Rise Of The Argonauts suffers from hubris. Not only does it openly ape the classical bloodshed of God Of War, but it tries to marry that game’s hacking and slashing to the measured storytelling of BioWare.

It’s hard to single out just one tragic flaw in the final product, which is buggy, crude, plodding and sure to disappoint gamers and mythology nuts of all stripes. Throwing out the original story of Jason and the Golden Fleece, Argonauts opens when Jason loses his new bride Alceme to assassins. Distraught, he sets off to bring her back from the dead, and tangles with a Hecate-worshipping cult along the way.

Greek mythology teaches us that toying with death can lead to disaster, but aside from a few skeptical remarks by Jason’s comrades, Argonauts sticks to a cheap Hollywood revenge plot all the way to the end, and barely explores the consequences. The first two hours of Argonauts are a slog, as fights are rare and long-winded dialogues labour the exposition.

Like Mass Effect, the game presents the characters in a close-up cinematic view, but unlike that game it skimps on the animations: Jason in particular is practically motionless, and stands hunched and stiff like an animatronic lion at a seaside arcade.

The game finally gets rolling when the hero and his crew set sail. The Argonauts travel from island to island, visiting strange societies and rectifying centuries-old evils. Most of the quests are resolved through a lot of talking and a lot of walking, but they’re reasonably engaging – if only because the islanders’ problems are much more interesting than Jason’s.

Likewise, the companions Jason picks up are a welcome addition to the cast. Most of these sidekicks are clichés – Hercules is an oaf, Achilles is a heel, and clever Pan fills in all the backstory – and while they’re all eager to leave the heavy lifting to Jason, they do bring camaraderie and the occasional clever wisecrack.

They’re also more entertaining than the level design. While the environments take a stab at variety, with Greek cities, wild jungles and an underworld that’s swamped with glowing green goo, the maps are sprawling and empty, as if someone already made off with the antiquities.