Tag Archives: Games - Page 3

Stupid Ezio! or My trip back to Florence.

Posted by on February 23, 2010 No comments

There have been two bits of Down Loadable Content released for Assassin’s Creed 2 since I played and reviewed last month.  Sequence 12: Battle of Forli and Sequence 13: Bonfire of the Vanities fill the gap in the story between Sequences 11 and 14.  If you have played through the game you know about how apparently there is some degradation in the data stream that causes the two sequences to be corrupt and thus, un-obtainable by Desmond and the crew.  Well Rebbecca, your tech lead, manages to “repair” the data and you can now access it.

Sequence 12 opens up back in Leonardo’s shop and you are inspecting the newly acquired Apple.  It’s too dangerous to keep it hidden in some random spot (like is has been for the last few hundred years) so you clearly must put it in a fortress with lots of people around it.  A visit to Forli and the Strong willed Caterina Sforza brings trouble in the way of a full on attack from a new target for Ezio.  Without going too in depth, this story played out well, had good cut scenes, and overall good gameplay.  My only complaint about it was that it felt very short (and no achievements).

Sequence 13, however, had me crying out expletives about every 2 minutes!  The Apple was taken and ends up back in Florence under the control of the Mad Monk, Girolamo Savonarola, who is using the Apple to influence the people to do his bidding.  In order to garnner discontent umong the people, Ezio needed to take out 9 of the Monks top people.  Normally I would think this was fine but about 5 of these were “Oh by the way don’t alert the 80 bazzilion guards in the area when you do it”.  I think I may have scared the dog a few times screaming at the TV.  God Bless the invention of the Sniper Rifle.  I think this one went on a tad long (maybe to make up for 12 being short) and could have done fine with maybe 5 Assassinations instead of 9. Also….Needs Achievements!

Overall I was very happy with the story except that it all should have been in the game to begin with.  It’s not like a new story, or a special side mission.  This was all info that was a part of the main story!  So why not include it in the main game.  I also found the DLC to be a tad glitchy.  There were many times where the Dialogue was not heard at all and just the subtitles were what I had to follow along with.  After one mission I was spawned inside a building and couldn’t get out without having to quit.  That mixed with the standard frustration of alerting guards and failing out of a mission about 50 times really made this part of AC2 more of a Chore than enjoying the added story.

My Advice?  Download the DLC THEN play the game so it’s all one coherent story.  Where I gave the Main game an 8.8 out of 10 Florins, The DLC is getting only a 6.5.

Farpoint 2010 The Returning

Posted by on February 16, 2010 No comments

Man I wish it wasn't so Blury!!For those of you who are unfamiliar with conventions like Farpoint, it’s a small fan run convention up in Timonium Maryland.  I have been to Farpoint a number of times and it’s become kind of a “home base” con for me.  It used to be held at the Hunt Vally Marriot hotel but from what I understand there was some Staff issues that caused them to change venues to the Crown Plaza.  I really have mixed feelings about the new hotel.  I really loved the Marriot because there was ample space for small gatherings of friends for hang outs.  The Crown Plaza was like everything all lumped into one very large room so it was one super big party.  Like its own little Nerd Prom.  So on the one hand you were more involved in Con related stuff, but missed out on the smaller gatherings.  My hotel verdict is still out.

So the main reason for attending Farpoint was that Felica Day would be there.  Given that she is a LA Native and a frequenter of most of the West Cost cons, having her at something in the east, and a small con to boot, was awesome.  Also at the con was the premire of Trenches, the web series produced by Shane Felux of Revelations and Pitching Lucas fame.  Also known as the sole reason I have an IMDB Film credit!  Trenches, which you know from the earlier post, Officially debuted today at Crackle.com, but con attendees were allowed a early viewing of the whole series on Saturday.  After the showing, Shane’s wife Dawn presented the DVD copy to Felica Day for her library. (Felicia Day was unable to attend the viewing due to her signing schedule.)

Also on Saturday I got to attend the Q&A Panel that Felica was holding to see her speak on many different topics.  Everyone knows that She is an avid gamer but I was curious to learn what else she was playing.  Turns out that she has a large stack of games that are waiting for her furious writing schedule to allow, and in the drive is Mass Effect 2.  She also will be doing the voice of the Upcoming Wii Game Rock of the Dead, where she will be the Female love interest to none other than Neil Patrick Harris.  The questions she answered ranged from the standard “what would you like to work on” to the obscure “What are the best desert places in LA.” (Which was answered in the most serious tone.  BTW, she is a sucker for the cupcake places!)  I did get the brief chance to meet up with her and talk a little about gaming and conventions (very very brief).  She also wouldn’t give out her Xbox Gamertag (kind of expected) but did mention that she will be doing an Xbox Game with Fame event.

The rest of the weekend was spent with my lovely wife (who tolerates me most of the time) and enjoying our 1 year anniversary, as well as Valentines day.  I will spare you the mushy details but it involved awesome turtles and fishes.  Also, there may or may not be pictures of me in  BSG BDU’s doing possibly bad things to the statue in front of the hotel.  I’ll go ahead and say, it wasn’t me!  I swear, it was Alan Rickman who happened to be a surprise guest at the hotel and, and, man can that guy drink! (Honest!)

To Boldly Have Gone. or Mission Accomplished

Posted by on February 3, 2010 No comments

Here I am, only minutes after finishing Mass Effect 2, and I am still processing all that happened.  I may end up actually replaying from my last major save point because I am not completely happy with some of my choices.  For now I am going to let them bake in my head and deal with the consequences.  (And mourn the loss of Jack, Grunt, Thane, and the Colonists.  In the words of Joker:  “Shit Shit Shit Shit Shit, What the Shit!?”

This also means that I am now un-distracted until next Tuesday!  A fact that I am sure Sarah and Andrew will be happy about.  (Or not.)  In the mean time I have to say that I have become increasingly tempted by Star Trek Online based on what I have seen about it online and the few friends who have tried it.  I am probably only slightly less of a Star Trek fan than I am a Star Wars fan.  (Which is to say, pretty damn rabid.)  Although I do not own any Star Trek costumes, and I am not sure I will any time soon, I have always enjoyed the shows and the inspiration they provide.  I loved many of the other trek games, even though they were widely un-popular.  I even have a copy of the Star Ship creator lying around here somewhere.  I am curious to the designs of the ships and to see the variants.  Ok damn, this is really not helping.

Maybe if I go read the Next Gen Tech Manual I can get my mind off it.

And yes, I have it.

And the Original series one.

The DS9 one too.

Oh God I need help.

Saving the Galaxy, aka, Wintereenmas

Posted by on February 1, 2010 1 comment

Wow so this weekend flew by at FTL through a Mass Effect Relay.  Sarah had to head down to Richmond for an appointment so that left me and Andrew at home for Wintereenmas!  Add on to that the snow all day Saturday and that sets up the perfect conditions to sit on the couch with Food and drink close by and focus attentions on what needed to be done to save the Galaxy.   Andrew was armed with Bioshock 1 on the upstairs and I with Mass Effect 2 Downstairs, I believe we saw each other once or twice through the day.  I think the only real break we took was alternating taking the dog out, Shuffling off to Dinner at Hard Times Cafe (Through the snow), and then of course getting the dog to throw up because he got into the chocolate (Not my Fault!  He is just really Nosey!)

So Micro Review time!  I have spent a lot of time in ME2 so far and have no collected all but 1 of my crew and done their loyalty quests.  I have scanned probably about 1/3 of the systems to 100%, and am trying to finish up every side quest on my way out to the Omega 4 Relay.  I would like to speculate that I am maybe about 1/2 through the whole game.  So lets just run down the list of loves and hates:

Loves:
This is only a small small selection of things I love about this game

  • The whole galaxy is yours to explore, and it’s Beautiful.  I could spend hours just flying around and checking out all of the different Nebula’s.
  • The Seamless Conversation trees.  This was a great part of ME1 and continues to be awesome in 2
  • Moral Choices out the Yin Yang! So many times I was faced with the choice of “Do I do what is Morally right, or Do what I need to keep my teem member happy so he performs well.
  • In Depth Story. Any time a story makes you want to sit on the couch ALL DAY LONG means they did everything right.  Big time Movie directors and writers need to take a serious look at how games like ME do things.  The writing for a 20+ hour game ends up be 100 times better than your standard movie.
  • Fun Mini Games. In Assassin’s Creed 2, there were Subject 16 mini games that got a little frustrating.  Their length and complexity detracted from the rest of the game.  Thankfully ME2 didn’t follow in that.  the Hacking and Bypass mini games are just right.  I can see that in the future they may start getting more complex but none of them seem like they would detract.

Hates (or maybe just Dislikes)

I wish I could say that there was no dislikes but there is always something.

  • Too Much Choice. I know this seems like a silly thing to dislike but I ran into it in Assassin’s Creed too.  When there is too much to do, you can easily loose focus on what needs to get done.  I know they are also trying to build the game so that there is some re-playability but with So many different team members, and only be able to take 2 of them at a time, I am missing out on interactions and dialogue that would be nice to see.
  • Mining Mini game. Mining sucks.  Pretty much any game I have played that had mining in it, it’s sucked.  It’s a way to get the player to sit and waste time to get the resources they need to continue.  Very rarely do I see mining integrated into a fun system.  Mining in ME2 takes forever (even with the upgrade) and I ended up with Way too much of one Mineral and not enough of another.
  • Glitches.  No game is without them unfortunately.  There was one point where I found myself walking through the geometry and out into a blank space. Had to reload.  Also the “Skip Conversation” button should never be tied to the “Select Conversation Tree”  Far too many times I went to skip a line of Dialogue because The Character speaks too slowly and I had read the subtitles faster and it selected the next default conversation piece.  Very annoying.

This is all very early speculation as I have not finished the game yet but it’s all based on what I have seen so far.  There will be much more playing.  Of course I only have about 1 week left until Bioshock 2 comes out.  I think that will be another Upstairs game so Sarah can watch along.  This will also give Andrew the chance to play ME2 downstairs with the DLC on the downstairs system.  In the mean time, I need to get back and play!

iPad, or iPod-Maxi, take your pick.

Posted by on January 28, 2010 1 comment

It should surprise no one that I am not a huge Apple fan.  Heck I am taking a week long class on Windows Server now, but I am not completely against them either.  Without Apple we would not have the competitive market that is leading us into the 21st century.  No iPhone means we would all still be using flip phones because of how they remind us of Star Trek. (or maybe that’s just me.) I certainly would not be writing this post on my fancy touch screen phone while zipping along on the train.  Apple has done some amazing things for tech, but now it seems like it’s their turn to try and play catch up.

The tablet PC has been around for a long time.  I understand that most tablets are bulky, or the interface is a bit weird, but they keep changing and have progressively gotten better.  I have used a few tablets that feel great to use and do everything I need them to do and more.  Unfortunately I don’t see this iPad doing even 1/2 of them.  Yay, it can read books,  but my Kindle and any number of cheaper ebook readers can do that.  It plays games, but so does my Droid and my Xbox and any of the tablet. (one may argue that it plays iPod/iPhone games that my stuff can’t, we have an iPod in the house so I’m good.)  Honestly the only things the iPad has going for it is 1: a rabid Apple fan-base that will buy anything the almighty Steve Jobs produces, and 2: its size.  I will say that they seemed to have gotten that part right.  It appears to be sleek, slim, and fit right in the hand, but I would expect that from Apple.

So what would it take to make me like this?  Easy.
1: Flash Player. (Adobe has 10.1 working now…port it!)
2: Front facing web-cam.  (it would be the perfect video conference tool)
3: USB (why does it NOT have this?  oh right because then you could choose your wireless provider)
4: Hit below the $300 price mark. (seriously with everything that’s available that does the same thing, it’s just not competitive)

So there you go.  I am sure that many of you have other ideas about what it should have as well but there are r simple things that would make me more interested.  Until I see that,  I give the iPad a preview score of 6 oranges out of 10 apples.

Training week…

Posted by on January 25, 2010 No comments

So I am in training all week for .  The training class is located in the Ballston Common Mall in Arlington VA, and is right across from the Gamestop.  The Gamestop of course has a metric F^%$ton of posters for Mass Effect 2 that are taunting me.  I have managed to avoid all the various advertisements and trailers (with the exception of print posters and the like).  I would very much like the experience I have in game to be un-spoiled.  With some of the big name games I have been trying to do that more and more.  It seems that lately some of the games are approaching “Avatar” levels of advertising and showing so many in-game videos and screen shots that it boggles me why I should even play the game any more!  I probably would have seen all the important parts.  (I know I haven’t, but still)  So with Mass Effect 2 and the upcoming Bioshock 2 (another sequel!) I have avoided it all.  I pick up ME2 tomorrow and will dive in tomorrow evening.

Wish me luck.

More coming!

Posted by on January 22, 2010 No comments

Ok so I have been working on a number of different reviews and posts to throw up here and just wanted to let you know that there is certainly more coming.  I managed to finish (most) The Saboteur, and I still want to give my impressions of the Verizon Droid.  Last night I took some time and tried out Plants Vs Zombies.  I am not sure if I want to write up a real review of it though.  It’s a game from Popcap, and I like most of their work.  I certainly have spent many many hours playing Peggle and Bejeweled, but for starters, I didn’t pull down the whole game, just the trial, and I don’t know how much more time I am going to spend on it.  It’s a tower defense game, and I like those well enough, add in the zombies and Popcaps infamous humor and cartoon polish and you have a good funny time sucking game, we’ll see.

This upcoming weekend is going to be spent writing and working around the house, with a Visit to the GPA Meetup (Greyhounds) in Fairfax at Wylie Wag.  Also don’t forget that next week is Mass Effect 2 Week!  Sarah, I’ll miss you, Please send the food down to the basement.

Uncharted 2

Posted by on January 20, 2010 No comments

Continuing with the growing supply of sequel titles that were released this year, Uncharted 2 found it’s way to my very, very dusty PS3.  Even thought I rarely play my PS3, I was eager to get my hands on Uncharted 2.  The first game was a stunning way to show off the PS3’s capabilities as well as having a great story.  Naughty Dog goes the extra mile when it comes to writing for these games.  Uncharted 2 is no different.  Every element of the game is stunning.  From graphics, to story, to music, to voice acting, oh, and also that gameplay thing.  (I guess we should talk a bit about that as well.

Uncharted 2 really is only a sequel in name and characters, the story is very stand alone and that is a great draw.  In this story, our Hero, Nathan Drake, finds himself chasing down the fabled treasures of Marco Polo.  This time around we don’t have the family tie that he had with Sir Francis Drake, but who needs more motivation than a giant Sapphire right?  Through his adventures we meet new characters, new love interests, and even bring back some of the old characters.  (It wouldn’t be the same without Sully.)

Drake travels all over Nepal, Istanbul, and the Himalayas as he tracks down the different clues that will lead him to fortune and glory.  Through tropical jungle to snowy mountain peaks, the visuals are amazing.  This is what the PS3 should be touting as true Next Gen graphics and the whole reason I picked up a 1080P TV.  Far too often did I find myself marveling over the distance shots and the detail taken to render the smallest details.  I would encourage you to take a stroll through the snow levels just to watch the dynamic of the trails and the build up of snow on Drakes legs.

Where this game really shines is in the story.  I know there was the infamous PS3 commercial where some guy can’t get his girl friend to stop watching because she thinks it’s a movie, well, it’s believable.  Except that this movie can last a week long and probably had a much longer over all script.  Mixed with the extremely well done voice acting, Uncharted 2 could easily be mistaken for a big budget CGI film.  Every cut scene delighted and encouraged me to just set the controller down and enjoy.  I know it sounds like I am raving about these few simple elements of a game that may be considered small parts but they really aren’t.  You could have the best game play in the world but without a good story to guide it, it’s just a shell.

Thankfully the game play keeps with the high standard set by the other elements.  You step seamlessly from cut scene to game play and back so it truly feels immersive.  Most of the controls were easy to use and intuitive. (Although since I come from more of an Xbox background, the trigger and aim controls being on the shoulder buttons is odd to me.)  There is not a lot to say about game play when it’s solid, no bad camera angles, fluid motion, and god bless the Hint system!  Every game should be required to have a system like this.  If you don’t want to use it you don’t have to, but every now and then I ended up in an area wondering “what the hell am I supposed to do next?!”  Thankfully the hint system would pop up and advise “Look at that open window up there stupid!”  Far too often it saved me from looking things up in a guide or just getting frustrated and walking away.  That’s a huge deal for me.

Another big deal that has found quite a hold on the video game industry is music.  I had the chance to attend a Video Games Live concert and it really opened my eyes to video game soundtracks.  (Not that I wasn’t aware of them before, but I am much more keyed into it now)  Uncharted 2 delivers a soundtrack that is on par with that of many major motion pictures.  It feels out the mood set by the setting and graphics and delivers the punch to make you feel the entire experience.  Many times I can recall pausing and taking note of the amazing music.  It’s almost sad to me when I look back on playing a game and realize I can’t recall the music because it just faded into the background.  I love when music pops and Uncharted 2 does just that.

Now that I have covered all the good, lets talk about bad.  Don’t worry, there isn’t much.  Much like many free roaming over the shoulder games, sometimes the controls don’t translate well.  There were certainly less instances of “Stupid Ezio (Drake)” and most of them I think were really my fault, it was still there.  And the only other bad note I can think of would be Multi-player.  WHY??  Seriously, with Uncharted 1 you had a solid story game that was well received.  Uncharted 2 had a solid story game, why should you feel the need to add multi-player?  Plus, if you are going to add multi-player to a game, make it a co-op for the main story!!  Far too many games tack on a “lets run around in a map and just shoot each other” multi-player and forget why we bought the game in the first place!

So there you have it.  Uncharted 2 is a very solid game and I am eagerly looking forward to Uncharted 3.

Uncharted 2 gets a solid 9.5 out of 10 Stolen Artifacts


Game Developers Choice Award Nominations

Posted by on January 19, 2010 No comments

Looks like the Game Developers Choice Awards are coming up and they released the contenders for each catagory.  I am happy to say that I have played most of these and am really happy with the choices.  There are a few that I am extra happy to see get some love since they kind of flew by really quick.  When it comes to GOTY, I know it’s gonna be tough to chose from the titles listed, All were favorites for different reasons.  The other nice thing about nominations like this is that it gives me the chance to see something that I may have missed in the release year.

Games I think I may want to check out like Demon’s Souls and Plants Va Zombies.  Anyways, here is the list:

Best Game Design

Batman: Arkham Asylum (Rocksteady)
Assassin’s Creed 2 (Ubisoft Montreal)
Flower (thatgamecompany)
Uncharted 2 (Naughty Dog)
Plants Vs. Zombies (PopCap)

Best Visual Art

Borderlands (Gearbox Software)
Uncharted 2 (Naughty Dog)
Assassin’s Creed II (Ubisoft Montreal)
Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Infinity Ward)
Flower (thatgamecompany)

Best Technology

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Infinity Ward)
Red Faction: Guerrilla (Volition)
Uncharted 2 (Naughty Dog)
Killzone 2 (Guerrilla Games)
Assassin’s Creed II (Ubisoft Montreal)

Best Writing

Brutal Legend (Double Fine)
Batman: Arkham Asylum (Rocksteady Studios)
Dragon Age: Origins (BioWare)
Uncharted 2 (Naughty Dog)
Halo 3: ODST (Bungie)

Best Audio

Uncharted 2 (Naughty Dog)
Dragon Age: Origins (BioWare)
Rock Band: The Beatles (Harmonix)
Flower (thatgamecompany)
Brutal Legend (Double Fine Productions)

Innovation

Scribblenauts (5th Cell)
Flower (thatgamecompany)
Uncharted 2 (Naughty Dog)
Plants Vs. Zombies (PopCap)
Demon’s Souls (From Software)

Best Debut

The Maw (Twisted Pixel)
League Of Legends (Riot Games)
Spider: The Secret Of Bryce Manor (Tiger Style)
Torchlight (Runic Games)
Zeno Clash (ACE Team)

Best Downloadable Game

Plants Vs. Zombies (PopCap)
Trials HD (RedLynx)
PixelJunk Shooter (Q Games)
Shadow Complex (Chair Entertainment)
Flower (thatgamecompany)

Best New Social/Online Game

Restaurant City (Playfish)
Farmville (Zynga)
Dungeon Fighter Online (Neople/Nexon)
Free Realms (Sony Online Entertainment San Diego)
Bejeweled Blitz (PopCap)

Best Handheld Game

Scribblenauts (5th Cell)
Flight Control (Firemint)
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars (Rockstar Leeds/Rockstar North)
Spider: The Secret Of Bryce Manor (Tiger Style)
Legend Of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (Nintendo EAD)

Game Of The Year

Uncharted 2 (Naughty Dog)
Dragon Age: Origins (BioWare)
Batman: Arkham Asylum (Rocksteady Studios)
Demon’s Souls (From Software)
Assassin’s Creed II (Ubisoft Montreal)

Assassin’s Creed II

Posted by on January 17, 2010 No comments

Much like everyone else, I have been looking forward to ACII ever since I played ACI .  Only mostly it was hoping that they finally got it right.  ACI was stunningly beautiuful and had a really good story to accompany it.  Unfortunatly, the gameplay was horrible.  If you managed to get through the first area, you have pretty much played the whole game.  Each area of ACI involved things like pick pocket this guy, evesdrop on that guy, beat up this guy, and then kill that one. Wash, rinse, repeat.  Even the collection parts of the game were mind numbing.  You walked into an area and had to collect flags, but there were like eleventy billion of them.  I am not sure I know anyone who actually got all of them.

But this isn’t about ACI, it’s about it’s successor….Assassin’s Creed II.  It would appear that Ubisoft realized that they had a great engine but needed to fill it out with a great game.  And that’s what happened with ACII.  It is amazing to see that a company finally started listening to it’s fans!  The gameplay has caught up to the engine and we as gamers reap the benefits.

ACII starts off where ACI left of (in the horrible WTF cliffhanger, except that now it makes sense) in the Abstergo lab but it takes no time before you jump back into the Animus (2.0 even) to start off on the real reason that we all bought the game.  I am not going to explain the plot of the game for you because this is a review and you probably already know what the plot is.  From start to finish this story grabbed hold of me and wouldn’t leave me be.  Even Sarah enjoyed watching the story (and filling me in on all the buildings and plot lines that mirrored real life).  The visuals remained just as stunning as the original which was great of course.  And the actual gameplay was brought perfectly in line.  Each mission was unique and played well into the story.  The outside collection missions were easy and beneficial.

In ACI you had to grab flags, but in ACII, you collected chests….which had money, which you could spend.  Oh and by the way, they added a mertchant system!  And a real estate system.  Not to mention an equipment system.  All of these things would have been great in the first game.  It worked simply enough, Missions and chests would net you money.  You use the money to make improvements on your Villa (your home base).  More money pumped into the villa would bring you more income over all, which you would use to buy new and better weapons. You could also buy maps, that would show you where the treasure chests were, which would get you more money.

Where ACII really shined though was in the story.  It was engaging, from start to end.  There are very few games that have such an investing story that just grabs you and makes you care about the characters.  (and there should be more!!)  I found myself wonder what happened with some of the characters that I had only casually met! (Where is Christina the girl Ezio was seeing in the beginning?)  At the same time I was excited to go and visit with Leonardo and see what wacky thing he had going on.  This is one of the reasons I was happy to hear that the upcoming DLC for the game would fill in the holes on some of the characters.

Now that I have praised the game enough, lets start talking about where it fell short.  I can not tell you how many times I cried out “No, no that way, Stupid Ezio!!!” (Although Sarah probably could tell you how many times.  I think she was counting.  There were times that the controls just didn’t do what I wanted them to do.  Sometimes it was nothing but a wrong turn but too many times it resulted with death, or even worse, missing a timed event!  I am not even sure if it was me or the game, but like all other gamers, I am gonna blame the game here.  I am trying to communicate that I want to jump after flipping right, and if Ezio goes forward then jump then right, that’s not what I told it to do.  I think the problem really was in the left over animations.  Ezio would still be moving after I stopped, and so it translated wrong. 

Ubisoft cut down on the collection quests but not all together.  The nice thing though is that they added the collections into the story.  Feathers were collected to please your mother and remember your brother.  (They also added a bit to the villa’s worth) There are, of course, the chests, but you can get a map for those where there is no way of finding the feathers except seeing them in your travels (or using a guide).  The only other collection item would be the glyphs for “Subject 16”.  These symbols were found on random buildings and added to the overall story outside of Ezio.  The bigest problem I had with these was finding the building, and then where on the building.  I managed to run across the buildings while I was out and about, the database would let me know there was a glyph but I would rarely have the time to search for it.  So I would have to re-find the building later, and then scour the building for the glyph.  After about 20 min of wall crawling, I ended up using a guide for some of these as well.

I really have to say, ACII is one of the best games I have played all year.  I am not sure how re-playable it is, but it certainly took many hours of my gaming time and I count those as good solid entertainment.  Unfortunatly it’s not a perfect game.  Finicky controls and hard to find collection items added time to the game that I would have rather spent in the story.  The last complaint I have isn’t really a complaint so much as an overwhelming feeling.  There was so much in this game that it was almost hard to keep up with!  Between the Vilia improvements, the main story, the codex pages, the Armor and weapon shops, the Assassin seals, and collections, I found myself sitting down and wondering, What part of the game do I want to play now?  I know I know it doesn’t sound like a complaint, but when I have to ask myself “what do I want to do?” it detracts from what the game wants me to do.

Over All, I give it a good solid 8.8 Florins, out of 10.