Apotheon

What's a god to a non-believer?

Finally, we come to the story. There's not really much to it. The gods are being dicks (as an avid reader of Greek myths as a child that seems completely legit) and a human needs to do something about it. There's an overarching plot about taking the power of the gods for yourself but the resolution is obvious if you know what the word apotheosis means and, frankly, the game feels more like a speci...

It’s sure to capture the attention of anyone who sees it in action. Thankfully, the game more than backs up its aesthetic prowess with rewarding combat and exploration systems in place. While the combat hardly changes over the course of the adventure, Apotheon asks the player to apply their knowledge in such a wide variety of ways that it constantly feels fresh and exciting. The ancient Greeks val...

Upon seeing Greek pottery art at a museum last year, I remarked to a friend that this would make a cool video game. “Someone is totally already doing exactly that,” he replied. I’m glad someone had the idea way before me and had the skills to execute it so well; the characters and environments of Apotheon’s Metroid-inspired creation are beautiful and you can even see the subtle texture of a handma...

Dig beneath the effortlessly stylish veneer of Apotheon though and it soon becomes clear that its impressive calibre bleeds through into its homage to the engrossing Castlevania and Metroid games pioneered back in the 8-bit days. And that folks, minor niggles aside, is a godly thing indeed.

Alientrap has struck a great balance between their core 2-D Platforming and RPG-lite mechanics, and a varied world that challenges players in different ways throughout the course of this tightly paced adventure.

Apotheon is the latest game from Capsized developer Alientrap, and also just happens to be the most recent in a long line of PlayStation 4 releases to debut as part of the Instant Game Collection. The quality of these freebies has been all over the board since launch, leading many to question the quality of this Greek inspired romp – but fortunately, it's one of the best giveaways so far.

I was happy to hear that Apotheon would be one of the free games this month for PS+ subscribers. Winning me over with the use of Greek mythology and an interesting art style, I was eager to check it out and see if it lived up to the trailer. While there were a few things that threw me off or dissatisfied me, overall it was a fun experience that took me longer to beat than I anticipated.

I give Apotheon high praise for its homage to old-school side-scrolling adventures and its ability to recreate the captivating style of Ancient Greek art. Unfortunately, a ho-hum story and frustrating controls prevent me from doing the same for its moment-to-moment gameplay. No matter how pretty it is, unless it nails the feeling of movement and smooth combat, an action-platformer can’t be much mo...

Stunningly unique but ultimately messy, Apotheon is enthralling Greek mythology caught in the grips of unfriendly combat.