It’s a little tougher to find such a silver lining on the audio front, however, with the in-game chatter and narration being equal parts repetitive, ineffectual and annoying. Weapon fire is muted and lacks any semblance of impact while the frequent roars of your foes becomes grating in short order. Background music is serviceable.

On the gameplay side of things there is one change of note. Stripped of his assassin’s training, Ratonhnhaké:ton consumes tea made from the bark of a giant willow, imbuing him with the ability to essentially disappear via the “wolf cloak.” It’s a reasonably fun addition with segments of the main missions tailored around using it.

There’s nothing here that’s going to prevent you from completing missions or totally undermine the enjoyment factor, but you’ll need to accept going in these aren’t cutting edge controls, and therefore concessions must be made.

Special abilities are mapped to the four face buttons, each of which can alter the AOE’s size and shape, making it possible to keep track of who you’re targeting. Potions can be used via the d-pad and a powerful command is executed with the left trigger (the left bumper is used to cycle through your commands). For non-combat functions, you can upgrade towers and troop nodes by holding down the bumpers and selecting from available options.