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games: Assassins Creed

Today we have a spoiler free look at the hugely anticipated Assassin’s Creed a controversial title that is splitting gamers and critics in their opinions.

First, lets just pause a moment to doff our caps to the truly awesome graphics and artwork, and the beautifully fluid and impressively realistic free running mechanic. The world is enormous and has an awful lot of depth and detail, and the crowds really do add a feel of realism, even when you start noticing common repeated movements early on.

With the single exception of walking up and down stairs, the movement is realistic and a joy to watch, with impressive capturing of horse riding and mind blowing climbing and free running which quickly becomes intuitive thanks to the surprisingly excellent contextual control system. The only thing I found awkward to control was trying to climb down things.

But lets talk plot. If you have managed to keep yourself pure from the details of the game Ubisoft tried so hard to keep under wraps then I hope you will enjoy the reveal. I kept away from spoilers and when I read the manual I was confused and intrigued, and once I got into the game, I really enjoyed the twist, and found myself completely immersed. Some have criticized it for coming so early on, but I was glad that it did as saving it for the end would have cheapened the experience of the game.

But as cool and clever as the twist is, there are a few problems with this setup. The 1st problem is a question of marketing something where the buyer doesn’t really know what they’re getting. I know a few pure medieval fantasy gamers who are feeling a little gipped right now.

Secondly, that aspect of the story isn’t developed enough as it’s setting up for the sequel, and so the ending is not just unsatisfying but unfinished. The 3rd problem is that this twist will potentially create a conflict between your drive to complete the assassin’s quests which makes up the bulk of the game, and your opposing desire not to give in to the bad shit happening in this part of the story.

And this is not the only gameplay conflict created in this title. As we turn to the part of the game everyone knows about, you immediately come up against the fact that you are told it is against the Assassin’s code to kill innocent people, but then you are forced to act aggressively.

These initial acts are understandable as you live through Altair’s dishonorable actions which cause him to be stripped of his rank. This motivate the redemptive quest he is sent on for the remainder of the game. However, the rest of the game seems to forget about this part of the code and assumes a black and white morality where all templars and soldiers are evil and fair game for a killing. Even in the training section you draw blood fighting against opponents in a training ring.

And the big problem with this title is gameplay. Ubisoft have an undoubtedly great game mechanic, and a pretty cool story setting,

But the gaming narrative is far too repetitive with virtually no variation on the routine of traveling to a city, climbing a lookout tower, gathering information by eavesdropping, pickpocketting and interrogating, and then finding your mark and killing him.

The 1st couple of times are cool, but multiply this by 9 and it gets a little dull. Also, while you are in the small village of the training level the information gathering set up feels good, but in a sprawling city like Damascus it seems a tad unrealistic. And the assassin bit of Assassin’s Creed isn’t handled brilliantly.

You aren’t quite sneaky enough nor do you have enough control of the roleplaying aspects to really get into this side of things effectively. Certainly without resorting to quite a lot of fighting, but at the same time the game’s requirement for you to avoid being noticed by guards means you will often have to crawl through sections at a snails pace as you walk at scholar speed or frequently wait around in hiding spots.

On paper all this looked cool, in game it is initially interesting, but after a few hours becomes quite painful.

The hiding thing is also reliant on the stupidity of the AI - clearly if I am spotted on a rooftop and chased by a guard, the natural assumption when I suddenly can’t be seen is that I have actually disappeared. Certainly not that I am sat in the little curtained gazebo type structure smack bang in the middle of the otherwise empty rooftop.

The incredibly immersive setting with its good writing, stunning visuals and occasionally daring plot, is also let down a bit by the audio, with the repetitive crowd banter really sticking out and the rather arrogant American accent of your character Altair grating against the rest of the middle eastern setting.

Now I know I’ve focused on a lot of the flaws of this game, but do be assured that what is good about it is truly excellent, and it is definitely worth playing even though not everyone will feel like seeing it through to completion. 4 stars, and I am looking forward to the sequel.

For the best of the rest:

IGN:
Assassin’s Creed could easily have been one of the best games of 2007. It is, without question, impressive on several fronts. But developer Ubisoft Montreal took some missteps along the way and squandered the immense potential of its pseudo-stealth action title. A bad story, repetitive gameplay elements, and poor AI lead to the downfall of one of the more promising games in recent memory. Assassin’s Creed could have been one of the great games of this generation. Instead, it turned into just another action title. 


Game Spot:
Assassin’s Creed will stay with you long after you finish it. Here is one of the most unique gameworlds ever created: beautiful, memorable, and alive. Every crack and crevasse is filled with gorgeous, subtle details, from astounding visual flourishes to overheard cries for help. But it’s more than just a world–it’s a fun and exciting action game with a ton of stuff to do and places to explore, rounded out with silky-smooth controls and a complex story that will slowly grab you the more you play. Make no mistake: Assassin’s Creed is one of the best efforts of the year and a must-own game for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 owners.

Euro Gamer:
Obviously we’re not going to tell you anything. Ubisoft has worked hard to make sure that you’re not only excited about playing Assassin’s Creed, but that you’re also dying to find out what’s going on. What are all those glitchy graphical effects in aid of? Are you really in the Third Crusade at all? You want to find out for yourself, so go ahead.

comments

Norbit
November 30th, 2007 - 10:01am

Another great review :)
I was looking forward to this game until I read about the twist. I really liked the idea of the old setting and was hoping for some Tenchu style creeping around and topping people action but my enthusiasm has pretty much fizzled out. Almost all of the reviews are similar to yours (with the exception of a few giving it suspiciously high marks) with the words boring and tedious cropping up again and over again. I hope Ubisoft use the criticism constructively for the next game.

Schmung
December 1st, 2007 - 1:37pm

arg, the stairs, I cringed the first time I noticed it! Can’t believe it’s still happening in game, Valve were talking about fixing it with some sort of procedural animation system way back when they first announced TF2. You’d think with all those cores in modern consoles you’d be able to utilise one of them to stop characters skating up and down stairs and standing weirdly on slopes.

Games like this are always going to get an amount of negative feedback because they’re victims of their own success - it’s been so hyped for so long that people have some pre-defined idea in their head of what it’s going to be and when it doesn’t satisfy that they analyse every little flaw in order to justify that. I also think that the pre-release hype made it sound like something it isn’t, but that I suppose depends on what you’ve read/seen about it prior to release. I generally agree with the criticisms that you and others have levelled at the game in that the pre-assassination mechanic is rather repetitive and dopey AI really impedes on your sense of immersion. What redeems it all for me is that it’s all just so much fun, the running and combat is brilliant and the cities themselves are fantastically immersive and distinct from each other. I’m a bit of an impatient type and don’t really hold much truck with this stealth nonsense, so the combat heavy nature of it suited me just fine, though I can see how that would grate for some people who like to take a more considered approach.

I guess it also depends on how/when you play it as to how much the bad things bother you, I was playing a couple of hours a night so it didn’t really become too odious. I did find myself rushing towards the end, but that was more to find out what the ending was.

As for repletion of voices I did read something about them having difficulty squeezing it onto the 360 DVD. I’m guessing if they had to cut some audio then they would have done so from the PS3 as well, just so that there was no obvious favour being paid to either platform, though that’s just rampant speculation. Maybe they ran out of cash or were just being lazy.

December 1st, 2007 - 2:24pm

Good evening!
Katharine, I don’t have video podcasts, only text-based blog binaries.ru about computer- and videogames.
As you can see, in Russian language. But I like your idea of this site. Maybe we can exchange links in blogroll or something other ways of cooperation. Many of my subscribers (about 200 people) know English, so they can read your site and watch your video.
If you interesting in such cooperation - write comment in my blog or letter to karat-at-binaries-dot-ru

jason
December 1st, 2007 - 4:06pm

I own this game and what the reviewer said is accurate. She covered all the major points. Don’t know if I would have given it 4 stars though. :)

ctzto
December 1st, 2007 - 9:08pm

This was a great game! Although repetitive, it’s something that you can allow.(that’s my opinion) You did an excellent job on the review.

ps. still waiting on the Uncharted review. Can’t wait!!!

ktchong
December 2nd, 2007 - 4:23am

So, are you going to review Kane & Lynch?

Have you heard? LOL.

December 2nd, 2007 - 5:38pm

Great show. Very well done. Quite professional and entertaining. Continued success!

greg
December 2nd, 2007 - 11:57pm

i been watching for assasins creed. When is it due out on pc? Geuss I might have to spring for a new console. I get a lot more out of your reviews than just reading them on other websites. You make it easy and I always look forward to your fun style and good looks. ( smile )

Katharine
December 4th, 2007 - 6:57am

Thanks for all the comments and discussion guys :) Always great to hear your thoughts.

Greg - Wikipedia gives 25th Jan 2008 as the release date for the PC version, but lots of gaming sites are still giving TBA or just first quarter of 2008.

Ktchong - yeah the Kane & Lynch stuff is pretty outrageous. I am writing my review today (should go on the site next week). Don’t worry, I am not going to be pulling any punches.

Tokume
December 9th, 2007 - 3:37pm

Yeah, I wish they had the book trilogy out too, but it’s not like they had any choice in the deal since the real group of “Assassins” came and spoke out against it…

At least the game did not get canned because of the same reasons, yeah?

Katharine
December 11th, 2007 - 5:32am

Tru dat Tokume - I’m glad the game exists and that it didn’t shy away from references to religion. But I don’t think it’s true to say that Ubisoft had no choice about acting the way they did just because descendants of the real life assassins (the Ismaili Nizari I believe, although my spelling is possibly off) objected to the books. What I read was that the writer and publisher refused to participate when Ubisoft told the writer to leave out any references to religion when writing (albeit fiction) about a group that existed in history, and for whom religion was an important part of their creed. Seems a bit silly, and the game proves that it could have been handled sensitively. But as you say, at least we have the game!

Lunewhite
January 9th, 2008 - 11:11pm

very good review not much to add about this game other than WHERE WAS the multiplayer!!!.I thought about it for only a few moments and thought of a good way they could have made 1 of the most exciting mutlitplayer games ever.Get 1 very large city get a load of assasins give assignments there should be 2 sides christian Vrs muslim 1 side protects 1 side assasinates targets no name tags on players heads so the Suspense would build.only 2 players have the same assignment 1 protects the npc the other trys to kill the npc.Not knowing who the attacker was would be gr8 fun is he the guys sitting on the bench accross from you is he on a roof if you move out of tune with the city ai will he spot you and vice versa im drolling now but you get the idea.

Katharine
January 10th, 2008 - 4:02pm

I see what you mean Lunewhite. I love the no name-tags idea, although i’m sure there would be lots of people who just went round killing anyone sat in the middle of a bench! I don’t know much about game engines, but would it not be rather intensive to have lots of people doing the free running stuff at the same time? And I think there might be a little bit of a problem with a Christian v Muslim multiplayer. Just a hunch…

Schmung
January 11th, 2008 - 6:46am

Saw some vid a while ago where they said that they ditched multiplayer halfway through development. Real shame that one, not sure quite how it would work vs wise, but co-op would be pure awesome.

Here’s hoping for a sequel that lives up to everything people expected of this.

Aiden
January 11th, 2008 - 7:38am

Once again an excellent review of an auld classic (but still no patch on pong for the amiga :) ), keep up the good work

Lunewhite
January 11th, 2008 - 2:50pm

hi katharine i was just free thinking (pun intended) aloud the era is1095+ or should be but we know what america is like for historical fact and accuracy lol you just have to love the main heros acent NOT!!.And as for free running why not with such games being released just for free running lovers.As for people running around killing civis thats a good point maybe it would end the mission if you attacked a NPC other than your target as for people sitting on benches maybe they could be random positions good point again.Islamic Crusades vs. Christian Crusades is part of world history and it is a shame that people feel unable to portray what realy happend the children playing might even learn a lil history to boot fun and learning what ever next.I would like to add also you are very good at reviewing games and have knowladge beyond most and a real love for it gr8 work.

Aiden
January 14th, 2008 - 11:37am

Agreed on the Tron game, I’ve played it on Mame32 (Multi Machine Arcade Emulator..extremely recommended) The controls where to put it short crap but since mame can play all Arcade games there are some gems to find and have warm fuzzy feelings over the old ones you used to play (TMNT and Simpsons where a great laugh) Also for the Amiga fans out there try UAE Amiga Emulator. But I like just to add you can only play ROM games (Mame,Snes & Megadrive) for 24 hours unless you have the original game yourself because they are still subject to copyright laws also for the Amiga you will need an image of the bios chips that run the amiga (there is a way to do this with your old Amiga but I found it long winded and complicated, so if you have an Amiga I would just look on the net for the Bios….Long live Workbench 3.5)

Keep up the great reviews :)

Katharine
January 15th, 2008 - 5:38am

It’s a shame it was ditched - would be interesting to know what lines they were thinking along. You’re right Schmung, co-op would be so damn cool. Nice ideas about keeping it tight to the mission Lunewhite - not attacking NPCs seems much more inkeeping with the creed and is hella more assassiny! It is so interesting the way current events influence the way we see history, and even historic fiction. It’s difficult to know if we can ever have objective history. Thanks for the feedback, glad you’re enjoying the show :)
On a side note, I’m currently re-watching Farscape, and this is reminding me a lot of the Crichton/Scorpius/neurochip storyline.

March 23rd, 2008 - 3:27am

Bit late in seeing this review, but nevertheless enjoyed it and thumbs up to the review. I personally loved this game to bits when I first played it and was super excited as they kept this game pretty much secretive. But I did find it to be a little repetitve, but could not argue with the awesome finishing maneuvers Altair brings to the game. This was my first choice for game of the year in 2007.

February 7th, 2010 - 4:58pm

Êàê çàðàáîòàòü â èíòåðíåòå…

èíñòðóêöèè ïî çàðàáîòêó â ñåòè…

February 9th, 2010 - 12:06am

Ïÿòèçâåçäî÷íûå îòåëè Åãèïòà…

Åãèïåò - æåì÷óæèíà ìèðîâîé êóëüòóðû…

February 14th, 2010 - 12:46am

Âèäû âåíòèëÿöèîííîãî îáîðóäîâàíèÿ…

Ñèñòåìû âåíòèëÿöèè…

February 15th, 2010 - 3:42pm

Ãîðîä Ñèäå ðàñïîëîæåí íà ïîëóîñòðîâå â 75 êì îò Àíòàëüè…

Îòåëè ãîðîäà Ñèäå…

March 12th, 2010 - 1:54pm

Òàõåîìåòðû ýëåêòðîííûå…

Òåîäîëèòû ýëåêòðîííûå…

March 14th, 2010 - 3:23pm

Êîìïüþòåðû äëÿ ìîíòàæà â ïàíåëè óïðàâëåíèÿ…

Îäíîïëàòíûå ïðîìûøëåííûå êîìïüþòåðû…

March 15th, 2010 - 2:04pm

Ëó÷øèå ïëÿæè Þæíî-Êèòàéñêîãî ìîðÿ…

Âüåòíàì - ñòðàíà ñ äðåâíåéøåé èñòîðèåé è êóëüòóðîé…

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