Date played: January 23rd and 24th
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 8/10
London is huge and filled with chests to open, collectibles to collect and areas to take over from the Blighters. Most of my time was spent doing this kind of stuff in the Lambeth and Thames boroughs. That means I did a lot of exploring and running around. The Thames part was really weird for a game like this, since the entire borough is a river. That meant a lot of swimming, but also a lot of jumping around on barges and boats.
The side missions that liberate the boroughs are all pretty straight-forward, but they are definitely entertaining. They usually require that I simply kill the area's leader, but they run away if they know I'm around, so I usually use a lot of stealth to get the job done. Surprisingly, this is the first time that I find stealth fun and frustration-free in an Assassin's Creed game. The throwing knives are great for long range kills, while the zip-line can be used to make a quick escape or set up elaborate aerial kills. I'm also enjoying setting up behind cover, then whistling at an enemy to attract his attention to finally stab them ruthlessly.
I also completed some side missions for none other than Charles Dickens himself. He has founded a sort of ghost hunting club, determined to investigate mysterious ghost sightings scientifically. The best of these had me following clues to find Spring-Heeled Jack, a famous legend of Victorian era London. This "thing" has been spooking people and I think it's killed a few too, though that wasn't clear. I followed some clues using Eagle Vision, following footprints and claw marks. Eventually, this led me to a hidden underground room where I fought the thing directly. It has horns, a weird cape and some large claws, but it's human. It ran away the first time I fought him, but I killed him the second time I confronted him.
Another type of side mission was a murder investigation that would have felt right at home in a Sherlock Holmes game! I had to investigate clues in a small area, then speak to multiple suspects until I was sure that I had found the killer. It was a pretty cool sequence.
Finally, I completed a few story missions. Evie continues her search for the piece of Eden by intercepting a carriage carrying important documents for Miss Lucy Thorne, one of Starrick's top associates. The twins paired up to steal the cargo, which led to a really cool chase in the middle of the night. Jacob drove the carriage while I shot at enemies with my pistol. I was horrified to discover that the best way to take out the enemy carriages was to shoot their horses dead, which makes the vehicles flip over and kills it's occupants...
The next mission led Evie and her friend, Henry Green, to the Kenway family house. The Kenway family was the star of Assassin's Creed 3 and 4 featuring Edward, Haytham and Connor. We found a secret room where tons of pirate artifacts were stored, including some information on the location of the piece of Eden. Just as we picked up this stuff, Miss Thorne showed up, but we managed to slip away from her by traveling through some underground tunnels.
Meanwhile, Jacob investigates a new drug that's been introduced and trafficked by the Blighters. Before the mission, Alexander Graham Bell gave the twins a new tool, some hallucinogenic serum that can be shot at enemies to make them freak out and fight their friends. It's been real helpful to disperse larger crowds of enemies... Jacob chased down one of the drug dealers and received information on some drug cargo. So he headed out to the location and cleared out the area, then recovered the drugs. I'm not sure where this part of the story is heading, but I assume I'll take out some drug lord soon.
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 8/10
London is huge and filled with chests to open, collectibles to collect and areas to take over from the Blighters. Most of my time was spent doing this kind of stuff in the Lambeth and Thames boroughs. That means I did a lot of exploring and running around. The Thames part was really weird for a game like this, since the entire borough is a river. That meant a lot of swimming, but also a lot of jumping around on barges and boats.
The side missions that liberate the boroughs are all pretty straight-forward, but they are definitely entertaining. They usually require that I simply kill the area's leader, but they run away if they know I'm around, so I usually use a lot of stealth to get the job done. Surprisingly, this is the first time that I find stealth fun and frustration-free in an Assassin's Creed game. The throwing knives are great for long range kills, while the zip-line can be used to make a quick escape or set up elaborate aerial kills. I'm also enjoying setting up behind cover, then whistling at an enemy to attract his attention to finally stab them ruthlessly.
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Another type of side mission was a murder investigation that would have felt right at home in a Sherlock Holmes game! I had to investigate clues in a small area, then speak to multiple suspects until I was sure that I had found the killer. It was a pretty cool sequence.
Finally, I completed a few story missions. Evie continues her search for the piece of Eden by intercepting a carriage carrying important documents for Miss Lucy Thorne, one of Starrick's top associates. The twins paired up to steal the cargo, which led to a really cool chase in the middle of the night. Jacob drove the carriage while I shot at enemies with my pistol. I was horrified to discover that the best way to take out the enemy carriages was to shoot their horses dead, which makes the vehicles flip over and kills it's occupants...
The next mission led Evie and her friend, Henry Green, to the Kenway family house. The Kenway family was the star of Assassin's Creed 3 and 4 featuring Edward, Haytham and Connor. We found a secret room where tons of pirate artifacts were stored, including some information on the location of the piece of Eden. Just as we picked up this stuff, Miss Thorne showed up, but we managed to slip away from her by traveling through some underground tunnels.
Meanwhile, Jacob investigates a new drug that's been introduced and trafficked by the Blighters. Before the mission, Alexander Graham Bell gave the twins a new tool, some hallucinogenic serum that can be shot at enemies to make them freak out and fight their friends. It's been real helpful to disperse larger crowds of enemies... Jacob chased down one of the drug dealers and received information on some drug cargo. So he headed out to the location and cleared out the area, then recovered the drugs. I'm not sure where this part of the story is heading, but I assume I'll take out some drug lord soon.
