Assassinations, chases, freedom... all in one
So for those that haven't managed reading the other reviews or just somehow skimmed the storyline here goes - you're first set in a near future era, playing Desmond Miles, descendant of a line of assassins. Desmond's been recently captured by a company that hold him prisoner and memories stored in his DNA using a machine called the "Animus". This premise is really interesting for a story, especially since Ubisoft delves into the era of the Third Crusade where you get to play as a (ex) Master assassin, Altair.
So the premise is good, graphics look great off the beginning but the fun doesn't start until you spill some blood right? What would GTA be without the senseless violence? Anyways, you're thrown into the fray pretty quickly, initially with all your skills - its damn good fun watching the fights as the visuals are smooth and compliment the limb breaking, throat slitting action. These movements are brutal and accomplish a great deal of immersion and representation of how brutal this period of history truly was.
The question of fighting as i have read brought up quite a bit of discussion, mostly bashing. The enemies don't all charge to attack you, but simply encircle you. This gives dramatic effect, but definitly lacks some reality, as you are able to manage fighting over 20 or so soldiers without taking too many hits. The system is beautiful and intricate for fighting, however, the simplicity lends a hand at rending the difficulty a tad low.
The controls are excellent for fighting and are quite responsive, especially when you manage to annihilate a contingent of men in front of Damascus. However, the real freedom is within the free-running, parkour and liberty in the climbing of the cities. The views are awe-inspiring and the immersion Ubisoft has added is incredible, sounds, screams, merchants yelling, everything helps to immerse you. The controls for running and climbing are simple, but need mastering if you're planning on running away after an assassination. It is truly amazing how dynamic the world is, especially the people as they react to your movements, from unsheathing your sword to running into a guard.
The graphics are beautiful and add to this crusade theme, primarily through the cutscenes and the main characters, but as we see over hundreds and thousands of people in-game, its understanble some won't be as neatly designed.
So there are some quirks with assassin's creed (mostly i've been to Masyaf twice now and the game's glitched, making me fall through the ground to my death) but this game has met alot of the hype it's built up, unlike many other games. Im on my 7th assassination now and im enjoying the game, although much more content could have been added reinforcing the pleasure aspect of the game, such as lower profile assassinations or tailing certain suspects. No doubt some quirks, but if Ubi's planning on making another one, im definitly grabbin my wallet for it.