[quote name='smiggity']SO what are CAG impressions on this? Big improvements over the original, which was boring IMO?? Any online functions?[/QUOTE]
ACII is everything the original should have been, despite being plagued by the same unresponsive controls and horrible camera. It's leaps and bounds above the original in terms of content, though. There's plenty of things to do this time around, but it does get tedious when you enter a new province and want to start collecting everything from the area. Having played the first one entirely, we go from almost nothing to do but finding flags to collecting feathers, treasures, glyphs, sigils (from tombs), and of course viewpoints. This can be overwhelming in some places and definitely a chore if you're trying to gather everything.
Back to controls and camera, I can't imagine why this hasn't been ironed out yet. They go hand in hand, but the camera is terrible at correcting the direction you want to go and can result in making blind leaps, slowing you down (which if you're chasing someone can completely
you up), or simply force the character to do something you never intended. The game is supposed to be fast paced but the camera often just can't keep up.
The controls are just awful. I've never struggled so much to just try and get my character to reach out and grab a
ing windowsill, ledge, or crevice that's literally inches from them (and no, I'm not talking about the stuff that's supposed to be out of reach). And why in the hell doesn't Ezio automatically attempt to grab ledges after a major leap? This guy has a serious deathwish because you actually have to hold down a button for common sense. I can't count how many times I've still fallen because I was uncertain if he would grab or not. Sometimes I'd press the button thinking it was too far a leap and the mother
er would drop AFTER grabbing the ledge. Uncharted has my absolute praise for having such a smart system that does this seemlessly.
Once again, controls ruin combat as well. Batman: AA is so good at doing counters, it's maddening that ACII fails at even the basics. For starters, there's an absolute tiny window of opportunity to counter and if you miss it you're either getting hit or just deflecting the attack. I love skill-based systems, but this game can just make you feel stupid due to the variance of timing with each different attack animation. I can't believe I'm saying this, but you can't counter from behind. Your attacker MUST be in the cone in front of you or you'll be hit every time. With time and practice you can master the system, but it's just not a fun combat system at the core.
Assassination attempts will likely have you pulling your hair out because if the target is running, elevated above you, or anything other than static -- 9 times out of 10 the killing blow will not go off. I've had targets who just run up something and jump down, then run up it again playing cat and mouse with me. There's not a damn thing you can do unless you just use a throwing knife (but where's the fun in that) or wait until they're done being retarded, then give chase again (usually meaning you give them a headstart; not fun). Let me tell you: the AI is not smart, it's just all the bad game design choices against you.
I hate the fact that the game is so frustrating because it's actually really awesome otherwise. My biggest complaint overall is that because the game was designed for fast-paced action, it's far too unforgiving when you make the slightest mistake. It's not that the game is hard (and honestly if you die in this game, you're just bad), it's the fact that there's less moments of feeling like a badass assassin and more like watching two virgins trying to have sex. It's clumsy, just bad to watch, and only has those brief few moments of pleasure.
TL;DR. Buy it, love it, and be prepared to throw your controller when Ezio jumps the wrong way for the millionth time.
