Assassin's creed is one of those rare games that comes along every couple of years that excites me as a gamer. I don't pretend to be hardcore and I certainly don't game every day. That said, up until the game was released late last year I had followed this game's development very closely. Even prior to any of the screenshots, the premise alone sounded intriguing: an assassin, cloaked in white, armed to the teeth, sent to kill those who would selfishly profit from the perpetuation of the Crusades. How cool is that? Then I saw some of the art, saw what the design team was doing, and fell in love with the game. Mind you, this is well over a year prior to its release. Then came the trailer...and I was in awe. Not long after, I purchased the game and absolutely loved every minute of it. So, without further adieu, on to the review. First and foremost, the game is stunning from a visual standpoint. The textures are smooth, the scenery is beautiful, the characters look amazing and so do the cities. And speaking of the cities, they are vast--extremely vast. I spent hours just cruising through Jerusalem: listening to men preaching from stoops; climbing every building I could; and--pushing unsuspecting guards from the rooftops. Needless to say, it's somewhat difficult to get bored of a game that has so much content, so many things to do. The game itself is pretty linear if you choose to follow the storyline but there is definitely room to explore if you get the itch. That said, certain areas of the game are blocked off until you complete the objectives given to you so I wouldn't venture too far; it's more fun to be able to explore the whole map once you've taken out the majority of your targets. Said targets are actually what keep the game linear. In each city you will be given a high profile target to assassinate but not until you have culled all of the requiste recon info and been given the ok by your superiors. Once you've been given the go ahead you get to hunt down your prey in whatever fashion you choose; stealth is generally the easiest way to go. You'll have nine targets to assassinate throughout the game and plenty of guards in between. Other than that, the world is open for you to explore. In terms of controls, I found them to be somewhat intuitive. After a while you'll find yourself switching between weapons, parrying, and impaling enemies with ease. On that note, some of Altair's (the protagonist) cinematic kills are stunning; he can be pretty brutal and he certainly kills with impunity. The sound is another thing that blew me away in this game. When you're in the hustle and bustle of the streets you can hear the pained mutterings of the indigent; the cries of the accosted; the insistent pitch of the desperate street peddler; and everything else you'd expect to hear in 12th century Damascus. When you're on top of a building, or better yet--perched atop the spire of the church in Acre, all you hear is the wind and the occasional cry of an eagle. It's breathtaking...truly. All in all, the game can be a bit repetitive but that can be forgiven when you take into account that everything else had nothing but the highest level of polish on it. This game is fantastic in every sense of the word and the only reason I can't give it a perfect score is regrettably--the repetition.
Well, it's here. People around the world are playing this game, and either loving it or hating it. The not-so-subtle negative reviews are already leaking out across boards and sites everywhere. Then again, doesn't it see... Read Full Review
There can be no question that Assassin's Creed is one of the most hyped games of the year. Those gorgeous trailers and that unique storyline and that clever approach to combat...well, all of it just seemed to be a very f... Read Full Review
