Post by Bytor on Dec 7, 2012 19:39:32 GMT -5
-Visuals- 9.4/10
In each of their installments Ubisoft attempts, and so far succeeds to up the ante. And this is no exception. The cities, as always are gorgeous, vibrant and alive. The attention to detail is simply remarkable and with just a tad bit of imagination you can imagine you are actually believe you are alive and traversing the streets of Rome, which is where Ezio goes to extract vengeance against Cesare for destroying Monteriggioni. The upgrades here are, to be honest mostly slight, but the rural environments and facial expressions are where they did a truly wonderful job. This time the people look much more like people an the countrysides look much more realistic, not that they necessarily looked bad before but now they look exceptionally well. As before the battles, for the most part are seamless, or at least really close, and while the collision detection is still in need of work it is certainly better. But honestly, the city itself is enough to make you ignore these other small issues.
-Sound- 9.4/10
This is an interesting decision....I actually had to think about the music, and normally that's a good thing. It is here as well, what the music does it set the scenes wonderfully without becoming so obtrusive that it detracts from the game. A great synthesis of music and gameplay should meld together, not have the music overwhelm the game. The voice overs area also excellent with a lot of variety and accents which not only are believable but make you not even notice you are listening to accents (of course, you could play the game in Italian and really be authentic, lol). And yes, that review is copied from Assassin's Creed II as for all intensive purposes the games sound pretty much just alike.
-Gameplay- 9.2/10
Anyone who has played the previous two games will feel right at home, as essentially this plays out just as those two do. There are a couple of changes that do make things a bit more interesting. One change is you can ride your horse anywhere, and although a small change it does occasionally help. The more interesting addition though is that you recruit and train assassin's who will then join you in battle, and trust me, that makes many battles much, much easier. Ubisoft also tweaking the hand to hand battles a bit but honestly I noticed very little differences. Two changes that are noticeable in the battle system though is the ability to use a crossbow (which to be perfectly honest I really didn't use an awful lot because it actually made the game a tad too easy) and the sheer amount of loot that can be gathered off of a dead body has been dramatically raised. I swear I don't think I ever bought medicine, poison, bullets or pretty much anything besides pouches, armor and weapons! I'm not sure if that made the game easier to manage or if it took away a little from the drama, but either way, be prepared, dead bodies have tons of swag, lol.
-Story- 8.8/10
Cesare Borgia decided that he must avenge his father so he attacks and destroys Monteriggioni (and yes, all of your previous hard work). Ezio travels to Rome to wreck his vengeance. In order to do so he recruit the various factions as well as form his own cadre of assassins to destroy the Borgia influence and free the city from their tyranny. To be honest the story seems to take a bit of a back seat in this installment and I simply never felt invested very much in the why's as much as I simply had to decide the how's.
-Overall- 9.1/10
Hmmm, well, on the one hand i did enjoy spending some more time with Ezio. On the other I did feel like I was playing II just in a different location, and while it was a really nice location it wasn't enough to make me believe I was playing a new game. So, in a nutshell, if you loved II then you will love this, but it's somewhat like the second time you had your favorite dessert, it is still good but nothing beats your first, lol.
