(The Statue of Zeus at Olympia is one example). Vibrant coral reds and creamy yellows evoke the colorful glazes used to decorate ancient pottery, and real statues and murals are lovingly recreated. I’m smitten by the art style, which pays homage to Greek amphora found in museums throughout the world. While I have mixed feelings about the platforming and inventory management, I have no doubts about Apotheon’s stunning look and feel. I cursed Apotheon out after repeatedly getting hit by lightning bolts because Nikandreos refused to jump onto a column, then clung to the corner of a statue just a second too long, giving the enemy time to attack. These issues didn’t bother me much in the beginning, but as levels became more platform intensive and battles more fierce, my feelings or frustration began to grow. There were also times when Nikandreos refused to land on a platform that it looked like he should be able to reach, as if his trajectory was always just slightly off, which resulted in some nasty falls that drained my health. Many fights against the Olympians required being able to quickly leap from platform to platform to avoid attacks, a tricky thing to do with a hero that sticks to corners like gum. Play Neither of those issues was nearly as annoying as the sticky platform controls, though. (I could pause combat and access my inventory from the main menu, but that slowed the flow of gameplay.) And although I had a type of auto-aim for launching missiles at enemies, manually trying to line up a shot (as is required by certain puzzles) was an exercise in patience due to a fussy aiming mechanic: I wasted about 20 arrows trying to hit a device that would open a door in Athena’s maze. More than once I got killed because I couldn't cycle through weapons quickly enough to equip what I needed when I needed it (as opposed to one-button equipping), which was difficult to do when enemies were dogpiling me. Having to use different weapons and strategies on the fly added a nice sense of realism to battle, though using the quick-toggle feature to navigate my inventory columns wasn’t as smooth. And if that didn’t work, I could try luring enemies into a well-placed trap. I also dug how weapons and armor have accurate names, and behave as expected: I used long-shafted spears called doru (historically used in phalanx battles) to keep enemies at a distance, but when they got in close I had to either quickly switch to my xiphos (a short sword), defend myself with a shield, or roll out of the way. Each god’s domain can be visited in almost any order too, which gives the world a refreshingly quasi-open feel. ![]() ![]() Clever level designs meanwhile feature environments and enemies that reflect each god’s power, such as Ares’ blood-soaked arena full of crazed hoplite warriors, and Athena’s palace, where a revolving platform maze full of puzzles and deadly mechanical devices require as much mental effort as physical fitting for the goddess of war and wisdom. “Hera has reared a violent son whom she has borne to Zeus: Ares, a god irascible, hard to govern, one whose mind knew no respect,” warns Aeschylus on a stele outside the war god’s domain. There are numerous stone steles sprinkled throughout the immortal realm of Olympus, with enjoyable quotes from ancient writers explaining the character and purpose of each Olympian. I did learn quite a few things about ancient Greece during my 15-hour adventure, however. True, the ‘80s sidescrollers Apotheon emulates had almost no story whatsoever, but I was disappointed developer Alien Trap didn't create a deeper tale to match its art. All I know about the heroic Nikandreos is that he must travel to Olympus and defeat gods who no longer have a use for humanity. ![]() But while God of War has a complex story revolving around a complex hero, Apotheon does very little to establish its protagonist as a person. God of War, Kid Icarus, The Battle of Olympus, and even Altered Beast all tackle the subject with varying degrees of success. Olympian is an ancient plot, and nothing new to games.
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