I thoroughly enjoyed it. Just standing at the top of a tower with my cape moving in the wind was beautiful to look at. To keep the fights interesting, I would continuously switch weapons throughout it all. I found the actions scenes rather poetic with the swift dodging and counter-attacks; I found myself hoping that I'd slide under my enemy's right arm, snap it at the elbow with the blunt side of my sword and then sweep the screaming bastard right off his feet with a second blow.
The cities are only subtly different. The missions grow repetitive. The stealth aspect is fun and different to games such as 'Metal Gear Solid' or 'Tenchuu': you're not attempting to get inside a remote terrorist base, nor have you been sent to assassinate a greedy arms merchant (I loved 'Tenchu Z' despite all of its flaws). You're in the street and you'd look a lot like the rest of the general population if you didn't insist upon wearing that cape. But then, what about the beautiful cloth animations? Where would they be?
I found the story to be fascinating. It's a very interesting take upon the whole thing and I'm sure that cities within the game, as well as clothing styles and such, must have been taken from historical documents, ruins and other pieces of history.
The storyline alone, despite its obvious twists and turns makes this game worth playing. I enjoyed every minute of it, excluding the sequences with the clueless main character.
The ending certainly leaves the story open for a potential sequel. But there's a lot left unexplained: firstly, the timeline the game takes place in differs from that of our own and therefore the world is different. The machine that allows you to 'view' (play) your ancestor's memories isn't explained in the least. The nature of these 'artifacts' (alien? God-given? man-made?) is shrouded entirely in mystery. What about the doctor's assistant?
Being kidnapped and taken to an unknown location is fine, and I understand that leaving things unexplained can make it seem interesting and mysterious, but it can also make it confusing. The motives of this company are, as always, to take over the world! That's such a cliche when one considers the rest of the storyline; conspiracy theories, proof that denies the existence of God, secret cults of assassins, etc. Why mix something so dull with what hasn't been done before?
However, explaining certain parts of this might have taken away from the actual plot, so perhaps it's best not to know: you're just there and you need to witness the main storyline of the game unfold. %)
I found it to be a great game. Almost all terrain can be climbed or walked over, the graphics are beautiful considering the size of each map and the number of models being drawn (the streets are crowded with people, right?) all at the same time. Water looks fantastic, buildings look fantastic, the player models aren't the best around, but they're good. Cloth certainly looks fantastic.
As for gameplay, it's great fun. Easy to pick up. Difficult to put down. The missions become repetitive, but I've got to complete each and every part of every game I play and so I had to find all of the flags and towers and complete every mission.
Combat? Fun, but like any game, it can grow tedious at times ('Fallout 3' & molerats, 'BioShock' and the endless number of splicers) although interesting counter-attacks and camera angles make it particularly graphic, brutal and all the more enjoyable.
Replay value? I only played it twice. The missions are all very similar and they're not hard, at all, to accomplish. Each city seems similar to the last despite the aesthetic differences. It could get boring for some, which is fine: there should at least be
It is a good game, but it has no multi-player features and that isn't particularly off-putting to me, yet it will be to some (the poster above who refused to buy it due to lack of multi-player). I couldn't really see this game as great fun in multi-player; if you're all assassins, then you can spot another assassin a mile away. Perhaps a race to complete a set of objectives before the other players would be fun? One side might play a guard, the other the assassin?
The game is certainly flawed. But it excels in places where one can tell the developers have put a lot of effort into it. The plot makes this worth playing, coupled with the cape waving in the wind at the top of a huge tower.
I'll give it three stars.
Hmm, edit here, just went there and it seems the site is down or something. Brilliant site.