Above average but no longer great
NeilSBUK from ,
14th February, 2010
I'm reviewing this game in February 2010, so it's been a while since its release. It still holds up as a reasonable action game, but when compared to more recent titles like Uncharted 2, it falls flat. There are a lot of good things in this game like the characters and story, the graphics are excellent, and the gameplay is generally above average, but I wouldn't say it was excellent. The issues I encountered were: Too much video and not enough gameplay. You can skip some of these videos if you want to, but watching them helps to follow the story. I can understand having some video, but sometimes they go on for about half an hour at a time. Poor controls - It took me a while to tweak the control options to get the scheme I wanted, but even then some functions such as weapon zooming are really cumbersome. Character's reaction to getting hit - sometimes you get hit and you fall over and are helpless to do anything for a few seconds. It is especially difficult to avoid ending up in this situation when using the weapon zoom function. Some annoying bosses - One of the bosses I encountered required me to read a codec entry before I could beat it, even though I knew the method to use. I repeated the method over and over until I realised that the only reason my character wasn't doing what I wanted, was because I hadn't asked what to do first. Just note that checking the codec is necessary if you need help. Although the graphics are excellent, they are very dull. Sometimes it would have been nice to have more vibrant environments. I often found myself ignoring the stealthy gameplay and just running through the levels shooting enemies and avoiding larger foes. The problem with this approach was that the game doesn't work very well as a shooter. It is possible that for stealth it is much more enjoyable, although I was hardly ever tempted to hide and work my way through the shadows. Given the hype around this game I was disappointed with it, even given that it has aged a bit now. I think by today's standards, it is only above average, and if you are looking for a great action game, you should probably look elsewhere, such as Uncharted 2 or Assassin's Creed 2.
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