Not as mediocre as many have suggested. In my opinion it's one of the better games in the series so far.
There is a great amount of varied content (less than Skyrim, but not far off arguably). The main story is quite decent and of a good length, but it is a bit messy at times. There are also a large amount of sidequests, but as with other games in the series, many are low-key and their sub-plots lack plausibility. Gameplay is standard AssCreed fare - familiar and accessible, but sometimes a bit contrived and poorly balanced. The wide variety of activities prevent things from getting too repetitive. It's almost always too easy, except when the controls and game mechanics are being a pain. Missions have optional objectives for added difficulty, which often works well, but sometimes is more annoying than anything else. Combat looks cool, but usually lacks depth and challenge. The new naval missions may lack plot, and the ships may handle more like motorboats, but these missions are fun, and a great change of scenery. The visuals and sea wave effects are also excellent. The soundtrack is good, even better than in AC-Revelations.
So, as always, realism and historical authenticity leave much to be desired, but the game is still fun. It caters well to the mainstream, but may leave hardcore gamers a bit hungry for more challenge and immersion.
Most environments look decent, and on a technical level the graphics are slightly superior to Skyrim (even with the HD textures DLC), but at the same time, some things still looks a bit dated due to the Xbox360's limits. Like with most console games, the open world still lacks some persistence (bodies vanishing right after you look away, people and even carts spawning or vanishing right in front of you). The detail on the main characters is excellent though. (tip - the low anti-aliasing setting looks better than the high one which makes things blurry).
The checkpoint save system is better than many others, but can still be annoying sometimes. As with past games controls are OK, but a bit temperamental and not optimised for mouse and keyboard, of course. It is a pity you cannot have a standard FPS setup and programmable 1-9 weapon/gear hotkeys. These kind of things are to be expected with this series, and while annoying, they are not too bad, and certainly don't break the game. I have noticed a few minor bugs (the odd missing model or floating object), but otherwise the game runs very stable. Overall, porting to PC has slightly improved since AssCreed2.
Sadly the animus combat training centre has been removed. And one more thing - why can't I gallop(sprint) my horse in town?! In AC-Brotherhood you could gallop only if you had the game installed on an SSD (yes, seriously!). I still have SSD, so WHY U NO GALLOP horsey?!?!
Verdict: It may not be an excellent game, but it is decent, and I can easily recommend it, even if you are new to the series.
There is a great amount of varied content (less than Skyrim, but not far off arguably). The main story is quite decent and of a good length, but it is a bit messy at times. There are also a large amount of sidequests, but as with other games in the series, many are low-key and their sub-plots lack plausibility. Gameplay is standard AssCreed fare - familiar and accessible, but sometimes a bit contrived and poorly balanced. The wide variety of activities prevent things from getting too repetitive. It's almost always too easy, except when the controls and game mechanics are being a pain. Missions have optional objectives for added difficulty, which often works well, but sometimes is more annoying than anything else. Combat looks cool, but usually lacks depth and challenge. The new naval missions may lack plot, and the ships may handle more like motorboats, but these missions are fun, and a great change of scenery. The visuals and sea wave effects are also excellent. The soundtrack is good, even better than in AC-Revelations.
So, as always, realism and historical authenticity leave much to be desired, but the game is still fun. It caters well to the mainstream, but may leave hardcore gamers a bit hungry for more challenge and immersion.
Most environments look decent, and on a technical level the graphics are slightly superior to Skyrim (even with the HD textures DLC), but at the same time, some things still looks a bit dated due to the Xbox360's limits. Like with most console games, the open world still lacks some persistence (bodies vanishing right after you look away, people and even carts spawning or vanishing right in front of you). The detail on the main characters is excellent though. (tip - the low anti-aliasing setting looks better than the high one which makes things blurry).
The checkpoint save system is better than many others, but can still be annoying sometimes. As with past games controls are OK, but a bit temperamental and not optimised for mouse and keyboard, of course. It is a pity you cannot have a standard FPS setup and programmable 1-9 weapon/gear hotkeys. These kind of things are to be expected with this series, and while annoying, they are not too bad, and certainly don't break the game. I have noticed a few minor bugs (the odd missing model or floating object), but otherwise the game runs very stable. Overall, porting to PC has slightly improved since AssCreed2.
Sadly the animus combat training centre has been removed. And one more thing - why can't I gallop(sprint) my horse in town?! In AC-Brotherhood you could gallop only if you had the game installed on an SSD (yes, seriously!). I still have SSD, so WHY U NO GALLOP horsey?!?!
Verdict: It may not be an excellent game, but it is decent, and I can easily recommend it, even if you are new to the series.