This week I’m covering the end of the Desmond Saga in the Assassin’s Creed series.
Plot Synopsis: The main character is Desmond Miles, a 21st-century Assassin, working to uncover the secrets of a mysterious Precursor Vault that purportedly will protect the Earth from an upcoming solar flare on December 21, 2012. To uncover the secrets, Desmond uses the Animus to live out memories of two of his ancestors which the player controls during these sequences, both set at the time of the American Revolutionary War.
Plot: I enjoyed the modern missions immensely in this game although I wish that Desmond had a second Hidden Blade personally, as it would’ve been nice to have it in combat. The plot in the past however was okay, but not spectacular. I can’t say anymore without any spoilers happening, but it wasn’t that great.
Characters: I didn’t like how set on his goals Connor was, and he wasn’t nearly as funny as Ezio was in previous games. The only amusing character I met was Ben Franklin, who was a riot to listen to. There wasn’t enough funny moments to break up the seriousness of the rest of the game and it made Connor seem like a jerk most of the time.
Gameplay: One thing that was really different from previous games was the fact that cities were a heck of a lot more dangerous on the rooftops than they were in previous games I’d played. I found myself on the streets way too often, when in past games I’d have rarely touched the ground unless I was doing it after jumping off a building to stab a couple guards to death. Also the streets were way too large, with no easy way of crossing the street from rooftop to rooftop. A nice addition was the ability to treerun, free run through the treetops, and it made it so much fun to play out in the wilderness where a wolf could easily kick your butt and kill you in a couple seconds.
Combat : Is much different from previous games in that it was harder to counter-stab people to death, and I found myself not using the Hidden Blades exclusively like I did when I played as Ezio. I enjoyed using the Tomahawk much more than I thought I would. Also changed was the way recruited assassin’s functioned. Instead of getting like 20 in Brotherhood, you only had 8 total, but they were much more powerful than before. I found myself able to clear entire streets full of guards using just my recruits and not having to fight myself at all. I guess that makes up for the fact that I had to walk on the streets most of the time.
Music: The music in this was amazing, from the opening sequence to the final sequence as Desmond.
Art: One thing I had against the art style in this was that all the trees looked way to similar, which was in part to being able to treerun for the first time in the series. Overall: If you can get over the fact that it’s characters were unlikable it’s a pretty good game gameplay-wise. For those who like: The series, solid gameplay, not so solid plot. Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.
Windborne's Story Eatery 