Rise of the Argonauts - Preview @ 1UP

In this preview , 1Up looks at both the gameplay and the ideas behind Codemaster's and Liquid Entertainment's mythologically inspired action rpg, Rise of the Argonauts.  Lead designer Charley Price and Liquid's president, Ed Del Castillo talk about what they're aiming at:

  "In most games, combat is a hit-point thing," says Price. "I punch you 20 times until you fall over and fade out. It's a classic representation from Dungeons & Dragons, but the player doesn't feel very powerful....When we look back at Greek mythology, people aren't parrying and trading blows -- they're cutting each other in half and smashing shields apart. So we're emphasizing lethality. If I'm able to connect with an opponent's flesh, there's a good chance that that guy's going to die in some horrific and glorious way."...

So in the midst of explaining the various ways of dealing death and destruction available to players in Argonauts, Del Castillo calls the whole thing off: "I can't remember the last time I saw a movie trailer that said, '15 guns will be fired in this movie!' As an industry, we are leaving behind the realm of selling games as experiences. Now they're just a bundle of features." We talk about games like the machines we play them on, breaking down the constituent parts into numbers that can be measured against the competition. How many guns? How many levels? We want to know about the engine before the story. We want to know how to level up before we know what it means for the character. Gamers obsess over minutiae while ignoring the bigger picture.

On being based on the lore of Greek myths:

...says Del Castillo. "For anyone who hasn't read the Greek myths, I can tell you: They're so rich and so deep. What really drew us is that the stories aren't about good and evil. They aren't about black and white. They're about human triumph and human failings. And that was a really great and different direction to go."