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Assassin's Creed

Written by DM on Tuesday, November 27 2007

The game’s controls are setup in two sections – the actions that make you stick out like a hooker in church, and the actions that are much less conspicuous. This is done by holding either the left or right trigger. You can truly slink around an entire city as long as you keep the alarm level low, which is done by keeping an eye on the alarm level gauge on the top left of the screen. Any time you run, jump, or attack, you will immediately gain the attention of everyone, which is exactly what you do not want. You will have to learn ways to achieve your objectives without outright combat, although sometimes it is inevitable, which is why the game has a robust built-in combat mechanic.

Altair has many ways to dispatch his targets, but his mainstay is the blade. Melee combat takes a bit of time to master, and many objectives will require that you fight at least five or six enemies at once, so you better get studying. Altair can always use his hidden blade for a come-up-from-behind kill, or use throwing knives to kill from a distance, but these are usually reserved for the main assassinations or kills outside the city, where open space is plenty and enemies are few and far between.

If there is a drawback in the city sections of the game, it lies with the NPC AI. The citizens frequently roam pre-set paths, although these paths are kept lengthy so at first it is hard to spot. The most evident flaw though, as I mentioned earlier, is the repetitive nature of the pre-set phrases that the AI croons over and over. It is hard to believe that three separate bums in three distinct cities, which are miles apart, will utter the same phrase when begging you for money, word for word. Add to that the fact that these bums are, hands down, the most annoying NPC characters you will ever have to deal with in a game. The beggars show up at the worst times, mostly when you are one alert level away from being fully detected, and they harass the HELL out of you. So much so, that one time I was overheard yelling and asked why I am threatening to assassinate a bum at the top of my lungs, cursing all the time. Most of the beggars are women, too, so if you have issue with hitting the female sex, it makes things even more complicated. Stay away from the beggars, folks. I digress though, the simple fact is, every type of citizen in every city acts and speaks pretty much identically. It’s an issue, for sure, but it can be forgiven when the game’s scope is taken into consideration – but just barely forgiven.

Some have complained that the game is short, but to be honest, you should be so taken with the game after a few hours that the optional objectives and the main story objectives just become “objectives,” and you end up finishing each section completely. This will lead to a game that lasts over 25-30 hours, which is more than can be said for many games out there these days – games that are not half as good as Assassin’s Creed.

Assassin’s Creed is one of the best looking and playing video games to be released in the last few years. While there are a few flaws in the title, the voice over work springs to mind, as well as the city population AI issues, these problems are forgivable once the scope of this huge game is taken into account. The game’s premise and story are more than enough to keep you captivated until the end, and I cannot express the sheer fun of knowing that you can look at any structure ahead of you, and there is a very good chance you will be able to run up and scale it. It borders on ecstasy at times, no joke. Almost every single gamer who owns a next-gen console needs to try this game, and give it a real shot (play for more than an hour). Once you do, you will be hooked, as I and many others were. Oh, did I mention this is the first game in a planned trilogy?

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