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Vayle's Assassin's Creed (360)
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| [January 14, 2008 06:01:34 PM]
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Entry #2
GAMEPLAY
A lot of people told me before I started playing that the game would get really repetitive fast. While I have yet to reach that point, I can definitely see where I could get bored with it eventually. The basic structure is you go to a city, you investigate your assassination target, and then you kill him. While there are various ways to investigate, they are still limited and fall under three or four categories. At least when it comes to killing your main target, they each seem to be unique - one man you have to try to sneak up behind him while he's surrounded by about 10 guards whereas another man sees you right away and you have to chase him down through a maze of halls (and might I say, for a rather portly man, he runs fast!)
I've gotten a chance to get more acquainted with the guard system and its different levels - ie, if it's blinking yellow, they see me, but they don't really care about me; if it's blinking red, they're suspicious of me and the slightest wrong mood will make them descend upon me. I am used to systems like this from other games, like the GTA series, and I think it makes sense in a game like this. However, there are some areas where I find it over sensitive, making it more of a pain in the neck than a necessary limitation that keeps the player from running rampant on a senseless killing spree. There were some sections where I did nothing wrong whatsoever, I was in blend mode and I was not even on the guards' radars. Then I take a step and it would freak out and ten guards would appear out of no where and I, as a player, am wondering what the heck I did. I suggest either lightening up on the guard system in those zones or at least giving a better indication of why they are trying to kill me - maybe I entered a no trespassing zone, who knows? I certainly did not, there should have been signs up.
While Assassin's Creed is a one-player game, I was surprised to find that I was quite social with my friends while playing it. They would sit around and watch me, calling out where hiding spots were or telling me not to assassinate that person. In fact, just watching the game alone can be fun (even in a group), which I get into in the design section. And we had several opportunities to laugh over it. So while it's not multiplayer, I found many chances to connect with my friends over it.
DESIGN
By now, I've gotten to play Desmond - the bartender in modern day - a bit more, and I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, I think its interesting in relation to the story; seeing similarities between Desmond and Altair, wandering around the complex Desmond is being kept in, trying to figure out what it is they exactly want to find out about Desmond's ancestor. On the other hand, playing Desmond was a sharp contrast to playing Altair. On Altair, you can run, jump, climb, punch, attack, and so on; on Desmond, all you can really do is talk to people and walk, which is barely doable - it feels like it takes forever for Desmond to get from one side of a room to the other. The differences between the two aspects of the game was jarring, and interrupted the flow for me. I feel if the differences in the gameplay/style had not quite been so huge, the two portions could have blended together better and made a more pleasant experience.
In this second round of the game, I found that it is not only fun to explore your surroundings, but also part of the fun is how you explore. Almost everything is climbable in this game. And with each building quite differently designed from another, its almost a minigame in itself climbing each building, figuring out where the next foothold is, hoping you don't wind up at a deadend and have to backtrack. Watching the animation for Altair climb is so fluid and smooth, with each move unique. It's not like you're watching him climb a ladder; you seem him jump from one window to the next, sidestep along a narrow edge, reach for notches that are almost out of reach. I was very impressed by how realistically they designed it, and personally think I would be entertained for hours just climbing buildings.
Another enjoyable aspect of the design was how cinematic the game gets during certain actions. For example, when in a swordfight with the guards, if you counter attack successfully, the camera will zoom in at a graphic angle, moving with the character and showing the attack in all its gory detail. And while there were some parts I wish had less gore than others, I still can't deny that the effective use of camera angles certainly made fights more interesting for me. Plus, like with climbing, there are many unique animations for fights and assassinations, making it more fun to watch. While I may have always been doing the same attack and pushing the same button, each move seems to have several animations, so it makes me feel like I'm doing something different. It kept the fight feeling fresh for me.
So I must say, while the game will get repetitive fast, at least its wrapped in a pretty package of varying graphics and animations. Thus, at least for now, it seems like each action is a new experience, even if I've done it a million times already.
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| [January 13, 2008 01:43:34 AM]
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Entry #1
SUMMARY
In Assassin's Creed, the player takes on the role of two people: Altair, a cold, death-dealing assassin in the time of the Crusades, and Desmond, a modern day bartender. Desmond gets kidnapped by some corporation that hooks him up to a machine called an Animus, that recreates the genetic memories of his ancestor: Altair. It is here that a majority of the gameplay takes place, as the player takes controls Altair and has the power to assassinate practically anyone - from lowly peasant to a rich and powerful figurehead - with an assortment of weapons and styles.
GAMEPLAY
I really had a lot of fun in my first venture into this game. For the most part, I played Altair, for the game did not allow me much access to Desmond. Thus, the following is from the assassin's portion of the game.
First thing I noticed was how much detail they put into the player's surroundings. The world and the people in it are both beautifully created and quite realistic. The city I was in was large and intricate, making it interesting to explore. I was also pleasantly surprised to find how reactive the townspeople were. For example, in most games, if you make your character do something he would not normally do - say, enter a random person's house or kill an innocent bystander - the computer controlled people normally do not seem to care or react in anyway. However, in this game, if you punch a beggar, women around you will start running in terror and men will put up their fists to fight you. If you start climbing a building, a crowd will form in the street to watch you, whispering "What is that man doing?" and "Has he gone mad?" Overall, I found the world to be very immersive, making me question my actions before I do them.
The game limits your amount of weapons and abilities at the beginning and provides a tutorial for how to use what you have. I found this helpful, for often when I start a game where everything is available to me, I am overwhelmed and eventually just start mashing buttons, hoping something will work. This allowed me to get used to the game and its controls at a comfortable level, which seemed necessary, for the controls are not easy at first: a simple sword fight was a challenge the first few times I got into one. Eventually, though, I got the hang of it.
It did not take me long to discover that this game had a nice, but simple reward system. There are several mini goals in the game - such as find all the towers in this town, collect all the red flags, assassinate this guard or save that citizen, etc. Once a certain number of these smaller goals are achieved, the player is rewarded with more life. And when you successfully achieve a bigger, story driven goal, you not only get your life increased, but you also get a new weapon and ability. Thus, the player is encouraged to push forward not only to keep the story moving, but also to "buff up" their character.
Right now, the only real complaint I have about this game is the mini map is not very helpful. Sure, it'll show you where your next objective is, but that's it. It doesn't show any paths, nor does it show buildings or barriers in your way - basically its just a gray mass with blinking lights in it indicating points of interest. But this was more of just a minor annoyance than a hindrance; if I found a wall in my way that my map did not tell me about, I would just climb over it.
This entry has been edited 1 time. It was last edited on Jan 13th, 2008 at 01:50:03.
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Vayle's Assassin's Creed (360)
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Current Status: Playing
GameLog started on: Saturday 12 January, 2008
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