Ryse was the big flagship release title for the Xbox One when it arrived in November 2013. The title is set in Roman times with players assuming the role of Marius Titus, who joins the Roman Legion to avenge the death of his family. The co-op Colosseum mode allows two players to team up online to battle through a gladiatorial arena and work together to keep the crowd entertained.

Labeled the Morituri Pack, players who purchase the DLC (or season pass) will have access to three Gladiator maps and two Survival maps. The Gladiator maps are:

On Friday, the Mars' Chosen pack (included in the Season Pass) will drop, with new maps, skins, and even a new game mode. Unimaginatively dubbed Survival Mode, this pairs you up with a fellow gladiator against a massive onslaught of barbarians. Your health is constantly decreasing, and can only be regained by slaughtering your foes. As the bloodletting increases, so too does the drain on your own health. Of course you gain more gold and experience the longer you last. Sounds like a pretty cool way to play, but remember, you have to act fast if you want to save on the Season Pass.

Survival is classic horde style, pitting you and your co-op partner against endless waves of enemies. Unlike shooters with health packs or constantly regenerating health, the only way to regain your lost blood is by executing quick kills and executions. Rewards grow in size the longer you survive, but so the damage you take also increases, so one must keep balance.

First up is the free content update which adds two new random events to the levels. The first one will spawn an enemy turret and bombard your Gladiator with arrows until destroyed. In the second, Reward Statues of Roman deities can be activated as a bonus to boost your health or focus. 

Though little of the storyline has been revealed thus far, we do get a slightly better sense of what might occur in the game from this video. Rome, a vast empire that made many enemies, was constantly under attack by united barbarian groups and countries. At one point, the barbarians were seemingly defeated, with their leader’s daughter underneath the sword of one of Rome’s finest warriors. However, because they let her live, she united the barbarians once again and with almost ten times the numbers since last time (a very bad move on Rome’s part, we’re sure). It is now the player’s turn to assume the role of Marius Titus, a general of the Roman army, to lead soldiers and defend the Empire. However, things might not be a cut and dry for his character, as he might have his own agenda for Rome as well. Watch it now and decide for yourself: