RareReviews

Late in reviewing it (as I waitied for a price drop)... Its a good game, with interesting story line and ideas, loving the more diverse weapon choices (though it always seems to me in the AC games that I'm chasing a killer who leads me to another killer etc etc. maybe I dont pay enough attention to the cutscenes!) but the bugs are very noticeable. Im streaming it off an SSD which really helps cut down the long load times, but the NPCs uniforms changing as you get closer is very noticeable, and once you've seen it, you cant not see it. Ive had a few NPCs hovering in mid-air, and a weird spinning sword bug when looting bodies (happened every time for about 20min), but other than that, its been a good fun game with plenty of interest. I still feel the control system needs some refinement though. Every now and then while running through streets or on rooftops Arno insists on jumping onto a table or chimney stack and just crouching there for too long. More than once have I exclaimed in frustration "GET MOVING!!!". Look past the bugs and its a great game. Especially as I got it for £7. Will fill the time before Syndicate comes out, which I really hope will have some serious improvements.

I don't often bother to review games I've played, but I feel that some of the critics have got this one so wrong (either because they were rubbish at it or just didn't 'get' it) that it deserves a second chance! This game is defintiely a fun, challenging but rewarding, cross-genre melding of ideas seldom seen on console. Set in a vibrant world of color and sound I've run through a good variety of stages (both in terms of visuals and challenges) that almost constantly surprised me with the new twists to using in game mechanics to complete levels. Yes, the early levels are easy, they have to be, but I didn't struggle with the later introduction of new ideas as some reviewers have. They've complained that they needed more gentle introduction to new ideas...really not necessary IMO, but then I encountered death infrequently until after world 3, so perhaps I just took to it all more naturally! The characters are deceptively cute, the audio fun and bubbly, and the visuals as crisp and colorful as they need to be for a storyline revolving around the theft of color from the world. The recoloring of the world as you progress through levels is a really nice touch, tho sometimes there's so much detail going on in the background its hard to keep focused on the demanding obstacle course ahead! To comment on a few issues noted by other reviewers: 1) yes the end boss is hard. Very hard. But its the end ****, I dont think many players will get that far... 2) Some levels are a bit repetitive in the early stages, but some really throw a curveball at you, almost maze like! 3) Spamming color change button. It works for first 2 worlds, but then after that, theres no time for it, getting perfect scores becomes very very hard! (Id given up on it due to fatigue anyway!) The bonus levels are a nice addition as well, and very challenging. Would perhaps have liked some new music tracks there, but there is good variety in the music from the main game of 50 levels, and when you do go back to the challenging bonus levels, you hardly notice the re-use of music. I would have liked the 3 main characters to have skills that set them apart from each other...though I dont know how the developer would have incorporated that into meaningful level design. As it is, switching between them (when you can) seems a purely visual thing, which I suppose is nice for those who want to play as the alternative girl or grunty male character... Its a good clean fun game, and cross-save to Vita and all the unlocks are a nice bonus. Shame I dont have a Vita to play it while commuting.... If metacritic allowed, Id give it something like an 8.5.