http://www.oxm.co.uk/59522/features...ould-you-buy-first-the-oxm-assessment/?page=5
Definitely looking at getting this game at launch.
Is it pretty?
Certainly is, though what's really impressive is how pretty it remains despite the sheer intricacy of the ambient and behavioural routines. Example: Ubisoft's latest open worlder incorporates a wind system that flows realistically around Chicago, changing to reflect local factors like the passage of cars. Cityfolk exhibit all sorts of minute eccentricities - you'll see them sneeze, gossip, shake rain off their umbrellas, check their mobile phones, watch TV and, of course, flee in terror because you've just popped a cap in somebody's ass.
How does it play?
Like a mixture of Assassin's Creed and Grand Theft Auto, as one previewer not very imaginatively described it. Leading man Aiden Pearce is a hacker with a taste for parkour, fisticuffs, rough driving and gunplay, which equates to lots of variety. When he isn't mounting cover in order to nightstick some poor copper in the knee, he's causing traffic accidents by activating motorised bollards. When he isn't snooping on apartment owners by way of their laptop webcams, he's commandeering speedboats and browsing in-game Alternate Reality apps and robbing ATMs and look just watch the video.
How long will it last?
Open world games don't lose their fascination fast, so if you're after a good, solid, 20+ hour adventure that isn't dependent on the activities of Xbox Live friends, this is the game for you. The multiplayer could be entertaining, too - it's seamlessly woven into the campaign world rather than sealed off as a distinct mode, such that you'll be able to "invade" and "bug" other player's sessions in the guise of an NPC. There are apparently other, more traditional competitive multiplayer options too, though Ubisoft has yet to reveal these.
Definitely looking at getting this game at launch.