God-amelee

The Greek gods were not made to be perfect but to have flaws so that they could be entertaining. Thus, many myths were made with these gods, and they were written down using words and paintings. Most of what remains are on the sides of pottery, as Greek pots are physically strong and resilient. Apotheon is a game that looks like it came off of those Greek pots, telling a story about the gods and their flaws. So, does Apotheon hold up like a work of art, or does it crumble like Greek ruins?

“I’ve had it with these motherf***ing humans on this motherf***ing Earth!”

The story of Apotheon is a classic one that deals with the Greek gods and the way they interact with humans. Zeus pulls all the gods off of Earth and back to Olympus, leaving the human world to rot. Humans wage war, storms rage and crops fail. A single warrior, Nikandreos, decides to go onto Mount Olympus to find out what exactly is going on. Along the way, he battles many mythological creatures and gods, including Cyclopses, demigods and Ares, the God of War himself.

The protagonist is nothing to paint home about. Nikandreos is a silent man and has little to no personality whatsoever. He is not even based off of a character in Greek mythology, unlike Kratos in God of War. Instead, the name breaks down in Greek to “victory of the man.” In fact, the game is not about the struggle Nikandreos faces, but instead the way that gods and humans relate with each other. While several of Zeus’s supporters are having a grand time in Olympus, many other gods want to help humans but are strong-armed not to interact with them.

That being said, the gods overshadow the personality of the bland protagonist. For instance, it was interesting seeing Apollo party it up in his home and his twin, Artemis, having fun hunting in the woods around Olympus. Most of these gods behave and battle exactly how you think they would. For example, in the fight against Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, she turns you into a deer to hunt until she switches the roles and you hunt her. Those parts of the game are exceedingly fun for a fan of Greek mythology.

Unfortunately, this only highlights the sparse amount of Greek gods that make an appearance in the game. It would have been curious to see how Zeus’ son Hercules would have been portrayed. I would have loved to see a boss fight with Hermes, or the messenger god. Even a Kratos easter egg would have made me happy. However, Apotheon does provide some great characters, and they are one of the high points of the game.

“Paint me like one of your Greek maidens.”

Apotheon looks gorgeous. I had a suspicion that the game, while stylish, might bore me with a bland color palette. While it isn’t bright and flashy, the game has a wonderful variety of colors and effects. It changed the look enough to keep the environment interesting while also looking straight from a Grecian vase, from the statues of Zeus to the rivers of blood. However, I will say that if you don’t like the color black, then this game will not be your best friend.

I wish I could say the same about the sound. The music sounds like generic battle music with an ancient Greek flair. It wasn’t too interesting for me to turn my volume up. The voice acting in the game is very hit-and-miss. While some characters like Zeus have great voices behind them, others just sound phoned in. Overall, the sound design doesn’t match the care taken with the look of the game at all.

“Tonight we dine in Hell!”

Apotheon is what I would describe as a hack-and-slash platformer. Although it is technically an action platformer, the action is slow. Nikandreos is slow at performing attacks, and the attacks that he does perform are clunky at the worst of times. Melee attacks with spears and swords are terrible when it comes to aiming. The difference among overhead attacks, regular attacks and between, normal attacks and heavy attacks are hard to decipher.

There are a variety of weapons to choose from: various types of swords, spears, arrows, darts and shields. Almost every weapon has a throwable option; however, you cannot simply drop or sell a weapon. So, if you do get low on coins, you are forced to farm enemies and the environment instead of selling the weapons you wouldn’t use. Also, the inventory is large and takes some getting used to. It is hard to see when weapons degrade and are about to break, but it doesn’t take much to get used to.

One thing that I do appreciate is the crafting system. While it is minimal, it provides players with the opportunity to get more health potions, armor repair kits, Greek fire and traps. Although there is a limit of 10 healing and repair items, health and armor does overload. There were times I got over 200% health before fighting a boss in order to make sure I was ready for what was coming.

Sometimes there are some new gameplay mechanics introduced in the game that are useful but never used again. While some of these are barely useful (like bear traps) , others are extremely effective and were mainstays in my boss fights (like bringing in dead soldiers to battle). However, these mechanics are introduced and never brought back up again. This makes the platforming and combat difficult and inconsistent at times.

I will say that the exploration aspect is well done. While not on the same level as a Metroidvania game, there are chances to explore the environment for goodies, like crumbling walls to blast away and doors to open with lockpicks. This encourages replayability and a way to revisit some of the better levels in Olympus.

The Verdict: 6.8 out of 10

Apotheon is a beautiful game with amazing concepts, but it falls short in its execution. The look is perfect, the gods are amazing to watch and fight and I appreciate some of the design choices. However, everything else, including the plot, sound and gameplay, is lackluster. The combat is clunky and Nikandreos is too slow for a platformer. I hope Alien Trap makes another game in the same vein (maybe with Egyptian hieroglyphics). For the $15 price tag on Steam and PlayStation 4 (free on PlayStation Plus for this month), it is worth it for those interested in the art style and Greek Mythology. Overall, the game is like a Grecian vase: great to look at, but its constant structural cracks and aged feel leaks make you consider something else.

 

For more information about what the score means, check out our official review scale.

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Shawn Richards is MONG’s Associate Editor that studies games to understand how they work and who the Greek god of video games is. Follow him on Twitter or Facebook.