by Pete Degrazio
April 30th, 2008 -
Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed just looks stunning for starters, with a striking visual style that captures its medieval setting with perfection. Gamers control the assassin Altair who is disgraced and must redeem his reputation by assassinating nine different targets throughout the Holy Land. Without giving away too much, several unique twists exist within the story and we were definitely pleasantly surprised how they all came to light.
In the age of next-gen consoles, one thing is on all of our minds. How good does it look?
The answer? Gorgeous. Players will take a double take from the minute the opening cinematic starts, to passing a drunkard on the streets singin’ the blues. It’s undeniable that Creed is one of the most beautiful and realistic visual games ever made. From the third person perspective, Altair is free to roam this medieval paradise obtaining information that eventually will lead him to each of his selected marks.
Additional objectives are provided by way of Achievement related side missions, which can be engaged or ignored at the player's discretion. For example, each city and district (and also Masyaf and the Kingdom) contains literally hundreds of scattered flags, some easy to reach and some in seemingly inaccessible places. In order to collect them all, which is no easy task, the player must exercise a keen eye while Altair exercises the very best in his climbing ability. Then, much like the flags, there are 60 Templar knights peppered through the game, all of which will attack Altair on sight without falling for his adopted stealth approach. Initially providing a tough challenge when encountered early in the game, hunting down Templars later becomes a satisfying route of vengeance, especially when able to creep up from behind before delivering a silent and instant death strike. Other Achievement based tasks involve diving through market stalls while being chased by guards, and even assaulting female beggars desperate for a little coin only to be shocked upon tasting Altair's stoked anger.
However, perhaps the most important and rewarding optional tasks are provided by the game's 'Save Citizen' moments. By successfully wielding his sword to assist any random folk suffering persecution at the hands of the city guards, Altair subsequently finds himself allied with the local scholars and vigilantes, who, in return for his noble sacrifice, offer up their own brand of assistance to help Altair during his more important missions. For example, when sneaking into protected areas or running from adversaries, Altair can choose to blend with groups of monk-like scholars in order to move through guard lines or escape unwanted attention. Furthermore, the true and unexpected worth of 'Save Citizen' missions is revealed when executing any major assassinations that involve pursuing a fleeing target through the city streets. While the sensation of giving chase across rooftops is undeniably exciting, it stops the player (and their target) dead in their tracks when vigilante groups converge and grapple the target to a standstill. This allows Altair to close in for a swift yet tangible kill. Ignoring the 'Save Citizen' missions garners the player no such assistance, and removes a great deal of the enjoyment on offer outside of completing the bare minimum of investigative missions.
As you make your way through the quest, there's a mixture of stealth and violence that you need to employ. The stealth elements, so often a tough feature to get right, are generally quite good, with only a few moments of frustration (and, to be fair, there are many occasions where you may simply choose to swap stealth for attack anyway). They do at first succeed in building some real tension by unleashing hordes of enemies at once. The combat is quite straightforward, but nonetheless entertaining for it. Movements cover attack, defense, and counters, and it won't take you long to wrap your head around both. Your opponents are bestowed with reasonably good artificial intelligence, with ability to become forceful foes as the game moves on and the difficulty level begins to mount up.
Factor in unabashed moments of 'pure thrill' into the game, such as the death-defying 'leap of faith' from high vantage points into the safety of a conveniently placed cart of hay, the always satisfying hidden blade kill, and the savagely gruesome but seamless counter attack cut scenes that make battles cinematic experiences surpassing anything that has come before, and Assassin's Creed is never anything short of a standout experience.
For more information please visit Ubisoft.com