From the perspective of someone who just finished Black Flag, and experienced what an Assassins Creed game can really be, it is possible to see Liberation's port as a bit of a letdown, but don't let the word "port" -or the title's humble beginnings- be a deterrent.
Comparing the graphics of Liberation HD to the original Vita version and with AC 3, it is clear that it benefits greatlyFrom the perspective of someone who just finished Black Flag, and experienced what an Assassins Creed game can really be, it is possible to see Liberation's port as a bit of a letdown, but don't let the word "port" -or the title's humble beginnings- be a deterrent.
Comparing the graphics of Liberation HD to the original Vita version and with AC 3, it is clear that it benefits greatly from the facelift. The city of New Orleans (as well as the other areas) received new, bustling life that took it from seeming like a ghost town to being more on par with AC3's Boston, though slightly smaller.
The storyline does feel a tad bit... fast at times, but I personally did not see it as a detriment to the title. The lack of jarring modern-day sections (which were awful in 3 and greatly improved in 4) is a welcome addition to the series, with the entirety of the gameplay taking place within the confines of the narrative. The only incursion is the "hacking" of your copy of the game by the entity known as Erudito, whose goal is to show you the unaltered memories that Abstergo changed to show the templars in a better light. A fantastic twist on the typical modern day setting.
Aveline handles well with a controller, though suffers from the same niggling problems that plague all AC protaganists; there were a few times when I found myself swearing at Aveline for jumping into a tree instead onto it, but no more than any other characters, either. The combat system has been reduced to two buttons, but let's REALLY be honest: How many players really used anything more than "Counter"? The chain kill mechanic is a nice way to step back from the action and allow a chance to get quality kills, though the opportunities to use it didn't seem to be there as often as I would have liked.
On the subject of Aveline, the persona system was an excellent idea, which, if fleshed out just a little bit more, could have been an AMAZING idea, but as it stands it still did its job, which was to expand the character of Aveline into more than simply a puppet you can use to stab people.
Storywise, it IS much shorter than its other console brethren, and there are unfamiliar textual summaries of events which took place off-screen (or, baffingly, sometimes on-screen). Mission-wise, there was a nice mix, with a few new mechanics thrown in for good measure (puzzles? I liked them!). It felt like Assassins Creed 2 in regard to the missions, still basic in a way, and not laden down with unnecessary fluff like later titles. As I stated above, it did seem very fast (it took me maybe 7 hours to complete the main storyline) but at a third of the cost of a major title (or less with the season pass for Black Flag) it is hard to throw too big of a fit about the length of the story. (And with all of the collectibles and an achievement/trophy for actually completing the game 100%, you'll get more out of it than just that time).
Admittedly, it IS possible to tell that this was a handheld game first; there are a few areas (mainly in Chichen Itza, and parts of the bayou) where the models for the trees or rocks seemed incongruous with the HD setting, but for the most part this was easily ignorable. A few animations suffer from the jump, most egregiously swinging with the bull-whip across gaps (which is still a lot of fun, it just looks really STRANGE).
The characters with which you interact are some of the best in the series, including the brooding, moody Assassin mentor Agate and the smugglers Aveline befriends in the bayou. It is a shame that so many negative reviews by players who expected more (for 20 bucks how much do you really want?) will ultimately lead them to be undiscovered.
Pros:
Solid Title with decent concepts
Beautiful look at French Louisiana
A third of the price of a retail game
Series first female protaganist, who is clever and not afraid to use her position(s) to her advantage.
Cons:
A few modeling issues
Storyline that is short by console standards (though without modern-day fluffery)
One mission where you have to put up with Connor's terrible, bland voice-acting.
If you are looking for a decent game for 20 bucks, and are a fan of the Creed series, definitely pick this up. It's more of the same, admittedly, but it isn't AC3, and that in itself counts for a lot. It doesn't hold up next to the likes of Black Flag, but it is a fun little game and it shows that Ubisoft isn't afraid to experiment with the AC formula. If you played this on the Vita, it's up to you whether you play it again since it is still the same game (though all the bugs of the vita version have been fixed).… Expand