apotheon

Apotheon Game Review
By Purdue_gamerchick on April 10, 2015

Introduction:
The developers at Alientrap have come up with one of the hottest new action games on the market--Apotheon. Released on February 3, 2015, Apotheon is not without its fans and is anything but ordinary.
When it comes to artistic graphics, Apotheon delivers. Before you ever start playing you are pulled in by the game’s striking artistic style. Its distinctive visuals are modeled after Greek art, finding inspiration in Greek pottery in both color palette and design. The two-dimensional characters rooted in Greek mythology are designed to be silhouettes that come to life in elaborate, breathtaking settings that make an impact that cannot be overstated.

Aesthetics:
This continuity between the art design and the theme provides cohesiveness to this game, which is like a scene out of the ancient Greek world of contests between the gods and man. Quoting passages from the Greek author, Homer, is consistent with the game’s unified theme, graphics, and plot.
As far as sound design goes, it is amazing from the onset and it carries through until the final moments of play. Marios Aristopoulos, a Greek artist, is credited with composing the soundtrack, ensuring that the music creates a connection between the visual and the audio. The voice acting is believable, compelling, and tells the story well. The sound definitely gives me a feel for the game and effectively depicts the Greek culture and feeling you imagine the designer is trying to convey.

Plot:
The title influences our perception of the plot right from the beginning. Considering the fact that Apotheon means “exalted to the state of godhead” and Nikandreos means “victory of a man”, the player grabs a clear picture of where the game is going with all this—Nikandreos is on a quest to be exalted to the state of godhead by being the victorious man in hopes of saving earth.
Apotheon challenges players in a variety of ways as they play through this action-packed game of bold adventure. The player takes on the role of Nikandreos, a brave mortal warrior, in a world where the chief god, Zeus, disappointed in mankind has given up on humans and is counting on the other gods to follow suit. Without intervention by the gods, life on earth will cease to exist, and Nikandreos is determined not to let that happen.
The player, assuming the role of Nikandreos, initially finds himself in the staging area where he goes before entering the distinctive domains of the gods and it is from this area that he gains access to the different environments he will travel through in his quest to defeat the beasts, soldiers, mythological beings and the gods. As Nikandreos defeats each god’s guardians, he obtains upgrades, new weapons, armor, equipment, and skills which will prove to be useful along the way.
And so it all begins with Nikandreos passing through the doorway to enter into each god’s own realm with its own regulations and own trials. The Greek gods of Olympus have their own dominion with their own thematic visual style. For example, there is the Forest of Artemis and the Sea of Poseidon, and navigating through each different environment is captivating and unique. Nikandreos stands up to each god taking them on one by one. The Forest of Artemis is green with lots of trees, whereas Poseidon’s environment is blue, very serene and quite beautiful. Although, the environments are both very different in color and feel, the player is quickly aware of the Greek influence in the aesthetics of both domains.

Mechanics:
All of the contests and battles throughout the game are distinctive to each god’s own environment and there are distinct methods of taking over each god’s power. Nikandreos is able to find his weapon of choice be it a spear, a bow, a club, etc., each of which behaves in a particular way, having a specific range and a certain speed. Intellect is involved in choosing the weapon most appropriate in defeating each enemy. One enemy might be far from where Nikandreos is standing and in that case a weapon that travels great distance would be needed. Another enemy might move quickly, and in that instance, Nikandreos would use a weapon that is fast in speed. In addition to the variety of weapons and armor at the player’s disposal, there are also objects within the environment, which can be used as weapons, such as potions and explosives.
The player needs to strike a balance between attacking his enemy and defending himself using a block and attack strategy. Strategy and tactics are key to success as the player hunts and is hunted.
While in each god’s domain, the player has the freedom to look around for weapons and armor, instigate battles, uncover new routes, etc. The player’s sense of adventure is ignited as the player seeks to explore the different environments and then figure out how to enter those places which are not easily accessed. Part of the fun is in exploring the varied environments, but there are also benefits and achievements that are acquired by successful exploration.
In a nutshell, the plot of Apotheon is quite simple. Nikandreos enters each god’s environment battling against the guardians of that god and accomplishing different tasks, such as freeing prisoners from a raider ship and more. As he accomplishes such feats, he wins the basis of that god’s power becoming increasingly more and more powerful as the game progresses, until Nikandreos is ultimately able to take down Zeus.

The Gameplay:
Apotheon plays in the manner of a two dimensional open-world platformer. You, the player start out in the staging area and from there you move through the doorways into different environments accomplishing different tasks. Just like with any computer game on the market that is a platformer, the controls are manipulated in relatively the same manner.
The primary interaction in the game is the fighting that goes on using an arsenal of weapons. If you kill someone you are rewarded. Also, you may be injured during the game, but if you are the health nectars will help you survive. If you die, you are sent back to where you were before you died.
If you buy the game for PlayStation 3, the multi-player mode can be accomplished easily. Personally, I find the single-player experience to be fresh, rich, and quite enjoyable, and feel no need to involve others in playing with me. I think that is primarily due to the fact that the game is so interactive that there is never a dull moment; scenes are constantly changing and beasts and guardians are continually attacking you.
Additionally, the gameplay is a little different than other games I have played, because as you go into the different environments of the different gods you learn different controls that you will need to use in that area and in other areas of the game as well. It is important to remember what you learn along the way. Although the gameplay is unique, to me it is similar to the older more famous games, Castlevania and Metroid, because they, too, are 2D platformer games that include free roaming.
Playing the game from start to finish will amount to about 7-10 hours of play. To a great extent the length of play depends on the amount of time a player spends exploring the various environments and the length of time the player devotes to the battles. Also, the length of time is influenced by the player’s experience or lack of experience. For an inexperienced gamer, such as myself, it took approximately 11 hours to complete the game.

The Verdict:
Watching the trailer sparked my interest in playing Apotheon; it seemed like a fun game I would enjoy playing. Not only did I just fall in love with the game right away due to the graphics, but the gameplay is excellent! Plus, now that I have had the opportunity to play the game, I can say Apotheon was truly great from start to finish holding my attention throughout the entire game.
Having said that, Apotheon is not without its shortcomings. Personally, I think it would make the play more challenging if Alientrap would have incorporated a leveling system in which the game became considerably more difficult as you progress, rather than going into one main play screen and choosing the environment that you go into, such as Poseidon’s, Artemis’, etc. The way the game does this is much like MegaMan X. Also, one of the game’s major bugs is in the difficulty of changing weapons in the midst of combat without getting oneself killed.

Bottom line:
Apotheon’s Greek myth theme is adventurous, the graphics are museum-like, the combat is engaging, the environments are varied and intriguing to explore, the gameplay is solid and fun for both the experienced and the novice player.

Score: 8/10

The Details of the Game:
Developer - Alientrap
Publisher - Alientrap
Reviewed on - PC / PS4
Released - February 3, 2015