Finished this last night and I've had it since launch, so it's kept me busy. It probably is a shorter game if you just played through the missions without doing any of the other additional missions that add to the game. I don't think I can give my true impressions on the game without spoilers though:
*SPOILERS BELOW*
I enjoyed the game, but at the sametime I can't help feeling a slight bit of disappointment with it for some reason.
I'd totally echo the comments about Constantinople not being as good as the Italian cities. It's also smaller than Rome was and has none of the diversity of open areas and Horse riding. To be fair I don't think we've had it as good as AC2 with numerous amazing locations to visit. For some reason I was under the assumption that given what we've learned in previous games about the Pieces of Eden, I thought this game was going to be about Ezio travelling all over the world to find them, rather than just finding Keys in one city.
The Altair parts all took place in Masayaf, I actually thought he would be doing a bit more than just that.
Then to actually get to the story....
For me I felt it wasn't as developed, the plot with Suliman and the Sultans was nowhere near as good as the Borgais story arc. Infact you don't really even have that many interactions with them, just a few missions. I suppose though in many ways, Ezio's story was that of his jump from a teenager, who was a bit of a douchebag, to becoming a man who had to discover who he really was and seek revenge for his family.
Instead he's old, looking for some keys for Altair's library. After going to all that trouble of getting in there, he doesn't take the Apple and instead decides he needs to say something to Desmond. We don't even see Ezio again after that, and given that the Developers had stated this was the end of Ezio as a character, to me if felt odd that we didn't see him leave or hide the keys again or something. Though I suppose there will likely be some DLC, so maybe that's why.
I think the real question now is where does the series go next?
Desmond seems to a fully trained Assassin who knows what to do now, so do they really need to use the Animus anymore? As ultimately its all been building up to Desmond and how he can help 'save the world'.
Obviously now we know more about the 'Gods', they could presumably go back to an Ancestor in that ancient, albeit futuristic Eden Earth. But then I don't think that fits into the rhetoric of Assassin's Creed, as the games have always been about re-imaginings of historic locations while also teaching the player a bit of history along the way.
I think my worry is just that this has now stretched across four games, countless spin-offs and other items to develop the backstory, I just hope that the final outcome doesn't end up being a total let down. Especially given that Ubisoft clearly want to keep the series running for as long as possible.
Other items I was a bit underwhelmed with were:
The Desmond Memory sequences in the Animus Land.
Sure he's trapped in his mind in the Animus, but it was a bit boring compared to the last game where you had so much time playing him and interacting with the team.
The 'Portal' style sequences didn't really do anything for the game. Why couldn't they make his backstory playable in Flashback sequences?
Perhaps they ran out of time on that one?
I don't think the soundtrack is as good as past games.
Obviously given it's a new story arc, they've dropped the previous theme they used for Ezio.
The new one is good, but most of the other songs in the game are quite forgettable.
Bomb Crafting wasn't really that fun, seemed almost like it was a bit shoe horned into the game.
The Tower Defence game was also pretty pants.
Finally, I still think the game is a little too easy.
Especially as it progresses, you've got so many bombs and weapons and the ability to call Assassins that there isn't much of a challenge. Infact the only really challenge I found comes from trying to get 100% sync.
So as I said, it's not a bad game.
I enjoyed playing it, it's just very similar to last year's release, but in some ways, not quite as good, more due to the story and location.
*END SPOILERS*
*SPOILERS BELOW*
I enjoyed the game, but at the sametime I can't help feeling a slight bit of disappointment with it for some reason.
I'd totally echo the comments about Constantinople not being as good as the Italian cities. It's also smaller than Rome was and has none of the diversity of open areas and Horse riding. To be fair I don't think we've had it as good as AC2 with numerous amazing locations to visit. For some reason I was under the assumption that given what we've learned in previous games about the Pieces of Eden, I thought this game was going to be about Ezio travelling all over the world to find them, rather than just finding Keys in one city.
The Altair parts all took place in Masayaf, I actually thought he would be doing a bit more than just that.
Then to actually get to the story....
For me I felt it wasn't as developed, the plot with Suliman and the Sultans was nowhere near as good as the Borgais story arc. Infact you don't really even have that many interactions with them, just a few missions. I suppose though in many ways, Ezio's story was that of his jump from a teenager, who was a bit of a douchebag, to becoming a man who had to discover who he really was and seek revenge for his family.
Instead he's old, looking for some keys for Altair's library. After going to all that trouble of getting in there, he doesn't take the Apple and instead decides he needs to say something to Desmond. We don't even see Ezio again after that, and given that the Developers had stated this was the end of Ezio as a character, to me if felt odd that we didn't see him leave or hide the keys again or something. Though I suppose there will likely be some DLC, so maybe that's why.
I think the real question now is where does the series go next?
Desmond seems to a fully trained Assassin who knows what to do now, so do they really need to use the Animus anymore? As ultimately its all been building up to Desmond and how he can help 'save the world'.
Obviously now we know more about the 'Gods', they could presumably go back to an Ancestor in that ancient, albeit futuristic Eden Earth. But then I don't think that fits into the rhetoric of Assassin's Creed, as the games have always been about re-imaginings of historic locations while also teaching the player a bit of history along the way.
I think my worry is just that this has now stretched across four games, countless spin-offs and other items to develop the backstory, I just hope that the final outcome doesn't end up being a total let down. Especially given that Ubisoft clearly want to keep the series running for as long as possible.
Other items I was a bit underwhelmed with were:
The Desmond Memory sequences in the Animus Land.
Sure he's trapped in his mind in the Animus, but it was a bit boring compared to the last game where you had so much time playing him and interacting with the team.
The 'Portal' style sequences didn't really do anything for the game. Why couldn't they make his backstory playable in Flashback sequences?
Perhaps they ran out of time on that one?
I don't think the soundtrack is as good as past games.
Obviously given it's a new story arc, they've dropped the previous theme they used for Ezio.
The new one is good, but most of the other songs in the game are quite forgettable.
Bomb Crafting wasn't really that fun, seemed almost like it was a bit shoe horned into the game.
The Tower Defence game was also pretty pants.
Finally, I still think the game is a little too easy.
Especially as it progresses, you've got so many bombs and weapons and the ability to call Assassins that there isn't much of a challenge. Infact the only really challenge I found comes from trying to get 100% sync.
So as I said, it's not a bad game.
I enjoyed playing it, it's just very similar to last year's release, but in some ways, not quite as good, more due to the story and location.
*END SPOILERS*
