

Other additions, such as super-sampling AA (SSAA), make for a very clean image with minimized shimmering

• Unlike post processing AA or MSAA (multi-sample anti aliasing), super sampling truly shades pixels at higher resolution and then combines blocks of them into an average. This produces a kind of aliasing that is hard to beat with other methods since the high resolution image information is not visible.

Native desktop resolution UI support in full-screen means the UI always looks crisp, even if it’s run in lower resolution for performance reasons

• Desktop resolution is usually the highest resolution any display supports and thus gives a clear and sharp image. However, games often cannot run at these resolutions at full details.
• Native resolution provides a compromise in that it allows the game to render the 3d world at a lower (user configurable) resolution if desired. The resulting image is then up-scaled to desktop resolution and UI rendered on top. This provides crisp UI on top of a smooth gameplay experience.

Rashid K. Sayed: Is there any scope for Ryse 2 in the future? And will you consider the PS4 this time around?

Brian Chambers: We do get asked this question frequently, Ryse 2 was never announced by Microsoft or Crytek and therefore we hope you’ll understand that we can’t comment on it.

Rashid K. Sayed: Crytek famously stated last year that the new console cycle is not about resolution. Now that Ryse Son of Rome will be supporting 4K on PC, will you guys still hold on to that statement?

Brian Chambers: It’s unfair in my opinion to compare consoles with PC hardware. A console, regardless of how powerful it is, will have limitations that the user won’t be able to modify. PC hardware on the other hand can be as simple or powerful as the user chooses to build it out.

"There are several new engine features that made it into the Ryse PC version. We added support for up-scaling the scene to the native monitor resolution and provide the option to render with super-sampling. "

Rashid K. Sayed: Are there plans to use AMD or Nvidia specific features for Ryse Son of Rome on PC?

Brian Chambers: Currently there are no plans for any specific features.

Rashid K. Sayed: How difficult was the process of porting the X1 version to the PC? Were you able to use some of Xbox One’s CPU specific optimizations for the PC version?

Brian Chambers: During development of Ryse on console, we always had a version running on PC. The main work for the PC release was adding backend support and adjusting the engine to run well on the many diverse hardware configurations (multi-GPU setups, systems with less VRAM than Xbox, etc.). Most of the general engine optimizations we did back then for the Xbox One version are valid for PC as well.

Rashid K. Sayed: CryEngine must have undergone several iterations since Ryse’s release last year. Are those changes going to affect the PC version? Can you outline them?

Brian Chambers: There are several new engine features that made it into the Ryse PC version. We added support for up-scaling the scene to the native monitor resolution and provide the option to render with super-sampling. We also further improved our temporal AA solution for Ryse PC and increased the shadow quality.

Rashid K. Sayed: Are you tweaking a few things gameplay wise?

Brian Chambers: The core gameplay experience for both single player and multiplayer will remain as they were for the console release. All the efforts for the PC version were made on the technical side.

Rashid K. Sayed: With Ryse, you are once again planning to set new benchmarks for visuals on PC. What steps are you taking to heavily optimize the game? I am sure you don’t want a repeat of the original Crysis situation.

Brian Chambers: I think Ryse PC will set a new benchmark for PC’s, rest assured that players will find that they will be able to control their settings and still have a solid experience with a very achievable minimum specification machine.

" The team is extremely pleased with the work that’s gone into Ryse; we’ve technically pushed ourselves in numerous different ways."

Rashid K. Sayed: Are there plans to support UGC and mod kits for Ryse?

Brian Chambers: I’m a fan of UGC and mod’s in general, but there’s currently no plan for either with this release.

Rashid K. Sayed: Ryse Son of Rome was locked at 30fps on the Xbox One. With PC, users can shoot for 60fps. What kind of advantages do you think this will bring to the overall experience?

Brian Chambers: Combat games at 60fps are a different experience, and usually preferred for the hardcore enthusiast over 30fps. The game was created for 30fps and plays solid, but I’m glad that we can now let people play at 60fps if they have the hardware to support it. Playing back more frames creates a different visual feel; you should definitely give it a go.

Rashid K. Sayed: Is there anything else you want to tell us before we take off?

Brian Chambers: The team is extremely pleased with the work that’s gone into Ryse; we’ve technically pushed ourselves in numerous different ways. To be able to pick up what we did on console and now have it running in 4k on the PC is pretty cool; you really should find the opportunity to play Ryse PC to see for yourselves.

Ryse: Son of Rome, as one of the launch titles for the Xbox One, may not necessarily have been the best game ever made, but it had its place as a mindlessly fun game, and certainly as a visual showcase for Microsoft’s newest system. Now, you can get the game, and all the DLC ever released for it, for super cheap, as Ryse: Legendary Edition will be made available on the Xbox One for $50– $10 cheaper than the original game retailed for, and for a substantially larger amount of content.

The DLC includes the Morituri Pack, Duel of Fates Pack, The Mars’ Chosen Pack, and the Colosseum Pack- essentially, the Ryse: Legendary Edition that goes on sale on the Xbox One is the exact same version as the PC port of the game with the same name (although the PC version does have several PC exclusive features, such as enhanced graphical settings and options, including the option to play the game in stunning 4K).

For more news, stay tuned to GamingBolt.

Crytek’s Ryse: Son of Rome first released for the Xbox One but it’s now heading to PC, which means the development team will be able to take advantage of more powerful hardware for enhanced visuals. Considering the base game already looked good, just how much more could Crytek improve the experience?

We spoke to senior producer Brian Chambers about the changes made to CryEngine since Ryse’s release last year and whether they would affect the PC version. “There are several new engine features that made it into the Ryse PC version. We added support for upscaling the scene to the native monitor resolution and provide the option to render with supersampling. We also further improved our temporal AA solution for Ryse PC and increased the shadow quality.”

As for graphical updates that fans could expect over the Xbox One version, Chambers stated that, “We worked hard to bring players the level quality that we had on Xbox One, and we continued to push it for Ryse PC. 4K resolution support enhances textures and high-frequency shading details. Higher resolution shows more of the texture details, especially on Marius, as the textures contain so much detail at the top MIP levels that it’s often not even visible on 1080p resolution.

“Higher resolution also means less perceived aliasing since geometry is rasterized more accurately, pixels are smaller. Other additions, such as super-sampling AA (SSAA), make for a very clean image with minimized shimmering. Unlike post processing AA or MSAA (multi-sample anti aliasing), super sampling truly shades pixels at higher resolution and then combines blocks of them into an average. This produces a kind of aliasing that is hard to beat with other methods since the high res image information is not visible.

“Native desktop resolution UI support in full-screen means the UI always looks crisp, even if it’s run in lower resolution for performance reasons. Desktop resolution is usually the highest resolution any display supports and thus gives a clear and sharp image. However, games often cannot run at these resolutions at full details. Native resolution provides a compromise in that it allows the game to render the 3d world at a lower (user configurable) resolution if desired. The resulting image is then upscaled to desktop resolution and UI rendered on top. This provides crisp UI on top of a smooth gameplay experience.”

What are your thoughts on Ryse: Son of Rome for PC? Will you be picking it up when it releases on October 10th? Let us know below.

If you ignore the tail-spin Crytek has experienced in recent months, there’s still a fair amount to look forward to from the company – Ryse: Son of Rome on the PC. Originally launched exclusively for the Xbox One, it will head to the PC with enhanced visuals and other content. Will Crytek ever look at a sequel though, and if so, is PS4 on the cards this time around?

We spoke to senior producer Brian Chambers about the same, who replied that, “We do get asked this question frequently. Ryse 2 was never announced by Microsoft or Crytek and therefore we hope you’ll understand that we can’t comment on it.”

Which is fair enough. That being said, how did the process of porting Ryse from the Xbox One to the PC work and did the same CPU optimizations apply to the PC port?

“During development of Ryse on console, we always had a version running on PC. The main work for the PC release was adding backend support and adjusting the engine to run well on the many diverse hardware configurations (multi-GPU setups, systems with less VRAM than Xbox, etc.). Most of the general engine optimizations we did back then for the Xbox One version are valid for PC as well.”

Ryse: Son of Rome will be out for PC on October 10th.

When Ryse: Son of Rome first released for the Xbox One, Crytek created a stir for a fair number of reasons, chief among them being the 900p resolution. Granted, many games since then haven’t implemented 1080p on both the Xbox One and PS4 but it was a major point of contention at the time. Crytek stated at one point that the new console cycle wasn’t about resolution though but with Ryse: Son of Rome on PC supporting 4K resolutions, what is their current stance on the subject?

We spoke to Crytek senior producer Brian Chambers about the same and he stated that, “It’s unfair in my opinion to compare consoles with PC hardware. A console, regardless of how powerful it is, will have limitations that the user won’t be able to modify. PC hardware on the other hand can be as simple or powerful as the user chooses to build it out.”

Thoughts on the same? Let us know below. Ryse: Son of Rome is out for PC on October 10th.

Last month Crytek confirmed that Ryse Son of Rome will be coming to gaming PCs with improved graphical effects such as 4K support, high resolution textures and shadow effects. The decision to bring Ryse to PC is pretty interesting to us. Crytek has suffered from  layoffs in the last few months and obviously they would want to recover some of the money back.

So launching Ryse on PS4, a console that has sold over 10 million units and is leading the new console cycle, would have made more sense. Crytek’s boss Cevat Yerli himself stated that they are not happy with the sales figure of  Xbox One. Ryse is Crytek’s IP, so why is the developer not bringing the game to the PlayStation 4? We raised this point in our interview with  Senior Producer at Crytek, Brian Chambers.

“The game’s arrival on PC is a direct response to interest from gamers. The PC community, as well as Crytek fans reached out to us and asked for it. We also feel the growing public appetite for 4K experiences makes this the perfect moment to bring it to PC.”

“The decision to bring RYSE to PC was logical to us, not only did it allow us to respond directly to our fans, it was an opportunity for us to show off an aspect of what CRYENGINE is capable of. The PS4 has gained a large user base in a short time and CRYTEK will develop titles for it the near future, such as HUNT: Horrors of the Gilded Age. Currently there is no announcement regarding RYSE coming to PS4.”

We will have more coverage on the PC version of Ryse: Son of Rome in the coming days. For further reading check out our Xbox One review of the game or read everything related to Ryse over here.

Crysis announced just a little while ago that its graphical launch showcase for the Xbox One, Ryse: Son of Rome, will be coming to the PC too, which caused some excitement among the hardcore gaming PC circles, who wanted to see what kind of magic the new game from the makers of Crysis would weave on their high end rigs.

The answer, judging by these specs that you should have to run the game? A fair bit, it seems like. At minimum, you’ll need a dual core CPU to run the game clocked at 2.8GHz, which isn’t a biggie, but the recommended specs peg the game demanding a four core Intel or eight core AMD PC.

That’s not all, as the minimum amount of RAM the game seems to demand is 4GB, but the optimum performance will be achieved at 8GB, with another 4GB of VRAM (1GB minimum). Also, cordon off a good portion of your hard drive for Ryse, as it needs a not insubstantial 26GB of space.

Whelp.