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Two Assassins. One Destiny. Let's Play Assassin's Creed: Revelations A third Ezio game? It is. 2011's Assassin's Creed: Revelations is the third entry into the Ezio Trilogy, following Assassin's Creed II and Brotherhood. Like the previous two titles in the series, it stars Florentine Assassin Ezio Auditore da Firenze as he continues the battle against the Templar Order. While the main character is Ezio, Altair, from the first entry in the series, stars prominently and is an important part of the final arc of Ezio's life. Altair was the first game's protagonist, and this game ends his storyline, as well as Ezio's. In 1511, four years after ending the Templar control of the Papacy and the Italian peninsula at the end of Brotherhood, Ezio travels east to Masyaf, Syria, on his quest to uncover the lost secrets of the legendary Altair, at his hidden library under the old Assassin fortress there. Ezio quickly finds he must head to Constantinople, where he uncovers a new Templar plot to undermine the Ottoman Empire, which is friendly to the Assassins and is on the rise in southeastern Europe. Ezio will find himself involved with new friends and enemies, in a brand-new setting, as he struggles to find the meaning behind both his own life and the purpose of the Assassin Brotherhood. So why are you doing Revelations? Even after the release of Black Flag, Revelations remains my favorite Assassin's Creed. Constantinople is a jaw-dropping city, in both its size and beauty, and the mix of Islamic and Greek influences in the city gives it a character I think no other city in this series has been able to match. The music is also fantastic, a product of the combined efforts of Lorne Balfe and Jesper Kyd, who had been composing for this series by himself before this game. While the Desmond plot isn't great, the storylines of both Altair and Ezio have a lot of heart and are resolved nicely, and this game gives you a chance to see Ezio not only as an old man, but as a Mentor who is worldly and wise, while still having the playful side that he had as a teenager in Florence. This game is Ezio at his best as a character, and why I'm more than happy to show it off. This LP will be a 100% synchronization run, where I'll show off the entire game as I am able, in addition to the DLC. If there's enough interest and I'm technically able to, I'll try to arrange multiplayer matches to show off the fun multiplayer mode of the game. But, my primary focus is single-player content and that will be given priority above all else. How will this LP be presented? Unlike my previous threads, this will be a straight video LP. I'm hardly interesting enough to carry a video by myself, so as things allow, I'll bring along any and all who are interested in commentating on videos with me. The extremely generous Geop has offered to do additional historical content for the thread, in the same vein as the history segments in his LPs for Assassin's Creed I and II. I would ask you all give his videos as much attention as the videos for the LP itself, as his previous Assassin's Creed threads have more than proven himself a master at this. Spoiler Policy The game itself acts as if you know exactly what happened at the end of Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (if you're not, you'll know about 5 minutes in what happened), and you are generally familiar with this series' Assassins vs. Templars plot. All Creed plot points and story up until the beginning of this game don't need to be spoiler tagged, but any talk about what happens in this game or in future ones I will request be in spoiler tags. Updates Part I: Cold Open Part II: Nova Roma Part III: Byzantium Part IV: Of Bombs and Assassins Part V: Following the Footsteps Part VI: An Assassin in Sultan Beyazid's Court Part VII: The Hunt Begins Part VIII: The New Byzantine Empire Part IX: Tales from Constantinople Part X: Mistaken Identity Part XI: No Turning Back Part XII: The Master Assassins, Part 1 Part XIII: Escape from Constantinople Part XIV: Desmond's Journey Part XV: The Lost Archive Part XVI: Old Boss, New Boss Part XVII: The Master Assassins, Part 2 Part XVIII: Bombs Away Part XIX: End of the Line EX Update Part XX: The Revelation Part XXI: Labored and Lost Sylphid fucked around with this message at 00:49 on Dec 2, 2014 |
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Apr 24, 2014 08:03
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Reserved.
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Apr 24, 2014 08:03
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Part I: Cold Open Click picture or link for video No commentary over cutscenes With Anoia and wdarkk. Sylphid fucked around with this message at 06:54 on May 1, 2014 |
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Apr 24, 2014 08:04
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I'm not a big fan of this entry into the series, but it does have one advantage that none of the sequels (bothered to) replicate - if you don't feel like spending time with Desmond, you are never once forced to. I was really hoping this is going to be the new direction - the actual story takes place entirely in the past, with the stupid modern content entirely optional. :/ Also, hooray for Geop history lessons. Edit - Wow, that introduction to the series backstory was taken word for word from a generic parody of overtly complicated fantasy worldbuilding. "Thus Proper Noun the Capslocked smote down Adjective von Adjunctivestein on the plains of Dark Blade Shield Blade". Of course in a proper parody the punchline is "huh?", while you co-stars are forced to pretend that the whole thing makes some sort of sense. Xander77 fucked around with this message at 09:42 on Apr 24, 2014 |
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Apr 24, 2014 09:38
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Is the sound really grainy and screwy for anyone else?
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Apr 24, 2014 10:03
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Junior G-man posted:Is the sound really grainy and screwy for anyone else? Edit - I've got a clip that demonstrates how smart the AI is and how well it handles water quite well, but it shows off an enemy type we haven't seen yet. Can I post it? Xander77 fucked around with this message at 12:20 on Apr 24, 2014 |
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Apr 24, 2014 10:20
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I've never 100%ed an Assassin's Creed game, but I probably came closest with this one. It has a lot of game mechanics that I just really fell in love with. I still think that 2 and Brotherhood are better games, just overall... but this one is hella fun.
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Apr 24, 2014 14:52
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Brotherhood is still by far the best in the series but this game just has something about it that makes it my second favorite. Constantinople is so cool.
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Apr 24, 2014 20:00
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Weren't you just working on Agarest 2 sometime ago?
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Apr 24, 2014 20:48
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Is this the one with turret defense sections?
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Apr 24, 2014 20:51
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HR12345 posted:Weren't you just working on Agarest 2 sometime ago? That LP is done. Now I'm just waiting on baldurk to archive it.
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Apr 24, 2014 20:56
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Drachir D Nalem posted:Is this the one with turret defense sections? Yes.
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Apr 24, 2014 20:57
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HOTLANTA MAN posted:Brotherhood is still by far the best in the series but this game just has something about it that makes it my second favorite. Constantinople is so cool. I thought it was Istanbul, not Constantinople.
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Apr 24, 2014 21:09
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Revelations and Brotherhood are both just so loving good. My roommate has all of the major Assassin's Creed titles so I decided to play through all of them recently. I found the first game boring and repetitive at best, and infuriatingly frustrating at worst. ACII was a massive improvement on the game's formula, and Brotherhood even more so. Revelations didn't really bring as many new gameplay elements to the series as the prior two did, but what it did bring was a whole lot of heart. Constantinople is so colorful, lively, and huge without ever feeling like it's too empty in places. Additionally, while many of the missions are variations of the same old "sneak around and shank some jerks," the developers threw in either more fleshed plot-relevant motivations for conducting the missions or accompanied it with intense, action-rich scenes (e.g. underneath Galata tower, playing with Greek Fire). But the best thing about Revelations is this: Sylphid posted:This game is Ezio at his best as a character I never was the kind of person to really be interested in and care for the lives of fictional characters, but Ezio is an exception. I'm not sure what it is about Ezio that inspired Ubisoft to go to town on developing his character and story because they sure as hell didn't attempt that much with Altair (to an extent) and, especially, Connor. You play his saga all the way starting from his days as a bratty teenager and over the years he goes through dozens of tragic experiences, a few of which are consequences of his own naivete and careless behavior, and eventually accepts the responsibilities and burdens that come with being a member of the Creed. By the time the events in Revelations happen it's pretty clear that he is weary of the life of an Assassin, but he still goes on because his work is still unfinished. I find it kind of odd that Ubisoft decided to do all of this storytelling and never repeated it again. The Assassin's Creed II derived games (or at least the three major ones) open and shut what felt like a coherent saga to me, but then in ACIII Connor's story suddenly starts and ends just as abruptly without ever feeling close to complete. EDIT: Drachir D Nalem posted:Is this the one with turret defense sections? Heh, right, there's one new gameplay element they added. I guess I forgot it for some reason 
Mak0rz fucked around with this message at 21:18 on Apr 24, 2014 |
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Apr 24, 2014 21:14
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Hell, Ezio even got a short film, AC: Embers, describing his last days and passing the torch to a younger assassin. Ubisoft really liked that guy. It's pretty good, too.
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Apr 24, 2014 21:23
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LoonShia posted:I thought it was Istanbul, not Constantinople. Technically, it's the same city.
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Apr 24, 2014 21:25
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Okay, I think these They Might Be Giants jokes are gonna get out of hand.
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Apr 24, 2014 21:42
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Mak0rz posted:I'm not sure what it is about Ezio that inspired Ubisoft to go to town on developing his character and story because they sure as hell didn't attempt that much with Altair Also, Istanbul was previous Constantinople was previously Byzantium.
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Apr 26, 2014 05:09
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This is my favorite AC game for two reasons: one, bombs. Sure, they did things that could be replicated with something else, but there's something about throwing blood grenades that's just an awesome concept. Secondly, that one mission where Ezio poses as a minstrel.
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Apr 26, 2014 08:35
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I played the beginning of this game at a friend's house, and then I sucked at the wagon battle and got annoyed and stopped playing. Glad I'll get to see someone competent play this!
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Apr 26, 2014 16:31
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Part II: Nova Roma Click picture or link for video No commentary over cutscenes Behold as I can barely get a word in edgewise with Vicas and ScurvyKip around. Nah, just kidding. They were a lot of fun in this video, even if by their own admission, neither of them has played much of this series at all. At least Vicas has watched Geop's LPs of the first two games. There was some unfortunate Skype lag that popped up early in this video, so some of the conversation is kinda weird even if I tried to sync up Scurvy and Vicas with myself to the best of my ability. I was at least 3-4 seconds ahead of them, by my estimation. Sylphid fucked around with this message at 06:56 on May 1, 2014 |
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Apr 27, 2014 10:40
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That. God. drat. Cart section. The game is pretty cool, but that section drags on for too long and you can fail it too easily and... Wait, this isn't the "PYF thing dragging the game down" thread. Carry on.
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Apr 27, 2014 10:54
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I think I considered this one to be way ahead of Brotherhood just because you don't have to spend half your time running across miles of open fields outside of Rome. Also, being able to continue missions partway made the Perfect Synchronization bonuses a lot less hair-pulling.
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Apr 27, 2014 15:44
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God, AC controls. By Revelations they got a grip on what to want from you, but there were parts in AC2 and Brotherhood that expected you to do precision platforming - with the engine and control scheme built for anything but that. The hookblade mostly just works as an extension of your jump, which is a godsend if you played the previous games and something you won't even notice if you haven't. It kinda runs with this game's design philosophy "let's just add random poo poo to the basic sandbox game setup" - and it's one of the addition that actually work. Unlike the loving tower defense segments. anilEhilated fucked around with this message at 16:29 on Apr 27, 2014 |
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Apr 27, 2014 16:27
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I've uploaded an edited version of the first and second videos, with no commentary over cutscenes. Note: I define "cutscene" as when I have no control over Ezio and there is talking, but my rule is that if a cutscene is no longer than 20 seconds, I'm going to keep the commentary running in the edited version. In-game talking, like when Yusuf is walking with Ezio just as the latter arrives in Constantinople, is still going to have commentary. Also, a note about future updates. In the past week, I've received most joyous news: after many, many hard months of trying, I've finally netted myself an ESL teaching job in Taiwan. I've been informed I'll be wanted in-country either late this month or late next month. Whether it is May or June, I cannot say at present. If it is May, though, the later updates in this thread might be a bit slow coming out. Luckily, the apartment I'll be staying in does have an Internet connection of its own, so I won't have to waste any time getting back to work once I'm done getting acclimated in my new place in life. Of course, if it's June, this probably won't come up at all. Regardless, this is a big step forward for me. The next update should be done within the next couple days.
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May 1, 2014 07:02
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Before anything else, congrats on the new gig, Sylphid! I know it's a bit away, but best of luck in Taiwan. As for the actual game...I'm kind of 'meh' on it. It has some really good moments, the music and aesthetics are great, and Desmond is both minimalized and less of a bother even if you choose to listen to him for a while. But at the same time the plot just sort of meanders around for a while, the mechanicical design isn't as tight as 2's or Brotherhoods, and while it's really clear they wanted to send Ezio off with a bang, I'll avoid talking spoilers but the endgame comes with so little buildup that it caught me almost completely off-guard, just sort of happens, and then the game and the tale of two assassins is over. Still, like most recent games in the Assassin's Creed series, there's enough artistry, effort, and solid core mechanics left in it for me to be glad that it exists, even with the lovely yearly sequel model.
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May 1, 2014 07:10
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The cart section really pissed me off since there was little to no instruction on what you were meant to do and it was super easy to fail. And then at the end of the game they have another cart section which is just as terrible. Seriously there are no other cart sections in the entire game and they suddenly expect you to be brilliant at it. I do really love the Altair memories though. The last one was really moving, as was the end of the game.
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May 1, 2014 07:25
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New updates should be coming tomorrow (I recorded two videos with Scurvy and wdarkk today), but I did want to ask about something. I would love to show off the online multiplayer for this game, and I did want to use goons to do it. If you have this game on PS3 and want to join in, I'd be thrilled if you could post your PSN ID in this topic or PM them to me so we can hopefully put something together. Ideally I'd like to have 4 vs. 4 games, but that may not be realistic, so I'll settle for 3 vs. 3 games. The multiplayer for this game is really fun and hopefully we can play some games on it before this thread ends.
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May 4, 2014 00:54
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Roger Craig Smith also was the voice of Batman in Arkham Origins. There is an episode of the Assassin's Den podcast where they interview Smith and he talks a bit about where the Ezio voice came from and how it changed over the course of the trilogy. I never really liked the optional objectives in Assassin's Creed because they never seemed to make the missions more fun, only more difficult. I didn't like the tower defense stuff either, but as was mentioned you're only required to do it once and never have to do it again. I stuck to a pretty small selection of bombs that I found useful, so I'm interested in seeing new bomb loadouts and interactions in this LP.
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May 4, 2014 17:10
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To make up for the amount of time it's been since the last update, we have a dual video update today. Part III: Byzantium  Click picture or link for video No commentary over cutscenes This video is with wdarkk and ScurvyKip. There's not much plot in this one, aside from starting Sequence 3, because I wanted this video to be a fairly in-depth tour of the European side of Constantinople, which by no coincidence is the larger side of the city and has more of the city's famous monuments, like the Grand Bazaar and the Hagia Sofia. I do return to the Asian side for a spell at the end to show something cool with the Galata Tower. Part IV: Of Bombs and Assassins  Click picture or link for video No commentary over cutscenes This video gets us back to the plot a bit as we meet a real-life historical figure, Piri Reis. Historically, he met his end about 40 years after the events of this game, when, as an old man in his 90s, he declined to help the Ottoman governor of what's now Iraq in another campaign against the Portuguese, with his famous and successful life coming to a most ignominious end by getting his head lopped off. He and Yusuf teach us about bombs, and Ezio also gets back to work rebuilding the Constantinople Assassins in the same vein as what he did in Rome during the events of Brotherhood. Also with wdarkk and ScurvyKip. Edited versions of both videos will be forthcoming, but seeing as how there's not many cutscenes in either of these videos, getting these updates out was a more pressing concern for me, and the reality of my internet situation does not lend itself well to upload long videos on YouTube. Sylphid fucked around with this message at 19:41 on May 6, 2014 |
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May 5, 2014 07:25
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This is the first game in which the mercenaries are actually useful - they can clear out enemies rather effectively instead of just stage-fighting for minutes on end. It's also a lot of fun to have them follow you around while you go on a pickpocket spree. I'd leave a comprehensive review of various Leonardo future-tech concepts to the historical videos (when are those coming, anyway?) but yeah, Leonardo had some ideas about (pyramid shaped, IIRC?) parachutes. A short demonstration of how the AI interacts with water: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoxAZw_BPGI God-drat my poor ears. Audio mixing that keeps all the sounds on the same level instead of having sudden loud bursts - it's a thing, I've been told. (38 minutes into the second video if you're not sure what I mean).
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May 5, 2014 12:38
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Xander77 posted:
Geop said last week the first one would be coming in a couple weeks. Obviously, no reason to hold up the videos until then.
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May 5, 2014 15:20
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Two comments One your audio is really jumpy. Sometimes you are so quite I can hardly hear you over the game other times you are so loud I almost need to turn down the speakers. Also ahhhh that de sink in the second video. Also could you use your weapons a bit more. I mean punching a guy is all well and good but you have a sword too don't you. cokerpilot fucked around with this message at 21:25 on May 5, 2014 |
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May 5, 2014 18:27
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Part V: Following the Footsteps Click picture or link for video No commentary over cutscenes Me and longtime LP guest commentator Toffile sit down to talk about this game, and all the other games in the series, with a helping side portion of talking about the ACInitiates website. I find the 1-1 format really worked for this video, especially after we were both cracking up near the start of the video when I threw a Datura Bomb into a crowd of Byzantine Templars and watched them squirm. Sylphid fucked around with this message at 10:24 on May 7, 2014 |
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May 6, 2014 19:39
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Please tell me you still have the raw audio of part 4. Things are bad. You have kip responding to you before you say things and both you and kip are from time to time responding to something your mutual invisible friend, Dice, says.
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May 6, 2014 21:47
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Awesome. I just finished playing Revelations and was hoping someone would LP it after watching 2 and Brotherhood on the LP archives. This is seriously my favorite series on the 360. I just started 3 and so far it's not as fun. I didn't like Revelations as much as 2/Brotherhood but for the third part of a trilogy its a great addition. I"m looking forward to watching this.
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May 7, 2014 02:14
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Quid posted:Awesome. I just finished playing Revelations and was hoping someone would LP it after watching 2 and Brotherhood on the LP archives. This is seriously my favorite series on the 360. I just started 3 and so far it's not as fun. I didn't like Revelations as much as 2/Brotherhood but for the third part of a trilogy its a great addition. I"m looking forward to watching this. Brotherhood is in the archive?
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May 7, 2014 02:34
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Quid posted:Awesome. I just finished playing Revelations and was hoping someone would LP it after watching 2 and Brotherhood on the LP archives. This is seriously my favorite series on the 360. I just started 3 and so far it's not as fun. I didn't like Revelations as much as 2/Brotherhood but for the third part of a trilogy its a great addition. I"m looking forward to watching this. Don't expect much from 3. Just...don't.
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May 7, 2014 04:45
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ayn rand hand job posted:Don't expect much from 3. From what I heard you can expect bears.
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May 7, 2014 05:15
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cokerpilot posted:Brotherhood is in the archive? That's disappointing to hear about 3. But yeah, I'm not expecting much. Just something about the gameplay just feels off. Is IV any better?
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May 7, 2014 06:18
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