I got into a nasty fight on a ship full of soldiers and a lion that involved fire and my ship being destroyed, then Moana came to help me get back.This guy rode all over the lake with me.
The lighting and ambient occlusion seems like it has more of an effect on framerate than almost anything else. I'm also playing at 1080p on a 980ti using the default "Ultra" settings, and while it's 60 fps most of the time, there are certain situations which are basically guaranteed to cause framedrops; "big" cities like Alexandria, or tombs with a bunch of torches burning. So, yeah, those tomb areas where it's calculating shadows and occlusion from multiple independent light sources are actually more of a system hit than the wide sweeping panoramic views that seem more immediately impressive. Such a spectacular looking game across the board.
Yes. Ancient Egypt covers a massive period of time and was influenced by a lot of different things. By the time of the Ptolemaic era (the tail-end of which is the setting for AC Origins), you had a wide variety of architectural styles on display, from the massive pyramids of the old kingdom (2,600 BCE) to the Roman and Greek influence through Alexandria and Cyrene (the latter of which wasn't Egyptian at all). The game doesn't go as far south as Luxor or Karnak, but there were some truly breathtaking temples in that area which have been preserved for thousands of years and give us a good example of the scale of architecture Ancient Egypt had thousands of years before the Greeks or Romans ever got there. That's the nice thing about making your temples and artwork out of rock; they tend to survive better than paintings or books.
Disabling all hud elements and flying around with Senu is Zen. This game is so good.
The game was made by the same crew who made Black Flag, which was very highly praised for its ship battles. So I think it's a case of "stick with what works." The problem is the ship battles here are greatly reduced. Accepting that archers replace cannons, you still lack a front cannon (which slowed enemy ships down), fire barrels, a mortar, or the ability to board vessels. It takes a lot out of the ship battles when you're reduced to holding LB, releasing for a counter-shot, firing a volley or two, and then repeating until whatever you are fighting is dead. I still enjoy the ship battles, but going 1600 years back in time hurt the technology available, and that does adversely impact the enjoyment.
Glad to see I'm not the only one doing it. At first I thought that Senu would only be the reskinned drone from WatchDogs 2 but being able to freely fly is great and is a good way to enjoy the world they built.
Ubisoft had problems early in the gen with Watch Dogs and Unity critical reception, but shortly after proved to be one of the most invested in new IP, single player blockbusters, and diverse respresentation in well liked games.
The best bit was all the memes that compared Ubisoft to EA, such as "Why is EA the worst company in America? Because Ubisoft is French." It's a good gag, but it completely falls apart when you look at what the two companies are doing. EA fills its games with microtransactions and pay-to-win mechanics. Ubisoft puts in microtransactions that let you ride a unicorn. EA will have free weekends occasionally to get you invested in a product, which is nice. But then Ubisoft goes and gives away entire games for free permanently. And good games, too; Assassin's Creed Black Flag is one of the best games of the last generation and you can get it free right now! I got Rayman Origins and Far Cry Blood Dragon for nothing. Some other titles too that I'm blanking on. What service! And you can't even accuse them of being risk-averse. EA took its primary modern shooting game back to World War I and people thought, shit, is that going to work? Ubisoft took its primary modern shooting game back to prehistoric cavemen hurling spears at mammoths! Can you imagine the balls it takes to pitch Far Cry without guns?
