Tiny Diggers – An iPad Construction Truck Game for Kids Age 2-5

After playing through Rise of the Argonauts, one thing apparently clear with the design team when they out together their storyboards – they had to have been watching Headbanger’s Ball on MTV.  Everything about Rise of the Argonauts is kicked up that one extra notch.  From all the heroes looking like they are about to explode out of their gear, to the hard backing tracks that pop up in every battle, it has the feel of an 80′s rock video.  About all that was missing was Tawny Kitaen doing the splits on the deck of the Argos.  Rise of the Argonauts may not be a textbook example of Greek mythology, and it may get a bit repetitive towards the end, but it is fairly entertaining with its faults.

For those that may not have grown up thinking Greek mythology was the greatest, you need not worry as Rise of the Argonauts has no really latching to the original mythology, with the exception that Jason was the king of Ioclus, and that his ship was called the Argos.  But beyond that, Codemasters used the search for the Golden Fleece as a way to round up all the famous mythological heroes that we have become familiar with, and create a story around them.  In this version of Jason and the Argonauts, we have Jason about to wed his wife, when she is killed by a ruthless band of mercenaries, known as the Blacktongues.  Jason vows that his wife will not die, and sets off to find the Golden Fleece, a mythical creation that can breathe life into death, and bring death to those that live.  Along the way, several famous heroes join Jason on his trip, including Achilles, Pan, Lycomedes, and Hercules to name a few.

Rise of the Argonauts plays out as an adventure/action type of game, but for those that are looking for huge helpings of action, you might be disappointed, as there is a heavy focus on story and fetching quests for the strapping king of Ioclus.  You do come to battles with up to two of your companions, but the battles are far and few between, and for the most part, they are never difficult.  I maybe died three times during the entire story, as you never seem underpowered in comparison to your enemies.  Battles are controlled by either left clicking or right clicking on an enemy, depending on whether you want a light or strong attack.  Stringing those attacks styles together allows for the player to create combos that will dole out huge amounts of damage.

I did enjoy the voice over work in Rise of the Argonauts.  The script is full of laughable lines overwrought with tension and drama, but the voice actors are very convincing.  No one ever seems to phone it in at any point in time, which is a nice change from high dollar casts that have the enthusiasm of a snail.  Graphically, Rise of the Argonauts is nothing to write home about.  Most are rather generic from one location to the next, but Tartarus does stand out as a one of the better locations, if only due to some of the special encounters that can be had there.   The main characters do have a fair amount of detail to them, making up for the generic enemies that you come across, outside of the main heavies.

Rise of the Argonauts does have a very nice upgrade and dialog system that is linked into four major gods that used throughout the game.  Every dialog choice centers on things like war, wisdom, intelligence and charisma, channeling Ares, Apollo, Athena and Hermes.  You can also level up your character with skills that represent each of those gods.  Your in-game achievements will translate into upgrades.  The bigger the feats, the more points are allotted to your upgrades.  If you want to focus on attacks, you can upgrade all of the skills from Ares.  If Defense is your thing, look to Athena.  There are an abundance of upgrades, and it does take some planning to figure out how you want to develop your character.  However, I often wondered if the upgrades really helped at all, as I never felt a challenge during any battle.

And with all of that said, this is where Rise of the Argonauts runs into problems.  It never feels like a fully polished game at any point.  I would experience at least one to two crashes a night whenever I played and some of the animations were off at times.  You can see that there were some good inventions that the developer was looking towards with the intricate skill tree, but you never really enjoy the ride trying to get the skills upgraded.  The fact that you never feel compelled to use different Argonauts is a big letdown.  There were never any missions that made me feel I needed Atalanta’s bow or Pan’s spellcasting.  They always feel generic, adding little to the entire experience. 

With the price nearing $20, I think Rise of the Argonauts is a fair pickup for someone looking to have a fun little romp through Greek mythology.  While Codemasters missed out on the true Argonauts story, they do pack in a ton of mythological references.   I just wish that more time would have been spent on making this a great game, instead of the average one that players will receive.  Rise of the Argonauts gets 2.5 out of 5 Aeropausonauts.

Check out Rise of the Argonauts and other PC reviews at Test Freaks.