[Tachikoma]

Don't believe the hype, this is exactly the same as the first (I'm 2 hours in) other than the later stuff you saw in the trailers. The dodgy controls are the same, randomly jumping off buildings at funny angles is the same, even the graphics are the same.

This doesn't mean it's not still an awesome game, but it's slower getting into the action, rather than start as an assassin and having all your gear taken off you, you start as some man-slag free runner. After 2 hours I finally have my finger blade, but you lose your sword early on, so if you get caught you have to punch your way out of trouble, which takes fucking ages.

[SlyEnemy]

Tachikoma, on 20 November 2009 - 11:18 PM, said:

Don't believe the hype, this is exactly the same as the first (I'm 2 hours in) other than the later stuff you saw in the trailers. The dodgy controls are the same, randomly jumping off buildings at funny angles is the same, even the graphics are the same.

I'm glad you said that mate, as I know you loved the first and was expecting people to be all "THIS IS BRILLIANT!".

Now, even though I didn't particularly like the original (I did, just found it too repetetive about half way in) this has kept my attention more than the previous one... And I don't know why. It's not like there's much more to do... Or see... Or change the way you play. It just feels ever-so-slightly tighter, though running across rooftops does seem to end up with me leaping off at a bizarre angle and face raping the floor.

[Pedro]

If the floor didn't say no, it's not rape*










*it probably is.

[Tachikoma]

I'm actually not enjoying it as much as the first as I know what the character will develop into as we had the same thing in the first game, it's just taking longer. I know they want to develop the story and characters, but I just want to go around killing everyone damnit!

[SlyEnemy]

Tachikoma, on 21 November 2009 - 12:23 PM, said:

I'm actually not enjoying it as much as the first as I know what the character will develop into as we had the same thing in the first game, it's just taking longer. I know they want to develop the story and characters, but I just want to go around killing everyone damnit!

Hmm, have to say the story is doing absolutely nothing for me, and the "You can't go here yet because an invisible wall tell you so" is damn annoying, especially when you're trying to leg it.

[Tachikoma]

Yeah the story is dull, but I am enjoying the game now, got my dual blades, daggers, throwing knives, all the leather armour and can take out 8 guards at once with no problems. I like the fact you make money from the villa though, bought most of the first redevelopments, so making loads of money while just doing quests. Also like the fact you can kill thieves for extra loot, that it making me loads of money.

[Shufty]

Stabbing two guys at once with the hidden blades is excellent, especially when I did it unintentionally

[Tachikoma]

There is screen tear, but it was there when I played the first one on the 360, so not really bothered, it's not bad, mostly you only see it during the cut scenes.

[SlyEnemy]

Not seen any screen tearing so far.

[Al]

I saw a huge one during a cut scene, but nothing during gameplay(360)
I love it, it's like the 1st one but without the do this and that 6 times!

[Tachikoma]

Yeah really getting into this now, just bought the treasure maps, done the second tomb and learned disarm.

[wholehole]

My god. I cannot believe I was going to pass this up, the reason being that I tried to play through the first game again before this came out and absolutely hated it. After reading a few reviews though I decided to give this another chance. I'm so glad I did. It's so good L4D2 didn't even get a look in until last night

It's an amazing game, truly amazing. I've been playing it pretty much non-stop over the weekend and i'm still under halfway though. The sheer amount of gameplay here is simply astounding. They've completely overhauled the mission structure which means they've ditched the silly repetition before you carry out an assasinsation. Basically you get a mission, whatever it may be, and you go carry it out. Simple. The combat has also been slightly tuned which means you now have more options on how to take out your enemies. You can buy and use loads of different weapons and armour now, which gives you more of an edge when fighting stronger opponents.

The graphics and animation are amazing, as they were in the original game, just a little more polished and a slightly bigger colour palette. Everything just feels tighter and They've also cribbed a few ideas from the original Prince of Persia games in the form of the hidden Assassin Tombs, focused more on that sort of scripted platforming challenges which makes a nice change of pace and scenery. I prefer Ezio as the main character over Altair tbh, as Ezio seems a bit more focused in what he's doing rather than an emo teen that's had all his toys taken away from him.

I'm loving the story so far and the fact you're not jumping out of the Animus into Desmond's shoes every 5 minutes is a massive improvement in keeping you up to speed with what's going on. Aside from the main storyline you have this meta-story called "The Truth" (which i'm itching to find out about). Glyphs have been inserted into the Animus code by a previous subject, imprinted on the sides of famous landmarks, which you must discover and decode via short puzzles featuring famous paintings, figures and events from history. Once solved these then unlock one of twenty short pieces of video which you have to piece together in order to finally see The Truth. This is entirely optional as far as i'm aware, but I really need to know what it is for some reason :S.

This is what the first game should have been. After playing this it would not surprise me if this was what they originally intended to release but didn't have the budget or time and needed to put something out as a kind of stop-gap whilst they finshed up the main attraction. After playing so many short story driven games in the past few months it's refreshing to finally be able to sink my teeth into something that's got some meat on it.

[Tachikoma]

Yup it's getting better and better. After the initial dissapointment of the first 2-3 hours, it's really coming into it's own.

Just completed renovations of the villa (other than things like getting 100 feathers and all crypt tokens) so making money hand over fist ready for the next armour/weapon sets.

I still just use the hidden blades, even against brutes, I just hammer away until they attack then insta-gibb counter them with my blades. It's not Assassins Creed when you are using a mace or an axe.

[Idaho]

So was anyone a bit meh towards the original while also finding it very irritating? I'd like to know what that person thinks.

[SlyEnemy]

Idaho, on 24 November 2009 - 02:23 PM, said:

So was anyone a bit meh towards the original while also finding it very irritating? I'd like to know what that person thinks.

Me.

And this is a lot better mate. Much less "DO THE SAME THING OVER AND OVER AND OVER UNTIL YOU EXPLODE WITH RAGE" and more "Do the same thing quite a bit but also do some other stuff to make it seem like it's not as bad as it was previously". I've actually considered going back to the original to see if it really was as meh as I remember, because at first glance this looks exactly the same... But it's not.

[FolkoRoco]

Why is Jade Raymond not being pimped out to promote this?!

[wholehole]

Because she's not involved any more afaik .

I absolutely loved the first game when it came out, despite all the repetition and general ballache. It was only after going back to it a couple of weeks ago when I saw what everyone else saw back then.

This is a very different game though. It's probably more similar to the GTA series now, far more open-world and free form in how you go about everything. I honestly can't stress how much of an improvement it is.

[Tachikoma]

FolkoRoco, on 24 November 2009 - 02:32 PM, said:

Why is Jade Raymond not being pimped out to promote this?!

They moved her off it after Ubisoft basically overdid the "look, a pretty girl made this game, buy it!" by carting her around everywhere to every tradeshow, presentation, interview, etc.

There was that rather hateful comic done about her sucking off all the geeks to get them to buy the game, and made her out to be some brainless dollybird, so I think they learned their lesson and are keeping her out of the limelight this time.

I really felt bad for her, she seems a genuine person who just got caught on the wrong side of an overzealous PR campaign which backfired. She will forever be tainted by what happened last time, which is a shame.

It was nice not having some numpty like Cliffy.B trying to look hip, and having a strong woman in the industry.

[Smurph]

Want this. I loved the first one (despite the repetition), and this sounds even better.