Assassins Creed Odyssey - Review

 

Feels like ages since I put fingers to keys and wrote a review, but it is no surprise considering the length of Assassins Creed Odyssey. Like a moth to a flame I play all the Assassins Creed games even though I know the chances are that I am going to be left burnt. Be that as it may I saw a sale on some Ubisoft titles, low and behold there was Assassins Creed Odyssey for less than €20, what did I have to lose?

I like a bit of pasta from time to time, it's a great meal to have when you are feeling a little lazy. A handy one I get are the Jamie Oliver pasta dishes (see below). They are okay in a bind but honestly no matter how I cook them there always feels like there is too much and it does not always leave the most satisfying taste in my mouth but it's passable. Being honest, each time I finish it I am left thinking why did I get this again. Playing Assassins Creed Odyssey I found myself asking was this the perfect amount of pasta or too much and when all is said and done did I enjoy it.

Story

The story starts with a young boy named Alexios and his baby sister Kassandra on top of a mountain in Sparta. Present are their mother and father, priests say they must both die under Spartan Law, in a blink of eye both of them disappear into the abyss. A pretty dark start to the game, but luckily and by some miracle they survive. 

The game gives you the choice to play as either Alexios or Kassandra. The story sees you work as mercenary and as time progresses you start focusing on getting back to Sparta and finding your family, while trying to find out why this all happened. 

The game allows decision making in the game, sadly with most non-RPG games that try this, few of your decisions really make a difference until closer to the end of the game. It was a nice option but felt a little tacked on and with there being nine endings that is a lot of replaying.

While there are some interesting side missions (which there are plenty of) the main campaign felt overly long. Each main mission has sub missions, then even those can have sub missions. Everything feels way longer than it needs to be and the pay off just isn't worth it.

Ubisoft have really moved away from the Assassins and Templars story which is really disappointing, while there are some elements of it in the game they have to be hunted for, which seems wrong to me. For sometime now Assassins Creed games are released annually and while there are changes made it feels more about making a quick buck than making a high quality story driven game. Overall the are some fun elements in the story but there is a lot of fat that could have been trimmed.

 

Visuals

While the game certainly has its flaw the visuals are not one of them. The game looks vibrant, smooth and beautiful. The markets and streets you pass through look and feel alive. The ancients ruins and huge statues are awe inspiring and to date is the most visually stunning game in the series.

One of my favorite parts of the was actually any enemy strongholds, they feel more built up than before, yielding crates, clothes, animals and other miscellaneous items. Overall the visuals help create a very organic environment and help make it one of, if not the strongest element of the game.

Music

The soundtrack has a very Moroccan feel to it, this is not too surprising as the first few games in the series had this feel and as the game is set before many of the others in the series it feels like a call back to humble beginnings. The composers are UK Duo The Flight responsible for the scores of both Horizon Zero Dawn and the DLC Horizon Zero Dawn Frozen Horizons and Dark Futures.

The soundtrack offers over two hours of music, some of my favorite tracks included; Legend of Eagle Bearer, The 300, The Assassins Creed, Atlantis, and A Spartans Fight.

Overall not a bad soundtrack but no where near as good as some of the others in the series.

Gameplay

There is a lot to get into with the gameplay, so let's dive right in. The combat is very different to other Assassins Creed games and a lot more robust. The fighting is robust, feeling not too simplistic and not too tough. There is an array of weapons including swords, staffs, axes and bows, special shout to Ikaros. If you take on one to three enemies it is okay, anymore than that and things can go south quickly. To help combat that you can unlock special abilities which, apart from looking great when used, can help take down even the strongest of enemies. While using RPG elements were so-so the combat ones were great, level up your character, unlock new abilities and access to gear.

You can climb anywhere with ease, you can even climb a giant Greek statue and hang from his cheek - sadly his wiener is a no-hang area.

Leveling up is fun, killing an enemy, discovering a new area, building - like an RPG the game encourages and rewards exploration which is good as the world of Odyssey is massive. I finished the game at level fifty-two but you can now go all the way up to level ninety-nine. If you are willing to put it in a little effort you will level up pretty quick.

Each time you level up you are able to raise the level of your weapons and gear. Essentially if you love a weapon or some gear you can keep it for the whole game and just keep leveling it up. In my case I got the Ezio gear and kept leveling it up. Be warned it will cost you a ton of resources.

Similar to the last few games there are plenty of ship battles, meaning plenty of upgrading which to be fair can be a lot of fun. That being said it feels nowhere as fun as the Black Flag battles which is a shame. 

There are; side missions, bounty missions and player story created missions. Side mission comprise of a lot fetch quests and assassinations which can usually be completed pretty quickly, especially if you have unlock a lot of fast travel points. Bounty missions are limited mission where you can unlock special materials for upgrading or purchasing weapons. Player created story missions are okay but the only ones I found useful were the ones aimed at farming for materials and experience points.

The biggest new feature in the game are the mercenaries, think of them like the stars in GTA, they can be paid off but leaving them at the highest bounty can be fun if not hard. Each tier you wipe out gives you added benefits so is worth spending a little time on them. A lot of them you will naturally run into while exploring, getting the drop on them later is definitely the way to go as fighting a few at the same time is like taking on an army. 

Overall the gameplay is solid and there are some interesting additions that were not in previous games. A few minor issues with the gameplay but nothing crazy.

Final Thoughts

So, after fifty hours, which easily felt like a hundred, how did I feel? Relieved.  The story is okay and while there were some interesting points the story was far too drawn out. The visuals were fantastic and helped dilute some of the not so great elements in the game. The music is okay but not the most memorable soundtrack to date. The gameplay is pretty solid and offers a lot for players, overall very few notable issues. Overall the game is a little lack luster, the story could have benefitted to be shorter, the visuals were amazing, soundtrack was okay and the gameplay was pretty good. Overall this one gets a not so exciting 3 out of 5

Horizon Zero Dawn - Review

A new game, a new horizon & a zero dawn.  Yep that sounded better in my head but I'm not going to press back space, no sir, not me - anyway moving along lets talk about Horizon Zero Dawn.  Was I excited about playing the game?  Let me see, a future where machines roam the earth like animals, some of them are as big as buildings, you get to hunt & even ride some of them - yes, I was excited. Guerrilla Studios is best know for the Killzone series & this is there first attempt at an open world game so I was very curious to see what they could do.  I actually got the game free when I bought my Playstation 4 Pro but my friend Nate kept distracting me from playing it.


So what food based analogy will I use this time?  A tomato, cheese, white sauce, minced beef with pasta sheets one.  Of course I'm talking about Lasagne, a tasty, meat filled pasta pie delight that is filling & healthy, well at least some of what I said was true.  I have had many lasagne's over the years, some good, some bad. It's not just the ingredients used or the quality of them it's how they are arranged.  Playing Horizon Zero Dawn I had to ask myself was I eating a tasty ensemble of meat, sauce, tomatoes & pasta or a sloppy mess of ingredients thrown together leaving a bad taste in my mouth.  Let's find out the answer.

The story is set about a 1000 years in the future, the world we know is gone.  It has been claimed back by the Earth, along with a ton of animal like machines & tribes of humans.   Those of the past are referred to as the Old Ones & where they all are now or what happened to them is unknown.


Enter the protagonist Aloy, she is considered an outcast, this means she has been kicked out of her tribe (The Nora), in her case this was due to no one knowing who her parents were (seems a legitimate reason).  The term 'outcast' being used in the game seemed strange to me especially as there seemed to be quiet a few outcast in the world & in many cases they banded together like a tribe, so maybe they are not really outcasts at all (insert thoughtful emoji).  Anyway lets get back on track, so, Aloy is compassionate, a fighter in search of answers about her past & the Old Ones, she is also occasionally whinny.  She is raised & supported by her tough but caring father figure Rost.  Alright let's take a moment here, what is with names?  I mean I'm all for different names but Aloy, Rost? Aloy is obviously a take on the word Alloy but some reason calling her Alloy would have what sounded weird?  Rost?  Call him Rust, the 'U' key is only two spaces left of the 'O'. I know it seems like a strange complaint but it just seems lazy.  It's like a parents deciding to call one of their kids Larry & the other Barry, really? All the names in the world & changing one letter is as far as you are willing to go?


Mocking aside there is some really enjoyable story but I felt the best parts either came too late in the game or in some cases were not capitalised on enough.  It's a game about giant machines roaming the world, the tribes stuff seemed small & unimportant by comparison.  I felt it hard to feel much compassion toward some characters in the game especially as so many of them show disdain towards Aloy.  That all being said the post credit story was interesting & certainly has me curious about what they could do with a sequel.

Visually speaking the game is superior to the actual story,  everything from the character designs & outfits to the machines & scenery itself.  Aloy's design was inspired & not the typical look of a central female character which I found to be a good thing.  The outfits worn by the tribes were interesting, it combined a tribal look with a slight twist.  The environments themselves were beautiful with many breath taking views especially those featuring mountain & forest areas.  There are areas in the game later you discovered called Cauldrons,  I can't go into detail but lets just say they look really cool. One of my favorite things visually were the machines themselves, the designs were interesting & the way they moved was fantastic.  My two favorites were the Thunder Jaw & Rock Breaker.  The Thunder Jaw is like a T-Rex covered in metal & loaded up with guns.  The Rock Breaker is like a giant scary worm that's teeth can not only destroy rock but fling them at you with high speed accuracy.


The music features heavy use of stringed & wind instruments along with an occasional futuristic sound.  The overall sound moves between a heavy, emotional & often somber tone to a more epic & action filled one. There were a number of artists who helped create the sound for Horizon Zero Dawn, they are:


Joris De Man;  a Dutch Composer who has worked on a number of games including the Killzone games, Velocity, & some smaller features likes Raging Balls of Steel Justice & Code Hunters.

Niels van der Leest;  is also a Dutch composer who worked on, Phoenix 2, Damian Filigree: The Book of Thoth & an interesting album called Percussive Adventures

The Flight; is made up of the duo Joe Henson & Alexis Smith who are based in the UK.  They are not only composers & song writers but also producers.  Their works include Alien Isolation,  Assassins Creed 4 Black Flag & have worked on music by artists such as; Lana Del Rey, David Bowie, Elbow Rufus Wainwright & many others.

Johnathan Williams; who has worked with many artists including, Sugar Hill Gang, Mobb Deep, Tara Key & Thelonious Monk as a composer, artist, engineer, producer & a photographer.

Julie Elven; is based in Munich & has worked on a number of game scores including, World of Warcraft Legion, Star Citizen & Total War: Warhammer.


Some of my favorite pieces from the game included:  'Aloy's Theme', 'Motherland: Seal Your Lips', 'Years of Training', 'The Proving', 'Hologram Myth', 'The Good News' & 'Homecoming'.


As whole I really like game soundtracks, I don't think they get enough attention especially as they can help really shape a game & set the tone.  That being said the soundtrack for Horizon Zero Dawn is just over 4 hours long which I think is way too long for a game that is only about 40 hours long & I often heard the same pieces played over & over.

Onto the meat, the gameplay.  There were may things I liked about the gameplay & unfortunately quite a few that I didn't.  I liked that you had the choice in some conversations to choose the answers, you could pick; aggressive, peaceful or thoughtful.  Unfortunately the dialogue options you picked did not always sync up with what was then said, which I found to be frustrating.  I also found the answers chosen had no bearing on the story or gameplay.  When it came to what approach to take in combat I found stealth to be the smartest approach but after a while going balls out seemed to work out just fine - I died more but it was a lot more fun.


There were some interesting weapons but without a doubt the most useful for me was the spear & bow. I found upgrading you carry capacity for ammo was vital especially for the later battles in the game.  I was not blown away by the modifications, there were far too many & often one did not seem any more exceptional than the other.  Later on you get an upgrade for your spear that allows you to override machines but as a whole I did not find it that helpful, although it was fun on occasion to see one of your machines destroying another.  The combat itself especially against machines was a lot of fun, without a doubt my favorite thing to do was take on a Thunder Jaw.  They are so powerful that taking one down really felt like a victory.


Like all open world games the are plenty of side missions that really helped flesh out the game & added to the world itself.  Each one felt a little different but I often found my interest wandering as it was never as interesting as the Ancient One's plot & felt like an unneeded distraction.


A game does not always have to have an end boss but when it does I want it to be epic, fun & really help finish the game with a bang.  Horizon Zero Dawn did not do this & it felt like a rehashed enemy rather than the grand finale it should have been.





So after 40 hours of play how did I feel? Was I look forward to playing more & being a completionist or was I happy to hang up my boots & be done with it.  Unfortunately & disappointingly it was the latter.  There were many great things in the game but a slight lack imagination & some unutilised features stopped it from being all it could be.  It was not a bad game but if I had to sum the game up with one word it would be meh.