Reminded me of the original Assassin's Creed games, for all the good and bad that entails. Clothes still clip through character models, physics is still janky and Basim will fling himself with the utmost confidence to his death even though that was not the direction I was holding on the analogue stick to jump in.
Ostensibly trying to capture the flavour of the first AC game, this was a nice nostalgia trip but also reminded me how tedious the original game's gameplay style could be. The game has a very strong beginning and end, but the entire meat in the middle gets boring and repetitive very quickly. There's very little mission variety, and the targets you take down in this game feel largely inconsequential for all the work you have to go through to uncover them. Thankfully, the experience is about as long as the first few games as well, so it doesn't overstay its welcome.
The environment, Baghdad, is honestly one of the most lacklustre settings in the entire franchise as well. After the visual treats we got used to with Origins, Odyssey, and certain parts of Valhalla, the bland desert and brown buildings of Baghdad feel so ugly and wonderless. There's also very little side content to explore - a grand total of 6 side missions, a few obligatory collectables, and some contracts that serve no real purpose other than to pad out the gameplay as a lot of them take you back to areas you explored as part of the main story.
Overall, I certainly didn't hate the game, but I did feel the story was not substantial or engaging enough to truly enjoy the experience. It felt more like a lesser spin-off title, not a mainline game in the series. I do hope Ubisoft continues to deliver these kinds of throwback titles with the original gameplay style going forward, but I do hope we get some bigger titles as well, as exploring the environments in the last 3 games was honestly a lot of fun. I also hope they hire some good writers because the stories have honestly been mid for the last few entries in this series. Origins was the last genuinely engaging story that we got and I hope moving forward we can get some actually meaningful stories from the series again.
Ostensibly trying to capture the flavour of the first AC game, this was a nice nostalgia trip but also reminded me how tedious the original game's gameplay style could be. The game has a very strong beginning and end, but the entire meat in the middle gets boring and repetitive very quickly. There's very little mission variety, and the targets you take down in this game feel largely inconsequential for all the work you have to go through to uncover them. Thankfully, the experience is about as long as the first few games as well, so it doesn't overstay its welcome.
The environment, Baghdad, is honestly one of the most lacklustre settings in the entire franchise as well. After the visual treats we got used to with Origins, Odyssey, and certain parts of Valhalla, the bland desert and brown buildings of Baghdad feel so ugly and wonderless. There's also very little side content to explore - a grand total of 6 side missions, a few obligatory collectables, and some contracts that serve no real purpose other than to pad out the gameplay as a lot of them take you back to areas you explored as part of the main story.
Overall, I certainly didn't hate the game, but I did feel the story was not substantial or engaging enough to truly enjoy the experience. It felt more like a lesser spin-off title, not a mainline game in the series. I do hope Ubisoft continues to deliver these kinds of throwback titles with the original gameplay style going forward, but I do hope we get some bigger titles as well, as exploring the environments in the last 3 games was honestly a lot of fun. I also hope they hire some good writers because the stories have honestly been mid for the last few entries in this series. Origins was the last genuinely engaging story that we got and I hope moving forward we can get some actually meaningful stories from the series again.
3 Comments
@RedBackLoggd
Thanks for the advice, I changed it to avoid spoiling anyone, although I don't know why anyone who isn't an AC fan already would play this game lol.
I will say Baghdad has some nice attractions, like the Bazaar and the palaces, but the overall city is very dry and boring. But if you enjoyed AC1, you'll definitely enjoy this as they are very similar games.
Thanks for the advice, I changed it to avoid spoiling anyone, although I don't know why anyone who isn't an AC fan already would play this game lol.
I will say Baghdad has some nice attractions, like the Bazaar and the palaces, but the overall city is very dry and boring. But if you enjoyed AC1, you'll definitely enjoy this as they are very similar games.
You'd be surprised - every entry brings in new people, and that has to do with the settings haha.
Well, I enjoyed the visuals of ACI to be clear: one thing the Desmond games did really well was make every city feel lively. I agree with you that there wasn't much activity to do in them as far as physical engagement.
Well, I enjoyed the visuals of ACI to be clear: one thing the Desmond games did really well was make every city feel lively. I agree with you that there wasn't much activity to do in them as far as physical engagement.
RedBackLoggd
2 months ago
Dang, it really IS classic AC!
Still have to play the game, but definitely don't agree about Baghdad being boring - it looks like a visual treat and a throwback to ACI and Revelations.
I'd also advice marking a spoiler tag for the very last sentence or rephrasing it since that's a big twist in the game for people who enter it without playing Valhalla.