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Late to the Party
Assassin’s Creed

As many of our readers know, I’m late to the party for a lot of things. Assassin’s Creed by Ubisoft was one of those games that I was never interested in; whether the marketing didn’t reach me, or I wasn’t really looking for it, I never bothered to pick it up. What little I saw of it showed a hooded man running around the Middle-East, parkour style, murdering people. As a concept, that did not appeal to me.

Of course, I was completely wrong. Drawn into the display at the 2009 Sony Holiday Preview Event, I got to watch Assassin’s Creed II. Not only was it spectacular to behold, it also included an actual plot! Of course, after this I did some reading and realize that there was far, far more to this franchise than I initially thought. My timing could not have been more perfect to purchase the game, too, as it had just attained Greatest Hits status.

While my overall feelings about this game are positive (I would recommend it to anyone that enjoyed a good story), the experience did have moments that were trying, and I will deal with those up front so that I can end on the note that I ended on when I finally finished the game.

The overall process to finish the game can become somewhat tedious. I understand that most games are variations of the “lather, rinse, repeat” formula; there will always be some repetition, and this is understandable. Assassin’s Creed seems to be an especially tedious game at points. As the assassin Altaïr ibn-La’Ahad, you start the game at the peak of your game, only to fall from grace shortly thereafter. The main premise of Altair’s plot is for you to follow the orders of Al Mualim, the leader of the assassins. In doing so, you gain your abilities back and unravel the plot. It is this rebuilding process that is the primary source of boredom. You only have a few types of missions to choose from, and while these increase in difficulty, they are still the same missions. At one point I was so tired of stealth assassination that I challenged all of the city guards in the area and won.

The other big beef I have with the game is not really something that I should be complaining about, but should address. Assassin’s Creed is a few years old, now. Playing it today, especially after so recently seeing Assassin’s Creed II, doesn’t really allow me to appreciate it; playing it when it first hit the market would have caused me to be much more impressed by the game. There are some choppy points and some obvious clipping mistakes.

Those issues aside, I will say that Assassin’s Creed is very impressive. First of all, you have to play this game for the story alone. Even though you spend most of it as Altair, you are really actually playing the part of another character: bartender Desmond Miles. Desmond has been abducted by Abstergo Industries, a pharmaceutical company that is bent on solving a mystery that started in the past. To that end, they have invented a device called The Animus that allows a person to access the genetic memory of their ancestors (the theory being that memories are hard-coded in the following generations). Your character (Desmond) is a descendent of Altair, and so Abstergo Scientists use you to try and find out what it is that they cannot figure out for themselves.

I won’t reveal much more. Suffice it to say that your adventure takes you across several cities (which are HUGE) and it also continues during breaks from the Animus in the current year (2012).

Repetitive as they can be, the game mechanics are fun. Ubisoft employed a state-based system that is easy to learn and powerful once mastered. That is, you have low profile moves (walking, blending, gently moving people aside) and high profile ones (running, leaping, body-checking). Altair skips and sails over the city rooftops, skilfully blends into crowds and makes dueling look easy. As you progress, you gain skills that aid you in your quest to move from place to place. You also gain more fighting abilities as you complete goals in the game. With an impressive arsenal of weaponry, Altair is one of the deadliest assassins in the order. Whether you are engaged in face-to-face swordplay, or are stealth killing city guards, the fight sequences are realistic and entertaining.

Assassin’s Creed also features a notoriety gauge. Basically, as you make your way through the cities, people take notice of things that you do. The crazier things you do in plain sight, the more skittish the inhabitants get, and the more wary the guards become. There will be moments in the game where you are considered dangerous, and the guards will not hesitate to run you through. If there are too many of them, it’s usually a good idea to use your agility to get the heck out of dodge and find a place to hide. This is where line of sight comes into play. Line of sight is very important, as it will be impossible to get away if you’re constantly in view of your pursuers, some of whom will shoot at you with bows and arrows. You need to break their lines of sight to duck into a curtained booth, haystack, or blend into a crowd of similarly-dressed academics. By not breaking line of sight, the guards still see where you are hiding and start hacking away.

Usually I find chases annoying, but being chased in Assassin’s Creed is one of the more awesome aspects of the game. It’s quite a rush to be able to escape a battalion of bloodthirsty city guards. With the action and the story working together, it is certainly a compelling reason to finish the game.

From an aesthetics standpoint, the game is beautiful. The expansive cities are each different (being unique cities), but all feel like they are from the same general area of the world. With the realistic reactions of people, the fitting music, and the incredible eye-candy (yes, even for a game that’s a few years old), one can really get lost in the experience.

Although I mentioned some negative points against Assassin’s Creed, the positive aspects redeem the game. At 20 bucks you can’t go wrong. Do yourself a favour and go grab this game. You’ll be really glad you did and it will bring your appreciation of Assassin’s Creed II to a whole new level.

Posted in PC, PlayStation 3, Reviews, Xbox 360 |