I'm going to get the good out of the way first. It has lovely visuals, good acting, good performance, and a story which could possibly become I'm going to get the good out of the way first. It has lovely visuals, good acting, good performance, and a story which could possibly become quite interesting along the road.



Now the bad. This game is a **** mess. The need to make every single action as realistic as possible has made it a slog to play. After about ten hours I looked back at my time with the game and realised I hadn't enjoyed a single minute of it.



You want to get somewhere fast? Well you can't run in towns. You can't fast travel. You can ride your horse, but if you sprint too much it will throw you off. If you accidentally clip a rock or tree it will throw you off. Now go play in a world FULL of rocks and trees. If you don't brush the horse enough, it won't obey you. Get off the horse at any point to look at something and it will wander off. If it goes too far it won't return when you call for it.



You want to play a story mission? I hope you're prepared for a long journey to a random destination alongside another character. No, you can't skip it. Yes, you have to press the controls to make your horse travel the entire way, even though you have a set path.



You want to get on with the plot? Well sorry but you need to make sure your character eats or he will die. You have to have baths or the game will force you. You have to shave. You have to return to camp to change your clothes depending on the randomly generated weather because if it's too sunny and you're wearing a heavy coat, you'll overheat and die.



You want to hunt? First you have to go through a lengthy tracking section, then you have to sneak up on the animal, shoot it in the right spot or you'll damage the pelt. Then you need to skin it in a lengthy animation, carry the carcass back to your horse, and take it all the way home to sell and craft. If you don't go back quick enough, it will rot and the whole exercise will be pointless. Oh, and only a small fraction of the animals have pristine pelts anyway - the others are worthless.



Your hat got knocked off during a fight? Spend 30 seconds finding it and picking it up.



You want to search a house for loot? Awkwardly steer your character towards every drawer and cupboard, then watch the lengthy opening animation, then the animation of collecting each item.



You want to loot dead bodies after a fight? You need to hold down a button so your character lumbers into the right position, then does a long looting animation. Then you need to do that for EVERY enemy.



There is not a single element of this game which is not made unpleasant to play by awkward, sluggish, time consuming controls.



The 2/10 rating I have given it is PURELY for the stunning visuals and acting.



This game took 2,500 people 8 years and a quarter of a billion dollars to make. And they made a **** mess. … Expand