Review
Release Date: 11.13.2007
Platform:
PlayStation 3Developer:
Ubisoft MontrealPublisher:
Ubisoft EntertainmentReviewed by
Mikey Dowling on 12.22.2007
| Review Rating: 8/10 | User Rating: 7.2/10 |
Ever think about running around Crusades-era Jerusalem and its surrounding areas, assassinating key figures in a Templar plot to overthrow King Richard? Chances are you haven’t, as that is pretty out there and nothing else has really touched the subject matter up to now, but
Ubisoft Montreal thought of this scenario and crafted a brilliantly great game around it in
Assassin’s Creed.
Yet they’ve stepped even farther outside of the box and approached the time period in a slightly unique -- if not
Matrix-inspired -- fashion. In a not too distant future (according to e-mails you end up reading), an unknown company has developed the Animus, a machine that is able to extract long-thought-gone ancestral memories through what they call “DNA Memory.” This links modern day character Desmond Miles (a bartender who apparently comes from a line of assassins) to his 1191 AD descendant, Altaïr (who hails from the Hashshashin sect -- basically, the first assassins).
From there the game will have you travel back and forth between the modern day and the past while you unravel a mystery with plenty of great twists and turns. The juxtaposition of the two time frames does come as a shock at first, especially since Ubisoft didn’t mention it at all in any statements leading up to the release of
Assassin’s Creed, but those willing to let themselves get sucked into the world that the game is creating will find an intriguing story that, once it gets going, won’t stop and is difficult to put down or even stop thinking about.
While in control of Desmond, your actions are incredibly limited -- you can interact with certain objects such as the Animus and your bed, you can talk to Lucy (the saucy assistant to the hard ass Dr. Vidic), or you can walk around and check things out in first-person view. That’s about it. Yet as Altaïr, you have an encyclopedia of moves at your disposal, all of which you’ll use as you hunt down nine historical figures (most of which really disappeared or died in the year 1191, how’s that for awesome?)
The best feature in
Assassin’s Creed is Altaïr beating David Belle and Sébastien Foucan (in terms of their broad appeal for it) in bringing parkour to the world some 750 or so years before its popularity really grew. Free-running through the Holy Land is quite amazing and a wonder to see. As you jump from roof to roof and scale buildings with ease, the animation that Altaïr has while doing such moves is just outstanding. From foot placement for balance to grabbing just the right ledge to pull himself up, Ubisoft Montreal has brought to the gaming world one of the most convincing characters in gaming history.
The fighting system is also impressive… once you obtain the ability to counter. Luckily you obtain it rather early on, but your first few battles before getting it are rather bland, boring, and tedious. Once you get the all-too-great counter maneuver, the battle system opens up into a fine art of finesse. Well, finesse that has you just really waiting to be attacked so you can counter and see the nice and brutal counter kills. The drawback (in a way) is that you can basically just stand in place for every battle, wait to be attacked, and counter away. Skill comes into play in the timing of your counter, and that’s about it. Yet this isn’t entirely bad since Altaïr really only has three different sword strikes, and they unfortunately gets bland really fast. It's certainly better than his single, incredibly telegraphed punch.
The counter-heavy battle system is unfortunately not the only thing in the game that is repetitive. For each of the nine hits that you must make, you will end up doing (just about) the same exact thing every single time. When you get to a new area of one of the three cities the first thing you will look for is a viewpoint. Once found you’ll be able to see where the other viewpoints are, and you’ll be able to see what citizens are in trouble (a side quest that allows you to build your life bar) or do one of the four different types of missions that will help you get information on your target.
Of the four “knowledge” missions, eavesdrop is the easiest as it simply has you sit on a bench, target the people you are going to eavesdrop on, and use your “eagle vision” to watch and listen in on a conversation that will give you some details about your targets. Next up is pickpocket where you’ll target two people, listen in on a conversation, then follow one of them and grab a map that usually lets you know where the guards are going to be posted around your target (so you can eliminate them before going after the ultimate target), or something akin to that. There are also interrogate missions which have you listen in on someone’s speech that correlates with your main target; you then you follow him until he’s not surrounded by people and get into a fist fight with him (again, with that one telegraphed punch) until he relents and gives up important information.
Then… there are the informant missions. These, well, suck. The first one you take has you collecting flags for a fellow assassin. That’s right. While you’re trying to get information on how to kill a guy, you have to go on a collection run. It just feels out of place. Then toward the end game you end up having to do hits for other assassins; and while at first it’s only one or two, it gets to the point where you’ll have to take out up to five targets just to find out what kind of detergent the main target uses (okay, not literally, but you get the idea). The problem with having to take out so many targets is that by the time you’re told to kill that many, the guards of the various city like to stop you for walking into walls and you’ll end up trying to do the missions over and over again just to finally get that one bit of information. It’s tedious and adds frustration where there really shouldn’t be any.
So in every city you will do one of these four missions along with saving citizens, and that makes up the bulk of the game. The actual assassination of the target can go the route of being incredibly elaborate: taking out surrounding guards, making sure you have an escape path, stealthily killing the target and acrobatically getting the hell out. Or you could go Crusades Rambo: run up to the target, kill him, then get the hell out of there really, really fast. Which each of the main kills you do, more of the story is revealed and, of course, not everything is as it seems. And every now and then you’ll be taken back to the modern time and learn more of why Desmond is there and what his connection to everything is.
Assassin’s Creed is repetitive, but it’s a good repetitive. Some may grow tired of the flow of the game, while others who stick with it will be rewarded with an engrossing narrative that actually pays off (though rather abruptly) in the end. For what is obviously the starting point of a huge franchise (this is Ubisoft, after all), it sets everything up really well and only makes you want more. Unfortunately, there is no telling when the next game will come, so having such a, “Holy crap! Bring on the next one!” ending is a rather big downer. Also, the game suffers from a few mistakes ranging from frustrating (game lock-ups that need a console shut-down to fix) to just minor (clipping errors that really shouldn't be there). Those points aside though,
Assassin’s Creed is a game that has earned its place among the other triple-A titles that have come out this year and shouldn’t be missed.
