Difficulty:

Hard

Time Spent:

20 to 40 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Mixed reactions"

The first impression I got when playing the game was wow, what an awesome concept - sneaking round black jacking unaware guards, using all sorts of different arrows to leave not trace of your existence, stealing loot from the rich... what fun! However, and you'll see what I mean when you play it, the game feels awfully jerky on almost every console and the pc: the frame rate severely damages the gameplay. The graphics are good, there's no doubt about it - all the lighting and terrific shadow effects. The game looks beautiful while you are standing still and panning the camera around Garett. But quirky animation does upset the overall look of the game. Watch a guard and other civilians move in the city - you'll get the picture... they look like the exo-skeleton terminator from the end of the first arnie film (lol, great film though!) Combat is let down by the frame rate too - after delivering the final blow to a guard in a hefty situation, it will take him a second or more to drop down to the floor... rather annoying when your surrounded and running out of flash bombs!

The music in this game is great, and builds on the mystical atmosphere. Sound effects, although occasionally delayed, are also spot on.

The game lasts quite a while , over 20 hours, and is very fun for the duration of the story... but there is not much else to do after than start a new game.

To finish, this game is likely to please hard core stealth fans - and although not living up to games like the Splinter Cell series, it still kicks ass (despite the bastard frame rate).