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Tuesday 15 January, 2008
"Assassin's Creed"
The game I am reviewing today is entitled "Assassin's Creed" for the XBOX 360. This game is an RPG in which you play as the character Desmond Miles, who is forced against his will to mentally enter a machine called the Animus. The oppressors in question are never revealed within the first 45-60 minutes of gameplay, but it is assumed that they are some form of technologically advanced organization. The Animus transports you into the mind and body of Desmond's ancestor Altair, an assassin during the time of the Third Crusade, and it is here that Desmond/Altair begins to unravel the mystery of the Creed.
The gameplay of "Assassin's Creed" is fairly innovative and introduces a brand new free-running engine, in which anything that is humanly (sometimes inhumanly) possible can be reached or attained. Ubisoft Montreal the makers of "Prince of Persia: Sands of Time" have expanded there jumping/running/climbing mechanism to respond to any form of ledge, platform, ect. that sticks out more than 2 inches. This new engine allows total freedom
The fight/assassination mechanism allows players to play game as simply or challenging as they wish. When assassinating a main target, the player may do extra side mission to learn more about their objective, and ultimately assassinate their target with a million silenced guards in their wake and nothing between them and the kill but the X button. On the flipside, one may bring attention to one's self, slaying EVERYONE, and still make it to their target (though probably somewhere across the city.) So while the game itself offers no real challenge, it allows the gamer to challenge one's self as much as they desire.
The fight system of "Assassin's Creed" is one that can be equally as challenging or simplistic as the final kill. One can rely on the mind-numbingly easy counter kill (with graphically/gory rewards) or one can try to take out guards by using them as human shields/using the hidden blade in a counter kill (it can be done, it just takes timing.) The fighting is much like the assassination that concludes every one of Desmond's memories as Altair.
The writing of the game, though interesting, is entirely overlooked by the shock value induced by the violence of the game. When people walked in me slashing throats and breaking legs it was enough to keep them engaged long enough to want a turn of their own. Much like "Gears of War", "Assassin's Creed" is one of those games that is so cool because it is all about making the main character, and in turn the player, look like a royal badass in the face of thousands of enemies and everything science has taught me to be true. It's a game that people will gladly wait their turn for because it is a game people can bond over.
My only real complaint is the long, boring, and NECESSARY side missions and cut scenes that one must sit through in order to get to the good part: the art of the kill.
A great game I can't wait to beat--
5/5
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