tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8074451.post5652856597372198379..comments2024-02-05T05:56:50.392-05:00Comments on Insult Swordfighting: Tapping that AssassinMitch Krpatahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15987162934932391765noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8074451.post-55834675570154574132009-12-18T08:10:48.335-05:002009-12-18T08:10:48.335-05:00The best moments in the game are like Beanland sai...The best moments in the game are like Beanland said, when a stiff restriction is imposed on you to not be spotted or to not kill someone. If the game pushed that harder, it would force players to keep being creative instead of getting bored by killing guards then tearing down posters. It's just an issue of finding a way to get players to vary the gameplay up naturally. *drum roll* If it were me, I'd let players pick the difficulty of the notoriety at the start of the game. Easy means you can always undo it, Normal means you will have to change outfits, flee city for X amount of hours, Hard means permanent infamy if caught. <br /><br />I plowed through the whole game and was impressed that I couldn't really think of one interesting thing to say except "Moar Hitman: Blood Money".Kirk Battlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16612840105075834275noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8074451.post-3313684617791788232009-12-17T20:30:19.422-05:002009-12-17T20:30:19.422-05:00I was frustrated by the game not being able to dec...I was frustrated by the game not being able to decide if it was a stealth or action game. You can run and hide from guards, but there's no penalty for just killing all of them as eventually they'll either run away or no more reinforcements will come to fight you. You can hire courtesans to help you blend into a crowd, or distract a group of guards, but if a patrol of guards wanders by before you're ready, the courtesans will leave on their own. The assassinations are all frontal assaults, for the most part. You get an insanely loud and powerful gun. <br /><br />My favorite parts of the game are the assassination contracts, because they fit with what I think of an assassin being: a stealthy, clever demon of death that can disappear the moment the deed is done. It's more satisfying to me to track down the target, and then complete the mission within the constraints given. My favorite one was to kill a merchant without being spotted. I found him in the market, poisoned his guard, then poisoned the merchant and calmly walked away. Watching the crowd and guards watch these men in bewilderment as they spontaneously get sick, go berserk, and then die was immensely satisfying. The main story didn't offer opportunities like that. I only used the gun or smoke bombs when the story required them. Sitting on benches to avoid detection seemed like an utterly useless ability. The game gives you options for both stealth and attack, but it's generally easier and more efficient to attack. I had the same issue with the first game.<br /><br />My other issue was how I thought the game did a fairly good job of establishing Ezio's family and how important they are to him, but once he, his mother, and sister get to the villa, the game suffers from the GTA4 syndrome of bouncing from quest giver to quest giver to the point where you lose sight of the main plot and are just killing guys because you're told to. Ezio's mother and sister end up locked away in the villa to be turned into human shaped menus and nothing more. The driving force of the plot faded rather quickly, and Ezio didn't seem to be as driven after a while.<br /><br />Having said ALL that, I still enjoyed the game quite a bit. The assassin's tombs were generally great, and the set pieces for the main story assassinations were generally excellent. Leonardo was a great character, and upgrading the villa and your abilities was satisfying. I just hope that they beef up the stealth side of things for the next game.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16981301966709397033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8074451.post-41256051119975011482009-12-17T19:07:23.699-05:002009-12-17T19:07:23.699-05:00Thank God finally someone who agrees with me on AC...Thank God finally someone who agrees with me on AC's ass backwards controls. In fact that puppet style control scheme is pretty much the reason I can't be bothered with AC2.<br /><br />Petty? Maybe but for some reason it just gets my goat.Lyndonhttp://digitalkicks.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.com