A great exercise in art direction, computer graphics let down by a surprising unimaginative gameplay and screenplay.

User Rating: 7 | Assassin's Creed: Director's Cut Edition PC
By anacardo | Review Date:
The game is simply outstanding from a visual standpoint, being both technically and artistically one of the best games out there. Art direction in particular is the real distinguishing feature in the game, being simply on par, and sometimes even exceeding, the one found in much biased movie production nowadays. Dramatic lighting, blowing dust, steep camera angles, and the overall look of almost every object in the game is not only top notch, but incredibly well balanced, giving this game a unique, distinctive and believable look. If only...
If only the direction and screenplay were on par with the visual aspects of the game, Assassin's creed could have been a real masterpiece. Sadly it ain't so. Playing through the first few levels of the game clearly exposes the main shortcomings of this title: unimaginative direction, a mixture of free roaming and level-oriented environments that really cannot decide which to be and worst of all boring and repetitive gameplay.
The game is well summarized in a simple mechanism:
*Assassin's fortress - cutscene and gaining of equipment - unlocking places
*move to location - very easy side missions (mostly killing, no cutscenes)
*enter location by saving someone (They could have thought of thousands of ways to get into the location and yet, they always revert to the same thing, this is unbelievable)
*location - go to assassin's safe house for debriefing (brief cutscene)
*location - missions (to find cover and info. always the same stuff over and over again)
*location - go to assassin's safe house for debriefing (brief cutscene)
*location - Killing the victim (cutscene)
*location - go to assassin's safe house for debriefing (brief cutscene)
Go back to point one.
Same stuff over and over and over again.
Now, this could have be sufficient for some B-game, or some first attempt from some unknown software house. For Assassin's creed is simply a disgrace. The fact that everything else in this title spells quality almost every second gives even more the feeling that something went wrong, definitely wrong. Suddenly the free roaming side of the game where and the intricate and incredibly well crafted world turns absolutely devoid of any attraction, because every element is repeated with very little variation from one place to the other. At the same time, the lack of direction and bad screenplay doesn't allow AC to exploit the linear-mission driver gameplay at all.
In the end this game is a real missed opportunity, one that could have been a masterpiece, and instead is a boring repetitive exercise of great graphics and art direction, but nothing more.

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