EuroGamer 2012: First Thoughts – Assassin’s Creed III & Dead or Alive 5

• Assassin’s Creed III

I got to play not one but TWO demos of this little beauty. Let me start of by saying that I am not a big fan of the series so even I was concerned on how I would react. One demo showed us a side of the game we are all familiar with, the stealth, the executions, the sneaky crawling up walls, while the other showed us something a little new. The other demo showed us how the new Assassin’s Creed has incorporated warfare at sea! That’s right, you sail a ship! A ship and not only that but you fight other ships and destroy them and save others and all while looking like the part. I know right? I was surprised too. But were these demos good? Well the first demo which I shall call Stealthy Demo (SD) was like I said everything you expect – except it does throw in a few new visuals to the action and well they have made this game even more graphically amazing. It was beautiful, smooth and correct for lack of a better term. Wall climbing wasn’t so obvious and felt like there was a little bit more of a challenge for the mind if not for the gamer. I really had to think and sometimes fast when presented in combat situations or sneaking about in the cover of shadow. Talking about combat, it took me a while to get to grips with it, I found it a little infuriating as there was little direction on exactly how defeat a group of baddies once they were alerted to you presence as a lot of them blocked. But again, visually – amazing. The game looses no points for the quality of animation or attention to detail. The second demo the Ship at Sea demo (SaSD) was different. Different as in good! Now Even I was impressed by the SD so they have done something right. The SaSD showed us a new edge and a great one at that. HD ship battles in colonial times?! I was in this fantastic half an hour which I didn’t want to end. I successfully destroyed two other vessels, incapacitated another and walked the plank and boarded it. Cannonballs! Chains! Gunpowder! All in all bloody brilliant. I feel like I am looking forward to playing this so make sure you check it out on October 30th when it’s available.

• Dead or Alive 5

This for me was the first thing I threw myself into and you know what? Disappointing. This game was really really disappointing for me. I couldn’t tell the difference between DoA 4 and 5. A few graphical bumps but nothing that stood out. Even the character selection was a bit dull. Considering fans have been waiting a long long time for a console follow up to Extreme 2, I was a bit dismayed. However if you like DoA 4 you will like this as well – just don’t hope for anything more than you have already received. In all honesty I wasn’t able to check out a story mode so cut scenes maybe brilliant and there maybe a really good story arc going on here and I wouldn’t know. The game has just been released so I may have to swoop in and see if I can purchase a copy. One good thing I will see about it is that it’s fast, very fast, depending on the characters fighting. My goodness is there a strong variety between speeds and it is noticeable. I did feel like I needed to check out certain characters for their stats which I haven’t had to do for a long while. So that right there shows something good. I would like to have a good play through of the game before I condemn it. As it was actually a good game it just didn’t feel like added much to the series which other fighting style games such as Soul Calibur V have been doing. Take that as you will.

Check back soon for the verdict on Crysis 3 & Devil May Cry at EuroGamer, you are in for a treat.