This game came out with a lot of hype and rightfully so; it did something that hadn't been done before, with a new but still intuitive control scheme (at least for consoles) and an interesting story. Unfortunately, that's all this game ended up being. Potential. It starts out well. The free climbing mechanic makes you feel like Spiderman without the web, and stealthily stabbing a target with your hidden blade is seriously satisfying. But this is all you end up doing. Side missions, to gather "information" about your target, boil down to 3 or 4 types that get old REALLY fast. And the information is mostly useless anyhow; I could never find a way to kill one of my targets without somebody noticing and it was, in all cases, simply easier to just run up, stab him and run away again, eventually losing the guards that are apparently almost as skilled at free climbing as I am, however that makes sense. Ultimately, this game just ends up being boring. It has its moments, especially early on, but the repetition sucks any enjoyment you might have been having by about the half way mark. And that is something the admittedly dazzling visuals can't compensate for. My opinion? Take the $20 this game costs you and buy the 2nd one instead. It's far superior and arguably the best of the entire franchise.
