Trying to figure out how you can make a DS game out of a next-generation sandbox title where you prowl through an entire era of history seems like kind of a tough nut. Seriously tough, like the dense iron nuts that fall from the Unending Oak, that which is called by elves Perpetua. Utilizing (and, I believe, expending) a great deal of our influence, we were able to discern the truth of it: a radical departure from the franchise proper, whose adorability index has pierced the cuddle threshold.
I don't think we're supposed to say anything about Assassin's Creed. Let me see if I can talk around it: I often get nervous when we work on a project for a title, because we need to make gut decisions about a piece of software when it is still more "process" than "product."
I am no longer nervous.
Kiko never managed to come up with a beta key for Call of Duty 4, so he doesn't know what I know. Well, he knows it because I so frequently told him, sometimes calling at strange hours of the night to dispense my mad revelations. But he does not know it viscerally, the information doesn't knot him up inside. We've often complained about the onslaught, but even with so many games on final approach they haven't managed to quench the coals of my desire. I love Halo, and I'll be playing it for years, but its pace is so much more deliberate. When you go as fast and as lethal as Infinity Ward has chosen to, you run the risk of losing the value of individual moments, a concern they manage with brilliance by recognizing these moments with accrued experience, rank, rewards, and rich customization. I hurt for it. Deleting that beta took on a kind of funereal character.
I'm starting to read a lot of coverage on Rock Band from people who have the entire suite of rock accessories. This is all in advance of an "official review," but I think we've entered a realm here where the review proper doesn't have a tremendous amount of currency. The truly crucial content must begin and end with Chris Kohler's liveblog, covering what an evening with the title might consist of. I liked the portion of the 1up Show dedicated to it as well, and as a bonus you can hear an extremely robust discussion of Super Mario Galaxy alongside.
Extra Credit on this assignment would surely consist of a trip through several MySpace pages, to get your virtual mitts on the indie tracks that are often the highlight of a Harmonix outing: bouncing from the Joystiq story, I was glad to hear that Honest Bob and the Factory-To-Dealer Incentives were back with "I Get By," and a run through Flyleaf's "I'm So Sick" impressed upon me the savvy of their song selection process.
(CW)TB out.
