Support NeoGAF

[Mario007]

Sorry if this has been asked multiple times but I can't read this thread in fear of AC1-2 spoilers.

I haven't played AC before but the commercials / trailers for AC3 are tempting. So I want to start the series.

So I have a couple quick questions:

1) Which console should I get AC1, AC2 and AC3 for?
2) Is AC: Brotherhood and AC: Revelations necessary for the story or can I skip them? Both?
3) Is there any kind of bundle for the first 2 games?

There's huge sale on the PSN for the AC games now actually.

Assassin’s Creed – Not available in Bulgaria, Hungary, Qatar
Was €19.99/£15.99 Now €9.99/£7.99
Assassin’s Creed 2 – Not available in Bulgaria, Hungary, Qatar
Was €19.99/£14.99 Now €12.99/£9.99
Assassin’s Creed Double Edition
Was €29.99/£23.99 Now €19.99/£15.99
Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood – Not available in Bulgaria, Hungary, Qatar
Was €19.99/£15.99 Now €14.99/£11.99
Assassin’s Creed Revelations
Was €29.99/£19.99 Now €19.99/£15.99

So you can get them all for 55 euro.
No need to trouble yourself with the DLC, really. There will also be an Ezio Trilogy pack containing AC2, ACB and ACR coming out soon.

Alternatively the new versions of ACR should have a copy for AC1 for the ps3 so you'd only have to buy AC2, ACB and ACR.

I haven't played AC1 and ACR too much but all the AC games seem great. AC1 is very different to the rest of the series in that it requires you to kind of plan your own way of how to do missions whereas the other AC games do follow more of GTA approach to missions.

The overarcing story is summed up at the start of AC3 apparently so no need to play the previous games for that (it's also ridiculous but that's another issue). AC3 has its own setting, protagonist and story.

 

[BKJest]

Still got Brotherhood and Revelations to go. Will I miss anything vital if I just do story missions to get through those?

In Revelations you miss the backstory of Desmond which is hidden in sidequests.

Sorry if this has been asked multiple times but I can't read this thread in fear of AC1-2 spoilers.

I haven't played AC before but the commercials / trailers for AC3 are tempting. So I want to start the series.

So I have a couple quick questions:

1) Which console should I get AC1, AC2 and AC3 for?
2) Is AC: Brotherhood and AC: Revelations necessary for the story or can I skip it?
3) Is there any kind of bundle for the first 2 games?

If you're planning on marathoning the main titles in succession you will definitely get burned out by the series. Once I finish a game I'm spent on the title. Once a year passes I'm ready for the next iteration. But 3 or even 5 titles in a row would be way too much.

1. I don't know if there are significant differences between the console versions. But I haven't heard any major complaints as with Skyrim.
2. Brotherhood has probably the most substantial progression of the sci-fi plot. And the story of the second protagonist is told over all three games (2, Brotherhood and Revelations). But the sci-fi plot is the weakest link of the series IMO anyway. I'd want to play Brotherhood because it is the second best iteration after 2 so far.

 

[Tabris]

But if the stories are summarized at the start, then wouldn't that ruin playing the first games?

FYI, I won't be marathoning the series. Just one at a time slowly. I don't need to play AC3 right now.

 

[BearPawB]

But if the stories are summarized at the start, then wouldn't that ruin playing the first games?

FYI, I won't be marathoning the series. Just one at a time slowly. I don't need to play AC3 right now.

The story isn't the main reason i go to the games (except revalation)

I haven't seen the intro in question, but i would guess it summarizes mainly the desmond aspects of the story, and you could still play 2 experiencing most of ezios story unscathed, but thats just me guessing

 

[Mario007]

But if the stories are summarized at the start, then wouldn't that ruin playing the first games?

FYI, I won't be marathoning the series. Just one at a time slowly. I don't need to play AC3 right now.

Because no one actually cares much for the sci-fi plot, it's mostly there to bring the games together in a coherent fashion but really each game has a pretty much self-contained story (though you could argue about AC 2 and ACB).

You play as Desmond (the main character of the overarching plot) for maybe around 1 hour in all 4 games put together (excluding AC3 since I havent played it ) if you only do the main story.

 

[diffusionx]

Nobody, not especially any educated American, could possibly seriously believe THE PATRIOT was accurately depicting events of the period.

I'm pretty sure most Americans think this is how it went down:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqpJvey-7-s

 

[mickcenary]

Question to those who have played it: regarding Connor, is there still a strong sense of aesthetic progression/upgrades? Turning Ezio into one ornate and suave dude was a massive gameplay pull for me in AC2.

 

[Ein Bear]

Anyone getting into the series for the first time really should play through the games in order. Yeah you can catch-up on the main plot via videos or whatever, but I feel you'd really miss out on something special. Altair/Ezio are two of the best developed characters in gaming, it's a really unique experience seeing these people grow over decades.

The stuff you'd actually be 'catching up' on is the worst part of the series anyway, nobody cares about that 2012 bollocks. You'd be missing out on some great stuff if you skipped them, the real heart of the series is in the stories of the individual games, not the overarching narrative.

 

[BKJest]

The story isn't the main reason i go to the games (except revalation)

I haven't seen the intro in question, but i would guess it summarizes mainly the desmond aspects of the story, and you could still play 2 experiencing most of ezios story unscathed, but thats just me guessing

Yeah. It's a summary of the Desmond story. It mentions Altaïr and Ezio by name but it doesn't reveal their respective plots.

 

[Tabris]

Anyone getting into the series for the first time really should play through the games in order. Yeah you can catch-up on the main plot via videos or whatever, but I feel you'd really miss out on something special. Altair/Ezio are two of the best developed characters in gaming, it's a really unique experience seeing these people grow over decades.

The stuff you'd actually be 'catching up' on is the worst part of the series anyway, nobody cares about that 2012 bollocks. You'd be missing out on some great stuff if you skipped them, the real heart of the series is in the stories of the individual games, not the overarching narrative.

Do I need to play all 4 games to enjoy the individual stories or is there any I can skip?

 

[enzo_gt]

Do I need to play all 4 games to enjoy the individual stories or is there any I can skip?

Honestly, you need to play them all the fully understand. Brotherhood is the most skippable in terms of story, but on the flipside it's the best and most polished game of them all by a landslide. If you don't play AC1, it would make ACR much less enjoyable. If your not gonna play AC1, don't bother with AC:R as you'll be wasting your time with a story focusing on a connection you never really had or experienced in terms of playing through in Altairs world and time.

Storytelling isn't AC's best feats, its very little story drip fed throughout an extremely elongated span of gameplay. But I would say if your not marathonning them all, it's best just to play them all, even as dated as AC1 may be. AC1 is great for context for the rest of the series.

 

[Avixph]

Do I need to play all 4 games to enjoy the individual stories or is there any I can skip?

Skip the non-numbered ones and the first one.

 

[XANDER CAGE]

I think they would have been much better off just having AC games without the sci-fi stuff like GTA, pick a location, protagonist and tell his story. Forget about Desmond.

Hopefully from now on they'll do what Liberation is doing and only really uses the sci-fi stuff in a very minimalistic manner.

I think the scifi flavor is a good thing, since it allows them to do cool things with the UI (I love the way the landscape loads in and out, for example). As a story wrapper, though... weh.

 

[BKJest]

Honestly, you need to play them all the fully understand. Brotherhood is the most skippable in terms of story, but on the flipside it's the best and most polished game of them all by a landslide. If you don't play AC1, it would make ACR much less enjoyable.

Storytelling isn't AC's best feats, its very little story drip fed throughout an extremely elongated span of gameplay. But I would say if your not marathonning them all, it's best just to play them all, even as dated as AC1 may be. AC1 is great for context for the rest of the series.

Good post. 2 is my personal favourite since I like Tuscany the most out of all the al the maps. And the POP style dungeons got more and more scripted as the series progressed. But Brotherhood really is the most polished game and the addition of the Brotherhood feature was great.

1 can be a real chore to get through as it is incredibly repetitive. But it does set up everything the story is based on.

 

[enzo_gt]

I think the scifi flavor is a good thing, since it allows them to do cool things with the UI (I love the way the landscape loads in and out, for example). As a story wrapper, though... weh.

I think the story needs to be freed from Desmond more than the Sci-Fi setting. It's this beautiful concept and everything ruined by the most generic, uninteresting protagonist all gen. They really went out of their way to make him as generic as they could. They keep trying to force his personal story in there when we all know it doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things at the end of the day, and moments later the game goes back to acknowledging that fact too.

 

[Ein Bear]

Do I need to play all 4 games to enjoy the individual stories or is there any I can skip?

To be honest, you can stop playing whenever you want. The games always end on a cliffhanger for the Desmond/2012 stuff, but the actual main plot of them is always tied up pretty nicely and tells a complete story. You never feel cheated when the credits roll on the Altair/Ezio side of things.

I loved playing all four, as you get to really see the characters grow over them (Ezio starts AC2 in his teens, and by AC:R is in his mid-fifties and a pretty different character), but none of them are 'essential', it's just a case of if you want more.

I'd say at least play AC1/AC2, since you get two great characters and two good stories. 2 even has some followup Altair stuff in it for a bit of closure. If you want more after that, then pick up Brotherhood/Revelations.

Edit: I will say though that I thought Revelations has one of the best, most satisfying endings in gaming. If you can stick it out, it's well worth it.

 

[Y2Kev]

You sound like a number one fan.

I like 2 a lot. The rest I think are just busywork routine games. Revelations has so many awful systems and subsystems layered on top of one another that the entire game is an exercise in artifice. Do this, which triggers this, so you do this minigame, to do this, then pull off the wanted posters, then do this, etc.

I thought they really needed to simplify the game systems and focus on using the controls and combat in interesting ways. I am an honest judge.

 

[Totobeni]

for the new people to the series I'd say play AC1(since it has the best story and characters in the series) and AC2 (still kinda good story and it's best game in the series) and skip AC2:Brotherhood and the horrible AC2: Revelations and watch IGN 7 min lore video to know the basics.

 

[XANDER CAGE]

I think the story needs to be freed from Desmond more than the Sci-Fi setting. It's this beautiful concept and everything ruined by the most generic, uninteresting protagonist all gen. They really went out of their way to make him as generic as they could. They keep trying to force his personal story in there when we all know it doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things at the end of the day, and moments later the game goes back to acknowledging that fact too.

He's boring, but I think they at least deserve props for what's probably the biggest concentration of something-other-than-white protagonists in one series.

 

[SlasherJPC]

Anyone know if streams are getting taken down? If not I could possible start one up.

 

[iNvid02]

Anyone know if streams are getting taken down? If not I could possible start one up.

one guy was streaming yesterday fine, didnt see him get taken down.

if its not too much trouble go for it, i would like to see some of the traversal, buildings and trees etc

 

[PowderedToast]

one guy was streaming yesterday fine, didnt see him get taken down.

if its not too much trouble go for it, i would like to see some of the traversal, buildings and trees etc

same

 

[SlasherJPC]

one guy was streaming yesterday fine, didnt see him get taken down.

if its not too much trouble go for it, i would like to see some of the traversal, buildings and trees etc

Alright I'll try but if there are lurkers on here and see if they might report me and I'll have to stop. I'll give it a go soon.

 

[iNvid02]

Alright I'll try but if there are lurkers on here and see if they might report me and I'll have to stop. I'll give it a go soon.

cool, you can hide the link in email tags so it stays with gaf

 

[SlasherJPC]

cool, you can hide the link in email tags so it stays with gaf

Sent you a pm. Getting it ready though.

 

[Blue Ninja]

I'm hoping I'll be able to go and pick this up tomorrow: I've always been able to buy each AC game a few days in advance. We'll see.

 

[SlasherJPC]

Here you go guys! Quote for link.

.

 

[iNvid02]

Here you go guys! Quote for link.

.

sweet, ima watchn

 

[Phionoxx]

Here you go guys! Quote for link.

.

cool, thanks.

 

[CrazyDude]

What language is being spoken?

 

[Amir0x]

for the new people to the series I'd say play AC1(since it has the best story and characters in the series) and AC2 (still kinda good story and it's best game in the series) and skip AC2:Brotherhood and the horrible AC2: Revelations and watch IGN 7 min lore video to know the basics.

man Brotherhood is pretty rad, don't skip Brotherhood!

 

[enzo_gt]

Here you go guys! Quote for link.

.

Looking pretty good and smooth.

Some weird glitching with the waterfall in the distance, but overall looking pretty good, better than a lot of the trailer footage thus far.

 

[SJRB]

Here you go guys! Quote for link.

Props for doing this, good sir. I watched for 5 seconds and then I closed the screen.

Must. Stay. Strong.

 

[mujun]

Does anyone know if this game is more RPG/open world than the previous games. I've enjoyed most of the games in the series and I'm looking forward to 3 quite a lot but compared to my favorite games (Fallout, GTA, etc) the series has always felt a bit too restricted and systems heavy.

I'd love to feel more motivated to just soak up the atmosphere of the world and explore but the actual game itself always seems to turn me off doing that.

 

[iNvid02]

BAMBIIIIII

 

[DevelopmentArrested]

Does anyone know if this game is more RPG/open world than the previous games. I've enjoyed most of the games in the series and I'm looking forward to 3 quite a lot but compared to my favorite games (Fallout, GTA, etc) the series has always felt a bit too restricted and systems heavy.

I'd love to feel more motivated to just soak up the atmosphere of the world and explore but the actual game itself always seems to turn me off doing that.

uh no

 

[iNvid02]

wtf lol

 

[RedAssedApe]

deer hunter game

 

[hlhbk]

Does anyone know if this game is more RPG/open world than the previous games. I've enjoyed most of the games in the series and I'm looking forward to 3 quite a lot but compared to my favorite games (Fallout, GTA, etc) the series has always felt a bit too restricted and systems heavy.

I'd love to feel more motivated to just soak up the atmosphere of the world and explore but the actual game itself always seems to turn me off doing that.

See this is the shit I am talking about. Unrealisitc expectations! THIS IS NOT A RPG!!!!

 

[Totobeni]

Ubi should hire Obsidian to make a WRPG AssCreed game someday.

 

[dreamfall]

Props for doing this, good sir. I watched for 5 seconds and then I closed the screen.

Must. Stay. Strong. FOR PC RELEASE.

Added!

Seriously just did the same thing! Amazing idea on keeping the stream visible!

 

[buddha0991]

So I have had the whole series on 360 so far, and I got my UPlay points on there...but I got a ps3 and a vita now, and I am gonna get Liberation....and the exclusive missions...but I always hear the 360 versions look and run better than the ps3 versions.... Also, are UPlay points universal? Or are those locked onto my 360? So should I go 360 or ps3?

 

[I-hate-u]

Stop hating on Revelations people. Its Ezio/Altair connection is the series high point imo.

 

[Derrick01]

Ubi should hire Obsidian to make a WRPG AssCreed game someday.

Lord knows someone has to innovate this series. May as well be Obsidian.

 

[enzo_gt]

Stop hating on Revelations people. Its Ezio/Altair connection is the series high point imo.

It indeed is very special of a moment, but the game has far too many shortcomings otherwise for me. Mainly the terrible brotherhood management system which consumes gameplay, den defense which is the low point of the entire series and more technical glitches than any other game in the series. I can't begin to count the amount of times I've just got stuck somewhere and couldn't do anything.

 

[hlhbk]

It indeed is very special of a moment, but the game has far too many shortcomings otherwise for me. Mainly the terrible brotherhood management system which consumes gameplay, den defense which is the low point of the entire series and more technical glitches than any other game in the series. I can't begin to count the amount of times I've just got stuck somewhere and couldn't do anything.

I loved Revelations. Much better than Brotherhood in advancing the story which is why I play the games.

 

[Count of Monte Sawed-Off]

man Brotherhood is pretty rad, don't skip Brotherhood!

I'm playing Brotherhood for the first time right now, and I'm having a good time with it.

 

[SlasherJPC]

Well that was that for the stream. Someone must have ratted. lol

 

[CrazyDude]

Well that was that for the stream. Someone must have ratted. lol

Sorry, forgot to say that I am actually a spy.

 

[therealminime]

Anyone know when the review embargo lifts for this?