Ubisoft's Action RPG experience can be one of the best games of the year if... it doesn't fall flat on what they plan to deliver (it's important that it doesn't). This game looks promising, and hopefully we'll get a chance to review it on SDGT Ent.
This is an open-world game (based in... New York), so chances are there will be people exploring every possible nook and cranny available just to see where they can go. Hopefully there are adequate areas to access so that there aren't just a bunch of buildings with little or no access (it wouldn't be incredibly easy, but updates can keep it growing where needed... especially for PVP action). One thing that Ubisoft executes well... are the number of NPC's in a game, and hopefully they deliver adequately in this game also, but i'm curious to see the way NPC's ultimately behave in this crippling society.
I picture a tug of war between progression and regression based on Ubisoft's product info that reads "The choices you make will help forge a recovery or plunge the city deeper into chaos.", and that sounds great... but I also want to truly see and experience that. If updates are needed to pull off the type of progress that shows the growth/improvements... I think its worth it. I want to see NPC's affected by that... basically getting back to life as order is restored. If it regresses towards chaos, the behaviors can definitely shift. I don't see specific things happening like abandoned stores reopening (beyond cut-scenes) in some capacity, but you never know... if something like that isn't in the release of the game, perhaps via an update.
These are things that add to the overall immersive experience. I see the customization combinations definitely adding to the pluses so that people are able to connect a bit more with their digital self... which would definitely be thumbed up by a really good character customization system (love that about Mass Effect).
