During his quest, Jason enlists the aid not only of his crossover myth pals, but four of the Olympian gods who were all the rage in those days. For the most part these Gods serve as glorified move sets; every quest or challenge you complete is presented as an in-game achievement which can be dedicated to a God to gain special moves or buffs. Dialogue choices also contribute to God Powers, with different choices aligned to different gods. Beyond choosing whether to regenerate health or damage enemies upon blocking, the dialogue options make little difference to the game. The outcome of everything is largely the same no matter what is said, and Rise of the Argonauts does little to give an illusion of choice; the linearity is easy to see. The hubris with which Jason regards his quest – and the fact that in a game about choices there’s no real say in what actually happens – does little to endear Jason to the player.

The support cast on the other hand are solid and well scripted; some of the game’s best moments come from bantering with Achilles or listening to Hercules and Pan share war stories. Indeed, many of the quest plot lines are surprisingly well realised and the voice acting only helps matters. Even though Jason’s own story is less engaging, the rest of the Rise of the Argonauts universe goes a way to make up for that. Tyler Bates’ sweeping score adds an epic feel to even the most generic-looking of sections and – above all else – the game deserves credit for its sound direction.

From its ship-based hub to its mythological roots via its highly linear attempts at non-linearity, Rise of the Argonauts is very much a case of ’seen it all before, done much better’. Clocking in at around twelve hours the game could easily be polished off in a weekend and besides trying out new powers, there’s very little in the way of replay value. There is some enjoyment to be had from Rise of the Argonauts, but for most people there isn’t enough of a draw to bother finding it.

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