Does Assassin's Creed really live up to all the hype? Before you take the "leap of faith" - rent it first!
But is it a great game? If you look around the reviews, you see some people who think the game delivered. But you also notice a very large number of the critics who were not captivated as much as Gamespot was. So the obvious recommendation is RENT this first and see how it grabs you. GO RENT IT AND DON'T READ THE NEXT PART - I don't want to spoil the fun if you enjoy it! Now here's the part where I go into my list of "fixes" - this is why I write the reviews. Somehow I like to believe that SOMEONE on the UBISOFT staff checks these things out - or maybe other people might see this and pass the ideas along. Maybe wishful thinking, but you never know.
1) Horrible Voice acting on the main guy. Horrible. Obviously it didn't bother some players, but it bothered a LOT of others. Its monotone, dead pan, humorlous. It's really hard to care about the main guy. OUR GAMES deserve the same quality of acting you expect in a feature FILM - no less! GET A GOOD VOICE ACTOR!
2) Interesting but flawed control scheme. My big gripe - do I really need a "gentle push" button!!!?? "GENTLE PUSH"!!!!??? Man-o-man replace that with a "kick" and you got something sweet. There are too many moments that get ruined with a dodgy control result. The most aggravating is the sudden "kick off the wall" jump when you are trying to climb. The controls are a little short of being on target - like a pre-release version that needed a few more months of development.
GET THE CONTROLS MORE SOLID. CHANGE SOME OF THE BUTTONSTO BEEFIER ACTIONS.
3) Am I playing "Fetch!!?? The core game is repetitive, and that is the biggest problem. Combat is interesting, but the rhythm of the game is off. It is just not satisfying. Seems like you go from stumbling through crowds to being chased by 20 guards with no build up. Nothing in between. This is hard to really explain, other than more playtesting is needed. There are planty of action games that may or may not have flaws, but they have a nice pace to them - you have your chaos, but you also have your moments where you are in control. I jsut always felt like I was either bored or running for my life - and I spent a lot of time getting the combat timing down so I could handle a group of soldiers. IMPROVE THE PACE - MORE ADJUSTMENTS, PLAYTESTING NEEDED
BETTER TASKS. WE NEED MORE THAN "PICKPOCKET" "EAVESDROP" "CLIMB A TOWER""INTERROGATE(follow and beat up...) AND "GRAB A FLAG" "SAVE A CITIZEN (fight some guards)". Here's some ideas off the top of my head - take out a wild animal? Ride your horse with a timed delivery and add horse bow fighting (like "Collossus")? Trick thugs into fighting each other? Burn down blockade? Special quests to get a beefed up version of your sword/dagger?
THese are jsut "top of head" ideas... I am sure they could get a lot more creative than "Pickpocket"... how about RESTORE THE HOLY ARTIFACT? You are in the "Holy Land" after all. Make up some and avoid direct religious reference to stay out of trouble. (Maybe make them all having to do with your brotherhood) But the game is completely devoid of any spiritual atmosphere - weird when you consider that its taking place in the Holy land. 4) Reincarnation of "SpiderMan 2" !!?? YES, I SAID IT! I can see the mob forming to flame me now...
Everyone agreed pretty much, Webslinging through a virtual New York was awesome, but the game itself sucked. Assassin's Creed suffers from the same, although not as drastic. CLEAN UP "SPIDERMAN" SYNDROME:
a) Avoid repetive citizens crying for help - give fewer encounters that are more meaningful. b) Less crowds of repeating people. Seeing endless clones ruins the experience - use less people if needed, longer cycle before duplicating is needed. c) Pacing issue - you are either "rooftop traveling = web slinging" or "chaotic battle with 10 thugs" REMOVE ANYTHING THAT REMINDS YOU OF SPIDERMAN 2 GAME!!
d) Need more compelling mini-stories. How about freeing a kidnapped son or daughter from prison with an emotional family reuniting. 5) Rethink the futuristic interface - at least when you are back in time.
Seems like it just killed the mood more than made me say "oh this is cool"...it was more "why am I using a sci-fi interface on a artsy, historical game?". Wouldn't it have been cool if the controls looked like a period style and morphed into future style as you morphed into the future? Well - just think about that.
6) Make the world woth exploring.
It's fun to find treasures... the "flags" are boring. They could have made a list of artifacts like LARA CROFT/DARKES FORTUNE...why not!? 7) Costume character change option. maybe it's cliche, but a black or grey option (pretty simple, just the color).
EVEN BETTER - LET HIM BE A MASTER OF DISGUISE!!
HIDING IN GROUP OF CLERICS is kind of silly after two times... how about a few different costume changes - like throw on a green cover and a hat and blend with merchents, grey cloak with citizens, prisoners, etc. Yes you would need a "putting cloak on" animation but - man that would be cool!
8) And if you want to make thing less "artsy" but a lot more fun, let there be a female version. Try and tell me a lot of you wouldn't like to try the game with a sultry raven haired chick in a black cloak slitting the targets throat....with a specail option called "seduce" to get him off his guard. I dare you to tell me you don't want it...
UBISOFT has made a great game world with ASSASSIN'S CREED - I really hope there is an ASSASSIN'S CREED II - and I hope some of the above suggestions are used.