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• 11Jul 09

  Ass Creed Take #2 (finished it)

  You know before, I used to affectionally abbreviate Assassin's Creed into "Ass Creed". How little did I know that was ironically true.

  I can now finally say Ass Creed is a bad game, with justification.

  I thought I shouldn't pass judgement on the game before I finish it, because who knows what might come up? A new challenge, a new boss, or a new type of gameplay. I waited. Then the credits rolled. It never came. This game was such a chore to finish, and you'd say don't play any more if you don't enjoy it, but I needed to so my opinion is concrete.

  This game could NOT have been made by 150 people at Ubisoft MONTREAL of all places. It's almost a disservice to the actually talented guys there. The amount of repetition is almost a really bad running joke. The same dialogue from saved citizens, the exact same missions, and more arbitrary padding out of what "game" there is into more than 1 hour. Now I hear 450 people are working on Ass Creed 2: Ass In Ass Boogaloo. Let's hope they can make a bad game into a good one. Because I don't like hating games. I only hate games when I'm not actively enjoying them.

  I can perfectly understand people "liking" the game, or even "loving" it. Those are for when you're looking from the outside, as if you're detached. However, someone saying they actually enjoyed the game would be baffling. The controls aren't even as responsive as you'd want from a pure action game. If you love the story, the graphics, the sound, or even just the controls, I'm with you there. And that's all the aesthetics. But that's not part of the "game".

  The game is a tech demo. It's literally 15 minutes stretched and padded out with stupid design. Copy and paste of the highest order. It's a perfect case of graphics over gameplay, just like Resident Evil 5. My cousin was asking the question, "If you're not enjoying the game, why are you still playing it?" I said, "FOR THE GRAPHIXXX! No but seriously, this game is a chore and I want it done with so my opinion can be concrete on this game. So the graphics are the only thing tiding me over."

  The real problem is, Ass Creed is a completely linear game with a sandbox disguise. This is not a sandbox game, and it's only open world in the way that you can choose which city you want to fast-travel to. The invisible walls might have given you an idea . Another big problem that really stuck out and become annoying was the whole puppetering. Maybe the game's giving a metaphorical ironic message by actually removing any kind of choice from the player. You're being led by the nose to do a specific mission in a very specific way. You can't even go into water, for chrissake, which is in the 2nd game, so there's some weird ret-conning going on there. "Memory Fast Forward" and whatnot.

  Unlike an open world game, you DO NOT dictate the pacing. That's the big appeal of open world games, being able to dictate the pacing, and go about it however you wish. Do a little of that, and some of that, etc. You have no choice in stealth kills, either they're in low-profile, high-profile, or death from above. The death from above kill (that you see in all the trailers) is severely limited. This is not Tenchu. You can't jump from the side of the building and drop down on a dude with your hidden blade. Nope. It's arbitrarily limited to being exactly with 2 feet above the guy in question. This is an example of how the game gives you hardly any choice, and feels more like a Metal Gear game.

  The only choice I ever got was, I could gather all the prepatory investigation (view points/interrogation/pick-pocketing) BEFORE I got to the Bureau. This part is also tedious, because you usually have to get 6 or 12 view points before you can get the investigative missions, like pick-pocketing or interrogation. Why not just one? If it was just one, it would make Altair a more Batman-like character who can scope out a place for one second and know everything!

  Doing pre-bureau investigation was especially important to combat the biggest douchebag other than Altair, Malik. You remember Malik? The douchebag in Jerusalem's Bureau who always gave you ****. Even till the game I had forgotten who he was, and apparently he was one of the guys in the temple with us at the beginning who lost his arm! Haha, who knew?! Maybe it's a sign that the plot can be kind of forgettable, or that the boring repetition had made me forget. And I thought he was being a douchebag just because this game has no likeable characters and it was another excellent running joke. I would do all the view points in an unexplored area, like the Rich District of some place, before I touched the Bureau just so I would have a comeback to Malik. I wanted to be prepared for his douchebaggery.

  One thing I hate and is so contradictory to the whole game is, killing interrogation targets. Where does it say in the Creed you can kill the poor messengers? Literally Altair will say "ok, I will stay my blade if you tell me the info", and then he'll say "can't have any witnesses! teehee so evil aren't I?!". WTF, Altair. He kills ALL of them. If the target does tell anyone else, THEN you have authority to kill him because he broke his promise. Not just because you're a sociopath, Altair?!

  The big problem with the lack of choice and puppetering in this game is, the game stops empowering you. All this arbitrary limiters like "High-Profile" and the "Synchronisation Meter" just make the game more tedious than it already is. Having to get 6 view points. Invisible walls (IW) everywhere. Worst use of IW is in the actual Assassination area. It's easy to say, this is no Hitman game where you can sabotage a place, and let a chandelier fall down on your target, and get out of there without a scratch.

  The only reason I didn't mind alerting everyone and saving citizens was because combat was so easy and actually enjoyable. It's just a unique combat system, and it's just more around timing than button combos. It's extremely barebones, but I'm glad they evolved it a lot more in Prince of Persia ( 2008 ) to add some rhythm. You get some sickly satisfying counter and kill animations, that give a great payoff. However, again the half-assed job is shown again in the combat when the game never offers you any more challenges EVER till the credits roll and instead opt to just throw more guys at you, like when you're going to Arsuf. Contrast that to Resident Evil 4 where there are new challenges at every corner, and I can already feel that you're nodding your ass off.

  The only purely good gameplay mechanic in this game that doesn't have a noticeable flaw is: the free-running. Even if the level design is super copy and paste to allow you to run through a whole city's rooftops really fast, it's the one empowerment you get from this game that's now the "in" word for games (Mirror's Edge, Prototype, inFamous). Yes, it's still very boring having to hold down Right Trigger+A the whole time, and the only control in your part is aiming the left analog stick. Nevertheless, the automatic free-running button of Right Trigger allows you to do more stuff with the rest of the gameplay. Which is where Prototype comes in, but I've already discussed that before.

  I can guess what went down at Ubi Montreal. The game was in 4 years of development, but they spent 3 years in making the Scimitar engine (the graphics are good!) and 1 year on the actual game. That's why you have a very rushed job of a game here. I'm just surprised there were some critics who were lenient on the game. Here's what blatantly copy-and-paste in the game: the cities, the missions, the NPC dialogue, the encounters, the assassination targets (3 after 3 and then the final 2). So much déjà vu for the locales, I thought I was in Acre when I was actually in Jerusalem. There's just not enough of a "game" here. Asides from the Gears of War series, this has to be the most boring high-profile game I've ever played.

  This is not just my opinion, even my cousins hate the game and so do any person on the street or gamestore. They might not articulate it as well or bother to give their opinion on some website like I do, but they are aware of the suckage as you should be. This game is not worth playing, which is why I'm glad I didn't pay $60, and you'd rather just play Crackdown or Prototype or Infamous.

  I even bothered to get the name of the guy responsible for mission structure in this game: Marc Antoine Lussier. Blame him. They've probably fired him from the 2nd game, since they said they're re-vamping everything.

  ---

  What I did like was everything that isn't the game, like I said before. The revisionist tale is handled surprisingly well with enough intrigue to want to know what the Templars want. Corey May, I tip my hat to you. Great writing in the game. Presented through terribly expositional storytelling in the form of forced cutscenes. Problem with storytelling: if it's in-game but you don't bother to actually direct a cutscene and just have Altair move around and be able to change camera angles, NO ONE will care about your story! If you want to stuff it down our necks and hope it sticks, just do a normal cutscene with close-ups.

  The music is excellent obviously since it's by Jesper Kyd again (Hitman, Kane and Lynch). Altair himself is a very iconic character design, and one I wouldn't mind cosplaying as.

  

  There you go, I dissected the game like the over-analyser I am. If you disagree at any point, start with "Speak Sense" because Altair says that all the time. If you agree completely, start with "*nodding*".

  • Posted Jul 11, 2009 9:08 am PT
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• 6Jul 09

  Resident Nice 4

  After finishing RE 5, I thought I'd try my hand at RE 4 since I've never played it. Reason is, I never had a PS2, but now there is one here at my cousins' place.

  As soon as you start the game, there is atmosphere and drama. Which were almost completely absent in RE 5. A lot of what's wrong with RE 5 could be down to Shinji Mikami, the guy who directed RE 1 and RE 4, not being behind it. The pacing is excellent, giving you breathers after every battle, while in RE 5 it feels like Gears of War where you're moving from killbox to killbox. RE 5 felt like a chore, while RE 4 is always fun to come back to each time of the day. The only additions in RE 5 compared to RE 4 are added melee moves (back-hand slap!) and that you can stomp on downed enemies. While RE 4 does look like it was in development for >4 years, RE 5 just doesn't even though it was one of the 1st next-gen games to be announced. Everything in RE 5 was rushed, the co-op, the bosses, the pacing, the locations, and the gameplay. It was just a graphical upgrade, to be perfectly cynical. There are about 20 more things that is wrong with RE 5 compared to the RE 4 (read: map; inventory), but let's get back to topic.

  Back to RE 4. It was weird using a PS2 controller for shooting. I've never played a shooter on PS2. However, after an hour or so, I got the hang of it. And now I'm perfect at it. So much so, I usually scope out the area with my sniper rifle, pick off a target before it can trigger in enemy spawns or a cutscene. Also, I've collected pretty much everything in the game.

  7:49 hours into the game, right now. I'm taking my time with this game. I'm at the part where I used the cable cars, after killing off the 2nd El Gigante and 2 chainsaw ladies. Every encounter has been memorable, and Capcom is super nice to you in this game. They dish out enough ammo and herbs, but not too much like RE 5 so it still has some SURVIVAL horror. More nice things they do are the save points and checkpoints. Each door you pass through is a checkpoint. For some odd reason, even if RE 5 was targeted to the Western demographic (hint: Chris' bulging muscles), it's a very frustrating and cheap game with VERY bad checkpoints. Another nice thing is, they don't overwhelm you with more enemies than you can count on your both hands. Every encounter is fun and challenging, rather than a trudge to get through. I don't know why, but maybe because of what they could do with the next-gen tech, Capcom throws infinite enemies at you in RE 5 which feels they suck at scripting and enemy encounters and should take a look at good shooter encounters (hint: Halo). Last thing Mikami and the team are nice to you is the cheapness of enemies. In RE 5, there are A LOT of enemies with cheap hits. In RE 4, not a single enemy gets super cheap to make the game frustrating. Even the chainsaw guy is not so bad, because with a shotgun he gets pushed back. In RE 5, you can barely tell you're attacking the chainsaw guy, because he takes it in with no clear indicator of he's being actually harmed.

  RE 4 is more than meets the eye. It's a shooter, but much like Max Payne 2, it has more elements to it. They're adventure games, where you can explore to your heart's content. There are many off-the-beaten paths much like Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory. In combat, even if the strategy always boils down to "survey-run away-take position-aim&shoot", the level design is just so flexible that you can do so much more with your environment compared to the claustrophobic spaces in RE 5. While Ganados don't have as recognisable a cry as the Africans ("Waka Koolaid!!!"), I love that they cry out for more of their buddies if they spot you. Which is why like I mentioned earlier, I like to scope out the area first and snipe off some of them.

  The RPG upgrading system is also well-balanced, and miles better than RE 5 because of the numerical system. I've been a stubborn hater of upgrading systems in games because I think they arbitrarily limit the game's progression, but here it never felt like that (same with Prototype). While RE 5 just dumps you into the upgrading part after every single chapter, in RE 4 you can control it by manually going to the Merchant ("got some GOOD things on sale, STRRAAANGER!"). He's so excited.

  Even the cutscenes are actually fun to watch because there is drama behind them, compared to RE 5 where it feels super campy. Even though Lord Sadler has grabbed me by the throat twice for no reason since we're of the same blood and there are some repetitive parts like Indy-style boulder running, the bosses never disappoint. While RE 5 focused on EVERY single boss having tentacles and glowy bits ripped from Dead Space, in RE 4 there is actual strategy you can do and you're free to move around. Although I have to admit, Wesker boss battles were awesome because doing a Mortal Kombat 10-hit combo on him was too much campy fun. Not the last battle though, that sucked because more glowy bit rubbish. I've faced off with "El Gigante" twice in RE 4, and I love how the Ganados or Luis can leave notes for you to predict what bosses you'll encounter next.

  Nonetheless, RE 4 and RE 5 are the sole reason I hate quick-time events, in cutscenes. They're not predictable which leads to trial-and-error (Chris and Sheva Indy run), and it really feels like they're just dumping it in so there's more interactivity to an already cool cutscene. Hear me Capcom, the QTEs RUIN your good cutscenes!

  Overall, RE 4 is very nice to me. The map is so much more helpful, and tells you everything which might be a bad thing. They know what works and they've put a lot of attention to detail in everything. The sound is so much better than RE 5, if you're just standing around. Pacing, drama, encounters, level design, story progression, upgrading, and bosses are just so damn good. From someone who thought RE 4 was overrated, I can now see why RE 4 is regarded as one of the best games of last-gen along with great stuff like Riddick (which I'm playing on 360) and Chaos Theory. I can now see why so many people can gravitate to RE 4 because it's such an easy game to play (since it's a shooter) but there are many adventure elements to it so people can love it against other games. Shooters this generation have been all about the spectacle and less about their game worlds, so it's nice to play a shooter that wants to take everything into account. Even if they had to put in a schoolgirl outfit on Ashley, at least she has decency.

  Oh, you're such a pervert!

  • Posted Jul 6, 2009 6:50 am PT
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• 4Jul 09

  Update on everthing. Oh, and Ass Creed is bad.

  Exams are finished. I got admitted into Prague (Czech Republic) for MEDICINE. Very excited, already made like 8 or 9 good study buddies already that passed and going with me there, so no friends issue when going to new school.

  Blogging from my cousins' place here in America. We're here for a 2-month holiday! Been playing a couple of games.Trying to force them to get Prototype.

  Finished Prototype. 31 hours. Last boss was frustrating but still a lot of fun, must've died 30 times in a row and screamed obscenities ringing throughout the house for my uncle and aunt to hear. See, I wanted to finish it fast before I came here to USA because games are region-locked so my Prototype disc won't run here

  But yeah, super fun game. Most empowering game ever made. It's Crackdown 2, so Crackdown 2 already has competition for OTT sandbox platformer. It's also Assassin's Creed 2. I'll explain.

  Cousins have Resident Evil 5. We're nearly finished with the game, at 6-2. Playing on Veteran (I've got a thing for starting games on hardest difficulty). Super frustrating/broken/unbalanced/terrible, but still back-handing or giving a haymaker to someone never gets old. Them Japanese and their tentacles, boy did they have a field day with this game!

  Finally played Assassin Creed for the 1st time here, my cousins had a copy.

  Wow, it's a bad game. I couldn't get past the first 2 hours of tutorials and exposition-heavy storytelling. This is how you introduce the player to the game? I feel bad and hypocritical, because when I never played the game before, I'd defend this game and its repetition as just a spectator. I even have a free Ass Creed shirt I'm wearing right now while I write this.

  It's just frustration town when you finally get to play (after weapons are taken away). Can't run because of this "high profile" rubbish. The guards are surprisingly attuned if you even think of running. If you run, apparently, you're marked for killing by these guys. If you run and bump into a guy, you become a bumbling fool. Tackling is stupid, why is that a move for an assassin? When you do get caught, can't do anything because no weapons, so you end up running around for 10 minutes. The social stealth is so bad and unbalanced, I'd rather play a Hitman game. In fact, I'd rather play Prototype.

  I'm not going back to play Ass Creed, I doubt the game gets any fun later on.What is with the storytelling? Couldn't afford cutscenes? You do realise when two people are talking in-game, and I'm controlling the camera, I'm not going to bother to listen because doing exposition and talking for way too long rides on my patience. Honestly, the most fun I had with this game was the CAMERA system.

  Oh yeah, I don't think you could get any more dull than in the real-world Animus lab area. Talk about minimal interaction. Where is the "game" in this whole game, the repetition means you get no ebb-and-flow for the pacing or any variety.

  Prototype is Ass Creed 2. Why?

  1. You can do the Ass Creed Shove. Except it's way more aggressive and hella funny. Civilians have hilarious New York-like comebacks and swearing remarks if you do it to them. Do it to a military guy, and he shoves you straight back. If you're in military guise in a military base, and there's like 6 soldiers in a circle, you can make them circle-jerk you. Push one guy, and he shoves you, and if next to another soldier, he shoves you, so on and so forth. Bullying is funny. If you're a commander, you can shove and harass people all the time, without the Disguise Meter going up. They're so polite to you, they must love the pain.

  2. Parkour is also done with the Right Trigger, except there's a lot more added to it, like the gliding and airdash. Animations are fantastic, I'm always pressing Left Bumper to slow-mo to see his cool animations jumping over cars. Move over Crackdown, Prototype is the new Parkour King.

  3. You know pick-pocketing in Ass Creed? Ok, in Prototype, press Right Bumper and you get the ability to STEALTH Consume. Instead of grabbing someone's pocket just out of reach, you murder the guy in grisly fashion from the back and become them. Stealth consuming is way too much fun and super easy.

  4. Guards/Military AI. They're really inconsistent in Ass Creed, it's almost broken or unbalanced. In Prototype, you're never frustrated because you have a circle that tells you if you're being watched or not. If you're watched, you shouldn't throw a guy or consume someone. You can turn on Thermal Vision/Infected Vision to see every military guy just to see the watching AI is actually there like Hitman. If you've been spotted, just run to a good spot where there aren't military guys, like in an alley. The game tells you when you can switch to your Disguise. Then just go back to whatever you're doing. In Ass Creed, you can't see where the military guys are with just a glance, or you need Eagle Vision which is a bit weird, so that's where the frustration comes when you don't know when you're being watched.

  And that's about it, for comparisons. There's so much more to Prototype than you're being led to know. Just pick up the game, it's the most fun you'll ever have. GOTY, easy. For a game doing so much, and succeeding even at the things it shouldn't like the social stealth stuff, I gotta give it props. The game is super challenging which I like, but it's always balanced and there's always a way out of every situation with all your powers, stealth, and parkour. PSP = Parkour, Stealth, and Powers.

  C'ya.

  • Posted Jul 4, 2009 7:56 am PT
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