On November seventeenth I finally got Assassin's Creed. A game I've been waiting for since 2006 at the Electronic Entertainment Expo. After watching the first trailer I had a feeling it would rock. It exceeds by expectations by rocking hardcore. It's one of the best and most recent gaming experiences I've had all year so I figure it's worth writing about.

I'm about two thirds done or 65% done the game. Thus far I really like it. There are a few things that make it stand out a lot. The game centers around an assassin named Altair. Altair means "The Flying One" in Arabic. It takes place during the 12th century . The game has you take the role of Altair. You assassinate various targets. All nine of these men have something to do with the third crusade. One thing that makes Assassin's Creed so special is how historically accurate it is. Some of the people you assassinate were actually real. Better yet, they disappeared in the same year the game takes place. Also the three featured cities are all real and created with lots of detail. You can actually climb on anything you could in real life, a first ever for a video game. So when you explore Jerusalem it's the same size as it was and has lots of sites to see. I've even looked at real ariel pictures of the cities on Wikipedia to compare, the game does a great job. For example you can climb the Al Jezzar Mosque in Acre and explore the Citadel, the view is amazing. You really feel like your in the twelfth century.

Now what really matters, the gameplay. It stands out here as well. The controls are excellent. You have high profile and low profile commands. High profile is faster but it draws un-wanted attention to you, low profile does not. To use an example to sum it up, when you are low profile the B button will genteelly push through crowds. Perfect for getting past guards without them noticing. But hold down on the high profile button and the B button will tackle people out of your way. Great for escapes. Another example is the A button, it runs in high profile or walks in low profile. So you can see how walking is low profile and tackling people is high profile.

This works well with the 3 main parts of each mission. First you must sneak into a city. Then climb up a tall building to spot where people are that can give you info on your target. There are a bunch of ways you'll have to confront these people. You might have to pickpocket, interrogate or ease drop on them. You'll have to keep a low profile during this step so you don't alert the guards about your assassination. It's really cool how you have to hide in the crowd and not draw attention to yourself.

Next comes the actual assassination. You plan out your approach using the info you gained. Then once you strike and finish him off you have to get away. You can use Altair's athletic skills to escape by jumping, climbing or out running the guards. You can hide in bundles of hay, roof guards of even the crowds.

For the last week that's what has made up a lot of my free time after school and on the weekends. The game has some issues like it getting a bit repetitive. However in short bursts it's great. After waiting a year for it I am very satisfied. It's one of the enjoyable gaming experiences I've ever had. Also it's my most recent big experience so it's easy to write about. Assassin's Creed is great.

That's it for this weekly blog, sorry it's late. I'll have a bunch of reviews up in December once I get a break from school.