This review contains spoilers
this is the worst one so far lmao.
the new running mechanics are cool, feels a LOT smoother, being able to aim is also very cool. i think the AI was a lot more intense and the buildings were further apart so I actually didn't climb around that much compared to previous games. I don't like how they added the massive red triangle to show when you can counter, you don't have to pay attention to the enemies, which makes it boring. i never touched the side stuff, the beginning you're doing haytham stuff and then you're in a tutorial for about 10 hours but when you get out the games like "the templars must die NOW" so it feels like there's never time to do the side stuff so it went untouched. I never felt the need to go treasure hunting, forts etc and I normally do side stuff.
the story is the biggest con and the biggest pro. the fake out beginning was neat and did actually shock me. once the game stops dragging your feet with the tutoriel connor's story actually gets really good. all 2 and a half stars were won by connor. him trying to navigate the american revolutionary period aginst the British and The Templers against the soon to be Americans who are Not Fans of native americans and being fucked either way, just one less fucked. That being said, in the early bits it felt like the game was ticking off events from a checklist. It kept on dropping names expecting me to know who these dweebs are. I'm not American, none of this means anything to me. I can hear a manager telling programmers to make sure their American Revolution Era Assassin does all the really famous stuff like the Boston tea Party, Massacre etc.. or that mission where you ride around on a horse with a guy, i think that's some famous event but it meant nothing to me so it was just a really boring mission lol. It's something I'm really afraid of with other games which take place closer to modern day. It's more limiting so it might just become a checklist of historical events. I had forgotten about the axe in the post, neato. what possessed connor to bury the key in the child's grave btw. Was it juno pulling shit. Basically, the new story is nice (once it actually starts) but all the stuff from the last games? Holy fuck they dropped the bag so hard.
First things first, what the fuck happened with Lucy. In brotherhood Desmond gets mind controlled and is forced to kill her, he screams out trying to stop himself. In revelations Desmond repeatedly expresses regret over what happened but knows he was being controlled. Alright. Then 3 turns around and just, pretends like none of this happens and the exact opposite happened. Everyones hanging out and then Desmond goes “yadda yadda everything sucks, i killed my friend who was actually a templer and was going to kill us all” and i went oh, ok? Assuming this was when Desmond lived in New York. but then later on he turns to Rebecca like “hey why do you think Lucy was going to betray us and kill everyone.” which as you imagine confused me but i mean, this is the next game in the series so it must explain it at some point. Then Desmond's dad (who sucks btw) is all like “soz you got mind controlled by God into killing Lucy, even if she was evil :///” only for Desmond to turn around and say “NO DAD I WASN'T MIND CONTROLLED… I KILLED HER AND ID KILL HER AGAIN SHE WAS EVIL.” which is like what the fuck is going on. At first I thought the apple was doing it but no one disagreed with him, it's like it's always been like this. So I Googled it. Turns out this “twist” (it's a retcon lmao) was featured on the Revelations DLC The Lost Archive which btw, does not work ubisoft connect wont let me play it when i tried. And then the game just assumes you played the weird side dlc using the gameplay of the worst of revelations. Why did they put the twist there and why did it assume I played it. Twist doesn't even make sense.
And then there's the ending. It's shit. THAT'S how Desmond's story ends???? No fanfare just bleh. How did they do Ezio so right and Desmond so wrong? I had gotten over the lucy bs but the ending was like, genuinely upset me it was that bad. I know they like their “WHAT WAS THAT” endings in this franchise but this was not it.
TL;DR the updated gameplay is nice but it's a bit under used as it's harder to run around like previous games, new additions are pointless. The game spends 60% of its run time in the tutoriel and ticking off American Revolution checklists but when Connor’s story gets going it's really good. It fucks up REALLY badly with Lucy, assuming you played a forgettable DLC which featured a retcon for her character. Desmond's death(?) is awful holy fuck.
the new running mechanics are cool, feels a LOT smoother, being able to aim is also very cool. i think the AI was a lot more intense and the buildings were further apart so I actually didn't climb around that much compared to previous games. I don't like how they added the massive red triangle to show when you can counter, you don't have to pay attention to the enemies, which makes it boring. i never touched the side stuff, the beginning you're doing haytham stuff and then you're in a tutorial for about 10 hours but when you get out the games like "the templars must die NOW" so it feels like there's never time to do the side stuff so it went untouched. I never felt the need to go treasure hunting, forts etc and I normally do side stuff.
the story is the biggest con and the biggest pro. the fake out beginning was neat and did actually shock me. once the game stops dragging your feet with the tutoriel connor's story actually gets really good. all 2 and a half stars were won by connor. him trying to navigate the american revolutionary period aginst the British and The Templers against the soon to be Americans who are Not Fans of native americans and being fucked either way, just one less fucked. That being said, in the early bits it felt like the game was ticking off events from a checklist. It kept on dropping names expecting me to know who these dweebs are. I'm not American, none of this means anything to me. I can hear a manager telling programmers to make sure their American Revolution Era Assassin does all the really famous stuff like the Boston tea Party, Massacre etc.. or that mission where you ride around on a horse with a guy, i think that's some famous event but it meant nothing to me so it was just a really boring mission lol. It's something I'm really afraid of with other games which take place closer to modern day. It's more limiting so it might just become a checklist of historical events. I had forgotten about the axe in the post, neato. what possessed connor to bury the key in the child's grave btw. Was it juno pulling shit. Basically, the new story is nice (once it actually starts) but all the stuff from the last games? Holy fuck they dropped the bag so hard.
First things first, what the fuck happened with Lucy. In brotherhood Desmond gets mind controlled and is forced to kill her, he screams out trying to stop himself. In revelations Desmond repeatedly expresses regret over what happened but knows he was being controlled. Alright. Then 3 turns around and just, pretends like none of this happens and the exact opposite happened. Everyones hanging out and then Desmond goes “yadda yadda everything sucks, i killed my friend who was actually a templer and was going to kill us all” and i went oh, ok? Assuming this was when Desmond lived in New York. but then later on he turns to Rebecca like “hey why do you think Lucy was going to betray us and kill everyone.” which as you imagine confused me but i mean, this is the next game in the series so it must explain it at some point. Then Desmond's dad (who sucks btw) is all like “soz you got mind controlled by God into killing Lucy, even if she was evil :///” only for Desmond to turn around and say “NO DAD I WASN'T MIND CONTROLLED… I KILLED HER AND ID KILL HER AGAIN SHE WAS EVIL.” which is like what the fuck is going on. At first I thought the apple was doing it but no one disagreed with him, it's like it's always been like this. So I Googled it. Turns out this “twist” (it's a retcon lmao) was featured on the Revelations DLC The Lost Archive which btw, does not work ubisoft connect wont let me play it when i tried. And then the game just assumes you played the weird side dlc using the gameplay of the worst of revelations. Why did they put the twist there and why did it assume I played it. Twist doesn't even make sense.
And then there's the ending. It's shit. THAT'S how Desmond's story ends???? No fanfare just bleh. How did they do Ezio so right and Desmond so wrong? I had gotten over the lucy bs but the ending was like, genuinely upset me it was that bad. I know they like their “WHAT WAS THAT” endings in this franchise but this was not it.
TL;DR the updated gameplay is nice but it's a bit under used as it's harder to run around like previous games, new additions are pointless. The game spends 60% of its run time in the tutoriel and ticking off American Revolution checklists but when Connor’s story gets going it's really good. It fucks up REALLY badly with Lucy, assuming you played a forgettable DLC which featured a retcon for her character. Desmond's death(?) is awful holy fuck.