I actually completed this a while ago, but it's taken me ages to get around to writing about it - and getting the screenshots off my capture box. Plus, you know, there were some after-game parts I wanted to get around to, including an achievement for catching the taxman which occurs once in a blue moon. I may write about those separately.
The main game first, then. The storyline, pulling together the missing parts of Altäir's life with the later years of Ezio, was probably the most coherent yet, although the modern-day parts, with Desmond in some sort of coma, were less successful. The story missions seemed more varied and tighter than in previous games, but the amount of extraneous guff seemed too high - the tower defence games and constant need to send assassins to the Mediterranean were not optional enough and felt entirely superfluous.
The city of Constantinople wasn't as interesting as Rome, partially due to a lack of countryside and ancient ruins. There was possibly more variety in buildings, but I found myself constantly having the refer to the map to work out where I was, whereas navigating Brotherhood's city was second nature by the time I finished the game. The poor draw distance from viewpoints didn't help.
Having said that, the game on the ground is stunning to look at, and I enjoyed the parkour more than before, largely due to the hookblade which allows you to make large jumps with little fear of damage. I noticed I played the game slightly differently as well - making more use of the hiding places and running from enemies, rather than simply engaging in the fight until they were all dead.
The one weak point in the story was the involvement of Sofia Sartor, who came across as naïve and hopeless at several points throughout the game. Her kidnapping was a cliche too far. It wasn't made clear why she was so interested in Ezio's books, and the limited involvement the two of them had didn't establish any sort of relationship. Ezio continued to ignore her and hide away throughout, which makes the idea that there would have been any sort of romance extremely unlikely.
But she helped him find random books, so that's alright.
The end credits went on for hours, over a dull background of the destroyed animus hub. Which was then rebuilt, so you could continue to play and find stuff.
Which I did.
The main game first, then. The storyline, pulling together the missing parts of Altäir's life with the later years of Ezio, was probably the most coherent yet, although the modern-day parts, with Desmond in some sort of coma, were less successful. The story missions seemed more varied and tighter than in previous games, but the amount of extraneous guff seemed too high - the tower defence games and constant need to send assassins to the Mediterranean were not optional enough and felt entirely superfluous.
The city of Constantinople wasn't as interesting as Rome, partially due to a lack of countryside and ancient ruins. There was possibly more variety in buildings, but I found myself constantly having the refer to the map to work out where I was, whereas navigating Brotherhood's city was second nature by the time I finished the game. The poor draw distance from viewpoints didn't help.
Having said that, the game on the ground is stunning to look at, and I enjoyed the parkour more than before, largely due to the hookblade which allows you to make large jumps with little fear of damage. I noticed I played the game slightly differently as well - making more use of the hiding places and running from enemies, rather than simply engaging in the fight until they were all dead.
The one weak point in the story was the involvement of Sofia Sartor, who came across as naïve and hopeless at several points throughout the game. Her kidnapping was a cliche too far. It wasn't made clear why she was so interested in Ezio's books, and the limited involvement the two of them had didn't establish any sort of relationship. Ezio continued to ignore her and hide away throughout, which makes the idea that there would have been any sort of romance extremely unlikely.
But she helped him find random books, so that's alright.
The end credits went on for hours, over a dull background of the destroyed animus hub. Which was then rebuilt, so you could continue to play and find stuff.
Which I did.
