Ever since its release with Xbox One, I always wanted to try it and see why it is getting all the hate. Surprisingly, it ain't bad.
Story:
I usually like Roman empire timeline and its setting, and this was no different. The story overall was a mixed bag though. What I liked was the cinematic nature of the story, how it felt like a Hollywood movie and all that. Some of the characters in the game were also pretty good, particularly the emperor's son. And had good voice acting to boast. Also, the supernatural element of the story added a layer of mystery to it, which was also nice to have.
BUT the story was inconsistent and poorly managed. Some stuff happen too quickly and you're like "Wait, was I suppose to care?". Also, many times, voice acting was either corny, or just plain bad.
Gameplay:
Game's biggest flaw is its gameplay. At first, it looks fine and all but after half an hour of it, you have experienced all there is to it. It is a hack'n slash-ish game BUT there are no combos, only different styles of execution. The combat is over-simplified and starts to feel really repetitive early on. Cutting down waves and waves of enemies becomes a chore instead of being fun.
The infamous QTE fest this combat was suppose to be was surprisingly non-existent. I mean sure executions are all QTE's but you have choice in that matter, only very rarely will the game force you to execute. And because of this, executions themselves were the most satisfying part of the combat for me. Slicing up enemies in different gory ways when I felt like it was great.
Graphics:
It is a Crytek game so yeah, it looks gorgeous. The facial animations are great, the textures are great, great lighting, great environments etc etc. With all the settings cranked up including Supersampling, it actually feels like you are playing a CGI movie, the graphics are THAT good. It is infact the best looking game of this genre that I have ever played. Period.
Sound:
The soundtrack was great. It was like those epic hollywood olden times type and really complemented the cinematic nature of the game. Voice acting of some actors was great, while many had ok to lame voice acting. Our hero himself had decent one, and some of his speeches and stuff were pretty good.
Overall:
With all the negativity this game got ever since its release, I'm actually surprised that it wasn't all that bad, I think many people just hated on it just for the sake of hating, a common trend nowadays. It had its flaws, plenty of them actually, but there are good things about this game too. Just goes to show always try the game for yourself if it looks good to you, reviews and general opinion can only give you a hint.
7/10