I finally did it. I finished Assassin’s Creed. This was not an easy task I tell you. One of the last bosses is a terribly unfair fight. You have to fight about 8 of his minions, which are harder than the normal guards, then you have to fight him. The problem comes in with your health bar. You have to have enough health left after fighting the minions to take him on because your health bar doesn’t regenerate when he starts coming at you. It took me about 15ish times to finally stop cursing loudly and do my little victory jig. Thankfully the 360 controller is wireless.
I’m so very much looking forward to the next one in this series. The story had me hooked from moment one. I love the twists and turns it takes. The way they’ve ended this one it’s anyone’s guess when and where the next will be placed. At the end there are clues, but which one is the real clue?
Overall I think I got around 30ish hours of play out of the game and I’m a bit of a completist. I didn’t collect all the flags or kill all the crusaders because it didn’t amount to anything, but I did enjoy both of those things when I came across them in my wandering around the cities. As I said before the world is beautful, but to me the story is so kick ass. I really have enjoyed playing it.
The rumours are true. No more guessing and wondering. Eidos are making Dues Ex 3. At this point there isn’t much news or much to say. There is a teaser video though.
Okay so it’s been nearly 2 weeks since my last post, but I did warn you. Assasin’s Creed kinda sucked up my life. Well that and the day job has been a bit insane this past week.
I don’t know where to start with this game. I haven’t thoroughly enjoyed a game this much in a while. At least not a console game. The graphics are beyond stunning and the gameplay is smooth and fitting. The story is so good it makes me wish the next one was out now so I could play it.
I was not disappointed in the beuty of this game visually. All of the trailers and screenshots I’d seen lived upo expectations. So much detail in everything from faces to clothes. Where most games actually cut for cut scenes with special cgi graphics, this one didn’t have to. When a cut scene happened you jsut lost your UI and the scene played out and you were still running the in game graphics. This of course also saved on loading times of going back and forth too which was good for the flow of the game.
The controls take a bit of getting used to, but they aren’t difficult once you know what you’re doing. In combatthe controls require a bit of coordination, but it’ll become second nature pretty fast. Executing counter moved and combos becomes second nature and the fights will jsut flow. There are almost countless different counter move sequences and general fight action sequences. Meaning that a fight visually won’t get boring. They have put a lot of thought into the execution of the fight visually as well as gameplay-wise.
The free running is very well executed. Gone is the getting the jump exactly right to go from one rooftop to another. Combine the good controls with a very well laid out street level and rooftop level and you’re completely sorted. You really can go anywhere and getting there has never been so easy. There were several instances when I was running from guards across the rooftops and ended up all the way across one of the cities without even noticing I’d gone so far. You really can climb anywhere there is a handhold.
I don’t want ot give away the story. Suffice it to say that it’s brilliant. The sci-fi elements are wonderfully executed and really add to the story. This is a world I’m really looking forward to playing in.
I haven’t finished the game yet. I’ve gotten to the end boss but was having some difficulties so put it down for a couple days to let my frustrion cool down. There are some irritating things like setting off the guards unintentionally. Or the beggars and crazy people that are endlessly a pain in the ass when you’re trying your best to pickpocket some guy for some throwing knives. But the problems with the game are massively outweighed by the goodness of the game.
Go play it. You won’t regret it.
Now to go play Mass Effect some more. I have many side quests awaiting me.
I have a serious book addiction. I really can not walk into a bookstore without buying at least one thing. And so it was today too.
At lunch my coworker said he wanted to stop in at Waterstones. Now he knows about my affliction, but we went in anyhow. Today was a good day to be in a bookstore. For today I found a new book orgasm.
The Boys.
Garth Ennis does it once again and makes me remember why I loved Preacher despite really disliking the art. British humour with a lot of sex and swearing. What better things to put into a comic book.
This time though I’m in love with the art. This time Darick Robertson is drawing. Otherwise known as the genius artist of Transmetropolitan. (Gods that’s a long word) The characters are so spot on with Garth’s story and dialogue it’s uncanny. This has got to be a serious match made in heaven.
Besides, how can a book that DC actually cancelled not be good. Ennis said he’s out-Preacher Preacher and he has. And this is only the beginning. Titan Publishing sure were smart to take this bad boy on.
Is there such a thing as girl tech? If you watch much children’s tv you’ll find that there is. Finally the electronics market is figuring out that there is a market for girls and women using gadgets.
For the young teen girl you’ll find such things as electronic diaries and pink handheld consoles. For adult women you’ll find more pink phones than you can shake a stick at and small bits of electronics made for the small hand of a woman.
Games are no different either. As computer and console gaming becomes more and more popular the games comapnies are finding that the female demographic is something they can cash in on.
I have yet to decide if I should feel flattered or insulted. Just why do I need special attention after all? I admit though that I’m a special case. The micro-PC I’m typing this on right now isn’t something you’d find marketed at women, but maybe it should be.
Most women have very specific tastes in games and gadgets. The gore and violence of a lot of games isn’t something that all women are necessarily interested in and games companies know this.
Take for example online games. Historically playing online games and MMOs was primarily something that male gamers participated in. Times are changing though. In the mainstream online games you’ll find more females playing than you would have even 5 years ago.
So the question that bears asking is this; what changed?
Well the most obvious answer to me is that technology has changed. As it has developed it has become easier to understand the basics. Pretty much anyone can handle the basics of using a mobile phone or a PC. These aren’t degree needing things anymore, they’re simple.
As technology has become easier to understand it has also become a lot more accessible. More people have snazzy PDAs, mobile phones and personal computers. How would some of us live without our portable media devices?
So easier to understand and more accessible technology. Well it was inevitable that women would start delving into the land of boy’s toys. So here we are.
The other reason is a little more slippery. Marketing plays an interesting part in all of this too. Recently on UK T.V. Nintendo have been running a commercial that is aimed very directly at girls.
This direct marketing isn’t seen for boys. You don’t see a commercial that says “Games that boys like” at the end of it. Maybe there should be.
I’m not offended or upset by this direct marketing. What annoys me slightly is how they’re going about it. The DS has found its way into a lot of girls’ hands. It’s small and interesting and has a very good spread of games. Because of this large game catalogue I think it has become more interesting to females, not anything to do with the marketing.
Really I’m just pondering and wondering here. The age of Barbie is gone, there’s no need to market to us like we’re still in the 50s. So why is technology and games being directed at us like it still is?
I did the unthinkable today. I pre-ordered the two big games coming out for the Xbox 360. I couldn’t help it. Both are special shiny editions too. Because we all know that jsut buying the normal version just isn’t done. So what did I buy? Assassin’s Creed and Mass Effect.
Now the truly evil thing about this is that they are being released one right after the other. Assassin’s Creed is coming out on the 16th, a Friday. Mass Effect is coming out the following Friday on the 23rd. Evil I tell you, pure evil.
Usually I’m very sensible about these kinds of things. I don’t buy on release day and I certainly don’t buy two very big games within a week of each other. Usually I manage to not succumb to the beautiful special edition, but who am I kidding? I want the shiny figures and lovely art books jsut as much as the next guy and the marketing has worked on me.
Posted in stuff with tags start, stuff on October 30, 2007 by Donna
I write and I game and I work many many hours at a day job I haven’t decided if I like or not. Don’t confuse me with a writer though, I’m a journalist. I can’t write fiction. Please gods don’t ask me to write fiction. My fiction makes slashfic look good.
I live on about 3-4 hours of sleep daily. Yes they pay me to play games and write abut them. I’m a freelancer. If I’m not awake writing then I’m not making money. Of course this clashes with the day job as it’s terribly hard sometimes to handle stupid people when you’re half asleep.
Here shall contain the things I can’t put up on the sites that pay me. All the mean things. All the speculation. All the stuff that’s really on my mind. No one is paying me for this. Sometimes you jsut have to let it out before your head explodes.
