Ezio, the star of Assassin’s Creed 2 is back with more running, climbing, thieving and killing.  Now set in Rome, Ezio has to battle the ruling Borgia and build up Rome to be a better place. The area of Rome is huge and is probably the same size as the previous game but all condensed into one giant area instead of separate areas.

Gameplay is largely unchanged from the previous games and there are plenty of things to do to keep you occupied, from destroying Borgia towers (which opens new areas) to collecting loot, carrying out assassinations, and collecting feathers and flags.  I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the Brotherhood although I did expect some changes and beefed up gameplay which was simply more of the same from before.  That is not necessarily a bad thing, the gameplay works as it does but there could have been some more improvements to mix it up a bit.

I would liked to have seen some improvements over the platforming mechanics but sadly the old problem of randomly jumping to your death still exists. A series of jumps may work well but the  most miniscule of movements away from thumbstick forward may see you falling to your death – something which is most annoying when for example climbing the spectacle which is the Colloseum. But while this game is as frustrating as hell, it is one of those games which has a unique draw and addiction. So while I spent many a time falling to my death or surviving and having to make a climb over and over again, the charm of the game made this a non issue and there was a drive to complete it.  Had this been any other game, no doubt I would have traded it in out of annoyance. But it is Assassin’s Creed, so it is okay.

Section 16 puzzles are back and are still as mysterious as before. If you like your brain tested, the glyphs are definitely something to search out.  In a huge place like Rome though these glyphs can be hard to find. But here is a tip – Press start and go to database, then locations. Ensure Rome is highlighted then press Y to filter through to section 16 locations. Pick a location (I don’t recommend the first one early days as it is hard to access) and then you can add a map marker to take you to the location. Much easier to find them then.

I have finished the game now although not yet got 100% completion. I did complete buying all parts of Rome and was really disappointed not to get an achievement for that. I am not greatly into achievements, but it is really annoying when you get an achievement for watching a cutscene and then do not get one for something that actually requires effort.  Note to developers: Make sure your achievements actually mean somethign to achieve please.

Anyway, all in all a good game and I look forward to some download content to extend the game. Oh and a BTW, what the hell was up with that ending? That was a major WTF moment.

Fallout: New Vegas was released on 22nd October to much fanfare and critical acclaim. The sequel if you like, to Fallout 3 which was set in a make believe Washington DC, New Vegas is set in Las Vegas and the surrounding Mojave Desert. If course it is not a scale of the real thing, but a re-imagining by the designers.  There is even a re-imagining of the Las Vegas gambling strip where you can bet away your hard earned gold to gain lots more with games like blackjack and slot machines in the casinos. Naturally you are not assured of winning gold and you may lose lots, so be careful how you gamble.

This game is huge. Not just huge in space but huge in things to do, main storyline and sub quests.  There is so much to do that in a single play of the game trying to do as much as possible it could take you 80 or more hours to finish and you still will not complete it all. In fact because at a certain point in the game you are forced to choose a side from the 5 fighting factions available, it is actually impossible to complete every single quest in a single play of the game.  This game is so big it would take multiple plays to finish everything. I have almost finished playing at around 70 hours and I am really not sure how I managed it, I have done everything I can and still there are things I cannot do due to the path of storyline I chose to take.

It is a simple story. You are a courier who at the beginning of the game was robbed of a package you were delivering and was left for dead by the robbers.  There starts your goal to hunt down who robbed you and why. Much of the side quests are interlinked with the main story and often you may find yourself angering a faction who you wish to side with, so make your quest choices wisely and be careful who you befriend as it may be your downfall.

Fallout New Vegas has been getting positive reviews across the world and little is said bad of the game but beware it is not perfect. The game does have some awful  glitches, at it’s best you may have to restart a quest, at it’s worst you will find your gamesave  corrupted so it is strongly advised that you use multiple save slots for your single game and save lots. Save when something important happens, save before and after a quest and save when you find a new area. Do not rely on the built in autosave otherwise you may find your 70 hour game and reduced to a pile of nothing and you have to restart – something which is a painful prospect.  A patch has been made available which fixes some of the many glitches but there are still some so make sure you connect to the internet to download the latest updates.  I had one game save corrupted but fortunately I saved frequently so only lost one hour of progress.

Aside from the glitches and bugs, Fallout New Vegas is an amazing game and if you like RPG games then you will love this one.

Available on Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and PC. Rated 18 years and over.

Mafia 2 has been criticised by many gamers for having no side missions just like Grand Theft Auto or Saints Row but does it really need them?  Just because other games do it, does not mean that all games have to have the same ideas. The only problem with having no side missions or collectables is that the developer has made this beautiful free roaming open world but has done nothing to encourage exploration. I don’t really want to explore as there is nothing to gain so I stick to the main story, and the story is where the game holds it’s own.

The story in Mafia 2 is well thought out and you start off as a soldier in the war against Mussolini. From there you come back home and that is when you start to fall into the life of crime which is the basis for the game. It does flow really well with a decent pace but unfortunately at about halfway through the game the pace is ruined by a chapter which drags down the game to a snails pace and really takes away from the game rather than adds to it. I don’t want to give away spoilers so that is where I will leave that comment, only to say that personally I think the game would have been better without that dull chapter and without it ruining the pace.

The graphics in the game are excellent and well detailed however at times there was some screen tearing on the Xbox 360 version. This seemed to happen really only in the first couple of hours and then settled down so it was not too much of an issue, just a little distraction.

The game uses a cover system which feels a little clunky at times but it is very important to use cover as there are times when you can be killed by one shot. The AI is not that great, but come across one with a shotgun and it may be game over if you are out of cover. One annoyance I found was the police wanted system. You have two layers of wanted – first the car you are in is labelled as wanted and secondly if the police see you out of the car they get a description and then your clothing is marked as wanted. To get rid of the wanted status of the car you must change vehicles or change the number plate at one of the many garages and to get rid of personal wanted system you must change your clothes. The problem was getting to these places. There seemed to be at times police on every corner so it was quite a task to actually shake off the police. You may lose their alert but as soon as you go near another police car the alert starts again and you can get into a vicious cycle.  Simple taking another car is not that simple because all stationary cars are locked so you have to wait for the animation of smashing the window or picking the lock before you could take it – and in that time another police car turns up. I tried running to a shop to get a change of clothes and shock horror just as I was about to go into the store a police car turned up and the alert started again, I got into a 20 minute vicious cycle of alerts and no alerts before I was able to take proper action. Frustrating times but it did not dent my enjoyment of the game.

Overall I really enjoyed the game and it’s storyline and would recommend it to everyone to play. It may not have the sandbox feel of other games but really it does not need it. Definite rent, possible buy.