2007-11-15 10:29:39

Yea this thread is getting ugly.

2007-11-15 11:25:57 In reply to GriftGFX (2007-11-15 10:29:39)

It did get a load of bad reviews mainly small sites trying to get recognition

Yeah single player had issues, but overall was a fantastic experience and great fun, maybe reviwers forget the fun factor and judge everything through tech bollox ? meh

If you enjoy the game thats all that matters, If you read a bad review but was slightly intrested by the game, rent it and in most cases with big retail rentals they will knock of the rental cost if you go and purchase the game on return of the rental (blockbuster by me does and they have decent prices)
Reviews are not ther to TELL you to buy a game or not buy a game, if that was the case everyone would of bought Viva pinata lol
Its about you, and what you want from a game, if silent hill 5 comes out and i am not in the mood for a horror i will NOT play it, i will buy it when i am in the mood for that game or else the experience will be lost

As i keep telling fr0sty buy games when your in the mood for that style of game, not just because its new.

basiclly point been, the reviewers might of enjoyed AC a lot more if they was in thee mood for it and played it in there own time and not because its new, bu then again we would only have probally 4 reviews lol, but you understand my point ? or am i talking shit again lol

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STREET FIGHTER 4, BRING IT ON!

2007-11-16 17:29:41 In reply to ManThatYouFear (2007-11-15 08:26:02)

2007-11-16 18:36:44

hahahaha, nice one, dont have the social skills to talk to real girls, you have to explain it to them, theyre lvl 1, and have 0 experience:P
what was i getting at, 1st off, why the hell isnt this thread about AC anymore...

AC is a great game, maybe story has some weird twist to it, BUT, gameplay is fun, animations are great and the atmosphere is well done.

Some said repetitive, yeah, like everyday life isnt repetitive, you know if you really think about it, gaming is about pressing buttons over and over again... geeez

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GoW, War3, Halo, MYST, Civilazation

2007-11-16 18:54:09 In reply to Schmooboo (2007-11-16 18:36:44)

Comparing the repetitive nature of life to games is a bit silly. I for one play games to get away from boring shit in life and to have fun. Games are meant to take you away from that.

2007-11-16 19:23:24 In reply to Schmooboo (2007-11-16 18:36:44)

2007-11-17 08:33:06 In reply to GriftGFX (2007-11-15 10:29:39)

The game reminds me of Crackdown and a lot of its issues.

Explore the city to find the enemies and kill them subsequently. Over and over again. In addition there is nothing else to do beside really dull side missions. And in both games you have the rooftop running and jumping.

Indeed AC has a story, Crackdown didn´t have, but the story in AC doesn´t knock my socks off either. It has clearly been written with one or even multiple sequels in mind and ultimately does not deliver in this first part. The core gameplay of Crackdown felt a bit better and more polished and fighting rival gangs did grow old fast, but not as fast as pickpocketing, eavesdropping etc.

With Mass Effect around the corner I don´t see myself playing more of AC for a long time. I will see if I can motivate myself to continue the game just for the sake of progessing a little further but it´s also possible that I sell it soon as long as I still get some money for it.

I think AC fails overall because Ubisoft Montreal invested too much time in the setting, which may not be everyone´s cup of tea but is undeniably fresh and beautiful and simply stunning from a technical point of view, and setting up a series of games instead of making AC fun to play and adding some depth to it. Maybe they were too ambitious with this project and after more than two years of development and the christmas season ahead they had to finish and didn´t have enough time to dedicate the same amount of time to making the gamedesign as good as the rest of the game.

For me, it´s not more than a 7/10. And if it wasn´t so apparent how much hard work, love to detail and dedication went into the rest of the game it would even be a 5/10 for the core gameplay.

2007-11-17 09:15:57

No you're wrong. Penny Arcade said so ;)

2007-11-18 22:50:10

Totally disagree DLuv.

And i've played both AC and Crackdown, and Crackdown is nowhere near AC in terms of quality.

Completely different games. Crackdown required no skill at all. Incredibly repetitive and dull. Did the exact same thing, poor visuals, just... poor.

AC on the other hand imo has superb gameplay. The free running is great, the combat is incredibly realistic and fun and the chases are great. And the fine details involved in the gameplay just makes the whole game worthwhile

I do admit that the concept is rather repetitive, but i havent even been a tad bored of AC's gameplay. I just find the whole gameplay interesting and well thought out. I also think that the story of AC is original and quite interesting, and i think that there is nothing wrong with an ending leaving options for another (Halo 3, anyone?).

To compare AC and crackdown is silly imo

AC: 9/10
Crackdown: 3.5/10

2007-11-18 23:43:25

It´s not silly.

Take away the setting, the technical brillance, the art direction and those things that make AC look more than it actually is, those things, which become incredibly repetitive and which in no way are satisfying or have a real purpose other than protracting the game like the "investigating" stuff.

Just strip AC down to the actual gameplay and then you realize it´s like a twin of Crackdown set in the times of the third crusade. As I stated "explore a city, gather information on your target, find the target, kill it".

Would you actually want to claim that the core gameplay of AC offers more than what CD offers? If there was at least more variety, more freedom in the investigating part. But it´s so unsatisfying that it simply does not have any real value.

What AC really sets apart from Crackdown, which was just a simple, easily accessible sandbox action game, is that it constantly pretends to be more and while you acknowledge all the work that has went into the visuals, into the beautiful cities, into the character animations and so on and you really want to like the game, you find yourself ultimately frustrated when you realize the second or third assassination into the game that the packaging is absolutely beautiful, but the content is lacking.

BTW I don´t think that AC copycatted Crackdown in most parts consciously as AC was well into development when CD was released, but the flag thing is obviously a clear copycat of the orbs finding in CD but while it made sense in the world of Crackdown, it is completely stupid and without purpose in AC and to me it seems that this feature was built in at the end as another attempt to cover up for the lack of actual content.

When it comes to the storyline and the ending. I´m not really happy with that either. Yes, they wanted to set up one or multiple sequels playing in a different scenario and the present day part of the story functions as a bridge, BUT they kept it too underdevloped in the first part and it felt as the devs themselves had no idea about where they would take the franchise in the future. It´s too open, it does not really give the story much direction.

2007-11-18 23:47:12

actually collecting all the flags unlocks additional memories at the end, and it give reason for players to explore the city.

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Saying you cant find animaton in Japan is like saying you cant find food in Italy

2007-11-19 03:04:40 In reply to mkk316 (2007-11-18 23:47:12)

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Mods, stop changing my SIG! I'm going to end up banning you!

2007-11-19 03:09:31

mmm, no, but at least there is a reason to collect them. but if you dont care about that extra content then i guess it wouldn't interest you. :)

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Saying you cant find animaton in Japan is like saying you cant find food in Italy

2007-11-19 10:46:53

jioann00
Never take stuff i say seriously, i was taking the piss lol

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STREET FIGHTER 4, BRING IT ON!

2007-11-19 11:56:25

there is something about this game i really dont like...after playing it all night i still sont know what it is...wreckin my head!!!!!!!...ill still complete it doh...

2007-11-19 14:39:10

Dluv:

CD's gameplay was basic. No skill.

AC's gameplay, whilst i agree that the basis is fairly similar, has more depth in its gameplay.

Obviously it's hard to compare because AC is mostly melee whilst CD is guns etc. but AC's free running gameplay is much more thought out and realistic than CD's for instance.

You keep repeating the information gathering etc. as being repetitive, which it is, but the assassinations are much more thrilling in AC than the gang member killings in CD.

To be fair, the information gathering is a let down but it is my ONLY criticism of AC. The actual gameplay (the way the character functions, combat system etc) is much better than CD.

Gameplay, although a large part of a game, is ONLY one part of a game. Visuals, storyline, depth, technical aspects etc are all vital as well. CD lacks in all of these departments and AC doesnt imo.

2007-11-19 15:54:45

ermm, what the fuck is CD ?

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STREET FIGHTER 4, BRING IT ON!

2007-11-19 16:16:50

Crackdown

2007-11-19 18:40:47

How the hell this is more "skill based" than Crackdown I have nooOOOooo idea. On the contrary, Crackdown actually expects you to put some damn effort in to reach all the locations that also DO matter and DO give you different gameplay buffs, and if you play the game on harder difficulties you will actually have good use for all the skill upgrades.

I realise Crackdown might've been a bit too heavy on the self referential humour and irony, aswell as having a "cookier" design all around and that might rub people the wrong way, but come on. Taken on the basis of an actual game, there's a fuckload more to do, and there's a fuckload more of a reward in Realtime Worlds' game.

That said, AC isn't without merit, but holding a button and pressing forward is usually all you need to do to get anywhere and everywhere in it.

2007-11-19 18:50:59

Crackdown does have some fantastic platforming elements.

2007-11-19 18:52:34

There's something I dont get. Why the Hell is it that the comparison between Assassins Creed and Crackdown has NEVER been mentioned until one of the reviewers did ?

I find the comparison RIDICULOUS. might as well compare the game to GTA too then ?

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Bring on Lost Odyssey!

2007-11-19 19:36:24

Well, the Nintendo philosophy is that the basics are easy to grasp, but even Mario Galaxy has precision jumping and some fairly involving mechanics.

AC really doesn't. It's boiled everything down beyond basics to where you barely do anything. I mean look at Condemned for instance, with its "forensics" bits. I mean those pretty much sum up 80% of the things you do here. You get told at every step of the way what to do, "press that button" and you do, and things happen that aren't terribly exciting.

"Eavesdrop on these guys.. no theeese guys marked with an aura thingy.. there, now sit down, look at them and press Y.. theere you go. Now pickpocket this guy.. noooo where are you going!? THIS guy heeere.. there.. yep.. now press X.. good." And so on and so forth. Then you get to kill someone and that's awesome a couple of times, and then you go back to being told who to eavesdrop on.

AC doesn't just make the basics easy and provide stuff beyond that that is challenging. You'd be hard pushed to mess up any of the different components really and there isn't even a difficulty setting to make the fights hard. You just counter everybody to death, and the window for counters is rediculously big and the people who attack you do so in very friendly ways, taking turns and keeping a good predictable rythm when they stab at you.

There is a rush after you kill a target in the beginning while you still believe people might actually catch you, but they won't. Just hide in hay and they have no idea where you went, and the only way you can make it more engaging is to just run around like a lunatic for a bit - having a good deal of fun watching Altaïr dance around wooden poles and making giant leaps - until eventually you HAVE to hide in hay anyway because that's what the game tells you do do and you NEED to listen to proceed.


The Crackdown comparison is really very valid, and it would be even more so if AC did offer awards for its very mild collect-a-thons. The flags you're tasked with finding is indeed reminicent of the orbs in Crackdown, and the completely open world and its "kill these guys" hands off approach to how you go about it is identical. So is part of the appeal in climbing and reaching dizzying heights, except in Crackdown you actually have to work for it whereas here you pretty much hold the button and press forward and he'll sort it for you. They're both parkour inspired too, and you get a very similar thrill leaping from building to building.

Why hasn't the comparison been made earlier? Mostly because we hadn't played it then and didn't really know how staggeringly similar they would be in setup.

Again, there is merit in AC, but it's mostly attributed to atmosphere and detail. The game is surprisingly shallow, and it does a tremendous job the first hour or two making you believe there's more to it. :|

I don't think I'll regret playing it, but ultimately it has to become about the story and the visual experience rather than a challenging, dynamic and engaging game. I hope Ubi get to make a sequel that sees to all of the glaring problems here, because the work that's in here is pretty astonishing really. You can't help but smile from ear to ear when Altaïr scales buildings and you can actually SEE HIS FINGERS WRAP around tiny objects, and his feet finding footing in cracks and bricks sticking out of the wall.

It just needs to feel more rewarding really. They should've made the skills you reacquire MEAN something, and it wouldn't hurt if - when you kill somebody - all hell did break loose so you'd really have to run like a fucking looney.

In fact, that could've saved the whole game for me.

2007-11-19 21:32:58

Look, for me, assassins creed and crackdown are in completely different leagues.

The gameplay is different. Free running yes, similar missions yes, but executed in completely different ways.

I really don't get how we are having a mass debate (yep, i went there) involving crackdown. It's all about opinions obviously, but i found crackdown shocking and assassins creed quite brilliant.

2007-11-19 23:11:30

I like that AC does a lot of the work for you so you can focus on what's going on, on your tv. ......too many "ons". Can you imagine the frustration of having to precisely time your jumps when running across the rooftops or those support beams? I liken it to a state of the art jet fighter that does alot of the work automatically so the pilot isnt bogged down micromanaging his fighter, and instead can focus on the battle in the air.

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Saying you cant find animaton in Japan is like saying you cant find food in Italy

2007-11-19 23:20:10

Definitely! I don't dismiss the idea of having that be automatic and just focusing on finding the right line.

I'd just like it if there was something else to consider then. The guards will never catch you so that's not really a problem, so what else is there?

Which is what I meant by the last sentence in my post. If the guards actually chased the crap out of you it'd be a different thing. Then the chases would actually be thrilling, and you finding the right line would matter. As it is it's stupidly easy to lose the guards, and if they catch up it's stupidly easy and straightforward to dispatch them.

They should have a special difficulty setting that removed all of those special rooftop places where you dive in and nobody finds you, and made the hay bits a temporary refuge at best until people start pointing at them or something and guards jump in too and pull your feet until you're dragged out kicking and screaming.

Make the chase a matter of life or death - death if they actually catch up to you and you're surrounded by a crapload of guys. Life if you manage to lose them by a HAIR. That would make an exciting game.