@Dredcrumb9 @VakarianGirl Oh I agree - poor Franklin was perhaps the most under-developed character in the whole game. He WAS the token black man. So sad. And Trevor was the token meth-head. And Michael was the token rich-mobster guy. The whole freaking game had nothing BUT "tokens". And if that wasn't bad enough - the campaign presented no plausible way of getting all three of them together and keeping them together. It just threw outrageous plots at you and expected you to take it. Compare this to the beautifully designed and thought-out story of Niko, Roman and co., and you can see where we are getting so disappointed.
My progression of the game from start to finish yielded the following waypoints:
1. Begin playing. OMG this world is huge, and gorgeous! This is truly a masterpiece of game architecture! I can go anywhere! Let's explore.......! Game score - 9.8/10
2. Halfway through the campaign. Well, I think I've explored the whole map now. It's pretty nice. Getting confused by the plot and characters, though - people seem to come into the main plot without any rhyme or reason. I'm still waiting for the true game mechanics w/r/t setting up and executing heists and stuff. Most side missions are tedious and earn you pocket-money at best.....maybe enough to buy a burger at Burgershot. Game score - 8.5/10
3. Game completed. Wow. Okay. So I've finished the campaign. The neat "noticeboard" mechanic for organizing your upcoming heists was used - I think - a total of three times, maybe? What seemed really great ended up being an afterthought. The Michael/Trevor bitchfest got RIDICULOUSLY old and exasperating by the end few missions. And to add insult to injury - the last mission? The mission to end it all? Involved you shooting three guys, driving up the coast, and "pressing L-up to push the car" for three seconds. Whaaaat Rockstar? Final game score - 7.5/10.
Such a shame. What a waste. It's like they caved to popular demand to release a massive sandbox, and it just HAPPENED to have a little game tacked on inside of it. How boring.
Wiat.....I'm totally lost. This isn't the review I just read a minute ago.....
That's a shame - I know a lot of folks were looking forward to this game. :-/
As an aside - I'm not a huge fan of Gamespot's new reviews system. Where's the easy-to-access infos on how good it is, how good the graphics are, user reviews etc. etc.
Anyhoo......guess I'll stick with Space Batman, then. ;-)
Oh yay - so what we have is yet another installment of Assassin's Creed: Big Game Hunter. Fan-freaking-tastic.
Because never mind exploring exotic locations, or learning about the history of the region you are in (ala-AC1), or actually doing some meaningful work towards your end-goal........no. What I *really* want to do is spend hours of my life maiming small, innocent animals.
@Queuingreturns @VakarianGirl uh, no, my review still stands. My review of a game has NOTHING to do with any multiplayer version of said title. When I talk about a GAME, I talk about single-player campaign. Because that's what a GAME is to me. Multiplayer is just a freebie way of wasting time until the next big launch.
@punksterdaddy There are millions of bitter, hateful, lonely gamers out there. It's a sad fact of life. For a lot of folks, multiplayer seems about their only venue for interacting - which is a very sad state of affairs.
I haven't been able to get in at all. Tried every day since MP was rolled out. I created my character, got through the meeting-at-the-airport bit, and then he dumps me in some parking lot - and that is where I wait. And wait. And wait. I am guessing it's GTAVMP's version of a lobby - as other players keep dropping in and out. But after waiting at this point every night this week for 10-30mins a time, I give up.
What is this guy talking about?? I don't think it's all that hard to analyze why AC3 failed as a title. It. Was. Terrible. A terrible, terrible game that nobody should like. It was full of bugs, glitches, a convoluted storyline, a protagonist who is harder to love than an itchy verruca, and the ending made me spray my wine on the television screen with laughter. Never mind the systems and little interfaces that it shoved you into - I can overlook all that if the game is good. AC3, however, was an abomination.
It will be amazing if IV manages to regain some of the former Assassin's Creed glory - mainly because it's set in a pirate world which seems dumb, and Desmond's dead which means the story writers are going to have to turn cartwheels to fantastically introduce another protagonist.
VakarianGirl's comments