Forget Jade, Patrice is HOT!
Supplier: Ubisoft
Reviewed By: Rogue5
Price: $59.99 (MSRP)
Untitled Document
Traversing the roof tops of the Third Crusade era Holy Land is a beautiful
sight to behold. Looking down at the crowded street below, people of every creed
and color make their way to their destinations without a care, despite living
in one of the most volatile areas of the world. The clear air and sunshine allow
churches, mosques, and synagogues to be visible from miles away – a surprisingly
perfect playground for one inclined to climb. But there is nothing holy about
Altair’s task; the road to hell is paved with good intentions and it just
so happens he’s here to do the devil’s work. Whether anyone will
know he was even there, however, is entirely up to you.
After Bioshock and Uncharted, it’s hard to imagine a game having an even
better setting, but Assassin’s Creed seems to have pulled it off. Most
surprising is that, where the other two games used fictional locales as their
backdrop, Assassin’s Creed takes place in a historically accurate recreation
of the Holy Land during 1191 AD (or at least that’s what Ubisoft claims.)
The areas in which the majority of the game takes place are the cities of Acre,
Jerusalem, and Damascus, all of which are rendered with impeccable detail. As
you approach each city for the first time you’re given a panoramic view
which spans to the far reaches of the entire district. And yes, you can go all
the way over there.
Without giving away the story, what Ubisoft have managed to do is bring you
into this really cool world/setting by way of a twist, and then they pose some
other cool questions to keep the player motivated. Essentially, by answering
the initial problem, they open the flood gates to more important questions.
Even though this twist is revealed early on, it’s more of a means to an
end and not really important to the overall story arch. Bottom line; it’s
awesome and if you don’t think so it’s because you have bad taste
or don’t like Sci-Fi (which also means you have bad taste ; )
As with most amazing stories, the characters involved are just as unique and
exciting as the tale they’re involved in. While the main character of
Assassin’s Creed, Altair, starts out as an arrogant and egotistical pupil,
he quickly learns humility when he fails an assignment of the utmost importance.
Now he is tasked by his master to assassinate nine, seemingly unrelated, figureheads
as penance for his brash behavior and to try and set things right.
When it comes to assassinating these targets, you generally have to follow the
template of first gathering information, then returning to the local Assassin
Bureau with it, before going out to perform the actual assassination. Information
gathering takes on four forms – interrogation, eavesdropping, pickpocketing,
and informer missions. Doing two or three of these per target is necessary,
but they don’t take too long. Furthermore, they give you opportunities
to explore the city you’re in, allowing you to find more view points or
rescue citizens. While it may same repetitive it’s actually not boring
because of its sandbox style gameplay. As a result of this openness the progression
and pace of the game are put into the player’s hands. Knowing your goals
early (e.g. you need to kill 9 people) allows you to choose how you’d
like to play. Chances are you’ll want to extend your play through as long
as possible, as nine main targets aren’t that much (roughly 8-10 hours,
but it would take twice that to complete all the side stuff.)
The literal translation of Altair, “the Flying One,” is probably
the biggest truth in the game. His aptitude for ‘flight’ is nothing
short of inspiring… No really, it’s a video game that inspires.
After playing the game don’t be surprised if you find yourself day-dreaming
about how to run across rooftops with efficiency or sizing up structures in
an attempt to figure out the quickest way to climb to the top. It’s infecting
and arguably the game’s biggest draw -- Assassin’s Creed is one
of those titles that sticks with you even after the power is turned off and
it’s all due to this free-running gameplay.
If the ability to go just about anywhere wasn’t enough, the game’s
graphics really bring everything to life. Sure the animation is awesome, but
we’ve come to expect that from the team that did PoP. The real highlight
of Assassin’s Creed’s visuals is its lighting system. Whether it’s
a key aspect, like self-shadowing, or something comparatively minute, like the
sun being blotted out by arro…err, clouds and the shadows they make on
the land, the lighting has a special kind of potency. It’s when you notice
it that you realize how impressively natural it actually is.
Vast draw distances are shown off through the use of one of the game’s
more subtle gameplay mechanics; viewpoints. Rather than give the player a detailed
map of the area with mission objective locations, Altair must make use of his
climbing capabilities to scale to the top of tall structures in order to gain
a bearing on his surroundings. The buildings he needs to ascend are made evident
by large eagles that circle above them, which can be seen from a long ways off.
Another subtle gameplay mechanic is also showcased when resupplying Altair with
throwing knives. Here, instead of just buying them or finding them in crates
scattered throughout the city, you have to pickpocket them from thugs. Cool!
Kind of like Gears of War’s active reloading, these neat little gameplay
touches add to the experience in spite of seeming tedious.
There’s a certain gratification achieved from being able to, literally,
run (and climb) circles around your pursuers. This satisfaction is only amplified
by the amount of ass-kickery Altair can impart on the same opponents if he so
chooses. It takes about half the game before Altair has ranked up enough to
be a real tour de force, but after that point you’ll be able to cruise
around at a full-on sprint, blasting past guards without caring. Even if they
noticed you, you’ll so easily be able to evade them that it’s of
little consequence. Until that point, however, you’ll probably want to
play with a more stealthily approach, blending with scholars or walking (read:
have patience and soak in everything the game teaches you early on.)
While free running and sword play are unbelievably fulfilling, the sense of
power the game instills is magnified exponentially when you pull off a completely
undetected assassination. Sifting through a crowd, stalking your prey, unleashing
the fury of your hidden blade, and then silently slinking across roofs like
a stone skips across water, is pure magic. When it works, it really works. Pulling
off a perfect run all the way back to an Assassination Bureau is fun to watch
and extraordinarily fun to play.
Assassin’s Creed is as much about patience and timing as it is about action
and brute force. Better yet, you can mix and match the experience if your original
plans get botched – if you intend to be 100% stealth but accidentally
alert the entire Kingdom, because of Altair’s mastery of the assassational
arts, you can most likely still kill the target and get away without so much
as a scratch. On the flip side, if you go in with swords’a’swinging,
you can just as easily sprint/climb out of sight, hide for a few seconds to
defuse the situation, and then hightail it back to the Bureau immediately after
sinking your blade into the flesh of your intended victim. It’s Brilliant.
That isn’t to say Assassin’s Creed is easy. As mentioned, you’ll
have to wait for Altair to rank up a few levels and gain access to other weapons
before you’re able to take on any situation. One of the toughest aspects
of the game to understand is the combat system. What makes it so difficult is
that, on paper, the button presses are so simple, but the timing seems to be
very picky (or inconsistent.) When you accompany that with how simple the running
and climbing controls are the combat can be kind of infuriating in the earlier
segments of the game. At its worst, you could end up holding the defensive button
and doing counter-attacks the entire game. It’s not as glamorous or as
fast as getting aggressive on adversaries but it can still be just as rewarding
to witness.
Any criticisms Assassin’s Creed receives are incredibly minor compared
to what it offers. The combat takes getting used to and could be a little looser
in terms of timing (on par with the simplicity of free running.) If you focus
solely on the missions and don’t want to experience what makes the game
awesome (it’s openness) than it could get repetitive. The story’s
ending is so-so, but only because it leaves you wanting more (oh, so much more.)
None of these things hinder the game’s climbing and assassinating experience,
which is precisely why it’s so damn fun.
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