What I Played Today: Christmas Weekend

Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, Dead Rising 2

I can go into exaggerated detail over how much Assassin’s Creed multiplayer I’ve played over the past four days, but let’s just chalk it up to a lot. I really like this gameplay, and I’m finally getting what is going on. I’ve had some awesome kills, some real balls-up deaths, and some runaway wins in which I was completely untouchable for the last few minutes of the match. (My most vivid memory is a match in which I placed 3rd despite only getting 4 kills, because they were quality kills and I was stunning pretty much every pursuer who approached me.) But, I’ve played so much that I’m now level 21, having unlocked the Charge ability (which I am very excited to use.) So yes, if you have an opportunity to try it, try it, because it is the most engaging multiplayer I’ve ever played.

I also played some of the single player, getting through the second sequence. I found it weird that the game picks up literally seconds after the end of the second game, as you step out of the room you were in and everyone is like, “Hey, what are you up to?” Then the game hits the reset button and hard, and you are in Rome with only your good buddy Machiavelli to keep you company. There’s this one weird point where 10 dudes in wolf masks jump out to kill you, and naturally Ezio handles them like paper, and as he is standing above a pile of corpses, he says, “Who are these murderers?” THESE murderers, Ezio? If that is their job description, they did a terrible job. I think you’ve done their job for them, with overtime.

But it’s competent enough, with about all the expected beats that were visible in the 2nd game, which is good, I suppose.

I also played some of Dead Rising 2, and it feels a lot like the first one, except that the main character isn’t a complete tool. I like what they’ve done with this character, giving him a) a good reason to survive, and b) a good reason to be there when the shit goes down. It’s a bit weird that the world is apparently able to handle a zombie-killing game show that going into its 17th season, you’d figure people would be a bit concerned that their former loved ones were being slaughtered by men riding motorcycles with chainsaws, but maybe it’s an in-game wink, seeing as most zombies seem to come out of literally nowhere. How did those 20 zombies get into the elevator, you ask? Don’t worry about it, just hit them with a bat with nails in it. But the similarities between this game and the first are palpable, so much so that I want to go and finish the first game.

That’s it. I bought the latest Telltale affair, the Back to the Future game, but haven’t had a chance to play it. Soon, very soon.