Assassins' Creed Unity (Xbox One X) [7]
+Recreation of Ancient Egypt is unbelievable. Such an enormously pretty game. One of the best game settings in a long time. A great choice, too, with three great ancient civilisations all involved in the narrative.
+Presentation all round is top notch. Oozing with atmosphere.
-A real Frankenstein of a game with borrowed parts from Souls and Destiny that don't really gel together. Ubisoft just can't seem to nail the combat in these games. Rocksteady has got a perfect template for combat that'd suit these games so well and I just can't understand how, with Ubisoft's money and clout, they can't get this core aspect of the game correct. A lumbering Souls-lite combat system just seems at odds with the 'Assassins' theme. Also, what's the point having 100s of ostensibly identical but statistically different weapons in a game like this? It takes the fun out of uncovering weapons as they'll just be superseded by another, near identical one in 20 mins time...
-Overly-long and needlessly grindy. I really dislike Ubisoft's use of timesaver packs and materials DLC. Balance the game correctly so that I get the top amour etc. without having to play for days. They took a year-off to rejig the formula. I was really hoping that they would cut putting armour sets behind a pay wall on Day 1 and the grind makes up-levelling the basic set a real chore.
-Although the map is beautiful, there are great swathes of it that are desert (well, duh). Don't see the point of putting them into a 'game' though. I lost an evening riding around the desert hoping there would be more things of interest in them (there are some things, I know, but riding on a digital horse for 20mins just to find out that there's nothing on interest in a location really irks me).
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