Christmas Games!

Ah, Christmas has just past and you know what that means...

New video games!

Since we had Christmas Eve at my house this year, my nephew and I both got a look at the games we got. He got Halo: Reach and I got Assassin's Creed Brotherhood. Mad love, thanks sis! <3

(FYI, this is a review post. Pretty much not gonna touch my other blog simply because of it's unpopularity. Blah.)

So we tried AC first since it has multiplayer and we're both huge fans, but X-Box Live is required for multi. Kinda disappointing, but it makes sense because we'd be able to see each other's movements and all. So we put in Halo and....

Michael, Dakota, John, I owe you an apology for complaining about y'all talking so much about Reach. It's pretty much amazing.

As far as Halo goes, that is. The only other one I've played is 3 and I just couldn't get into it. Reach, however, feels so much smoother in the controls. And the guns on the back of the ATV-thingies (Warthogs?) rotate 360 instead of 180! -is such a noob-

Long story short, I might actually be interested in Halo now.

Now Brotherhood, on the other hand, is nothing short of my expectations. First thing I said was something like, "Yes, we finally get to explore Rome! Ah Roma, Italia, mama mia~" OK, not really that last part, but now I do wish I'd paid more attention when learning Italian in school...

Brotherhood really builds on to what ACII left off (including the total WTF ending!) Ezio comes equipped with pretty much everything available in ACII and a few new things like the crossbow and ax. Certain citizens are available for recruiting and adding them to the 'Brotherhood', hence the name. Think they just sit around and collect dust? No, I can't tell you how many times my assassins have come in handy. Also, female assassins! Chalk one up for the women!

There are new parts to the memories as well. For one, they're now replayable! YAY! But also there are certain conditions to get 100%, such as completing a task within a time limit or not being detected by guards. It changes for each memory, but adds a nice touch and something else to obsess over for perfectionists like me. I'll be busy for a while, though. My map is so full of markers I can't even find myself.

Also new, you can leave the Animus anytime you want. I know what you're thinking. "Desmond's story kind of sucks, why would I leave?" Well, Desmond's got some action now! (No, not that kind, you perv. But come on, we all know he and Lucy have something.) Anyway, like I said, the new base is in 2012 Monteriggionni and you can run around outside! For ten minutes. And nothing's really out there. But hey, there may be later on, I'm only on like sequence 4.

I don't want to give away everything right now, but the last thing I must rave about is the true-to-life-ness of it all. Depending on the subject, I'm a bit of a history buff, and Rome and the Renaissance are definitely hot topics. Rome is HUGE, and you can explore places like the Roman Colosseum and the Pantheon (two places I'd love love LOVE to see but probably won't). Also, Ezio's 40-ish now and I really get the feel of his aging. Things like little grunts after a short fall and complaining about his back are nice touches. Don't worry, though, he's still that loveable, charismatic man-whore we've come to love... What? No? Just me? Well, I do love a man in assassin's robes...

I'm kind of a loser, huh?