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Ubisoft Montreal’s pseudo-historical stealth-action game for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 has a fair amount of polish, but misses a few critical points.
“Assassin’s Creed” is a pretty good game, but it’s not the killer it was intended to be.
Players are put in control of Altair, an assassin during the third Crusade tasked with killing nine members of the Knights Templar scattered across three cities. The truth, discovered in the first few minutes of the game, is that the player isn’t playing as Altair at all.
The actual plot revolves around Desmond, a bartender and ancestor of the white-cloaked assassin.
Desmond, for reasons uncovered throughout the game, relives the memory of Altair in a sort of “Matrix”-esque facsimile of 1191 a.d..
This “twist” sets the whole tone and feel of the game and adds exceptional depth to the story.
The majority of “Assassin’s Creed,” spent as Altair, is beautiful.
The main cities, Jerusalem, Acre and Damascus, are breathtaking and unique.
Altair is by far the most impressive part of the visuals.
A large portion of the game involves scaling buildings, and it’s good to see how much attention went into Altair’s climbing animations.
The natural and fluid motions Altair uses to reach rooftops or guard posts have yet to be matched.
Climbing is by far the strongest gameplay element in “Creed.” Altair automatically climbs to predetermined points the player is tilting toward, jumping or swinging on his own if need be.
The mechanics may seem simple in comparison to other games, but the results are satisfying. Every other piece of gameplay, however, is a letdown.
The biggest problem with “Assassin’s Creed” is repetition. Each main assassination requires the completion of several side-missions ranging from smaller assassinations to simple pick-pocketing.
The types of side-missions, of the four, never change.
The first two times you conduct them, they’re fun and clever, but every time after feels like a chore.
Punctuating this is the game’s flawed combat mechanic.
Early on, players are given a technique that counters incoming assaults. These counter-kills effectively break the game’s combat. Instead of finding a balance between attack and defense, players can guard and counter through most fights up until the very end of the game.
Although stealth should be a primary focus for an assassin, it plays a minimal role if the player chooses. Players can blend in with crowds or find places to hide to keep guards off their back, but it isn’t until late in the game where this is required for success.
In addition, the forward progress made by sneaking can be frustratingly slow.
“Assassin’s Creed” is a game with faults, but the moments where it shines overpower them.
The main assassinations are cleverly composed, and frequently require more thinking than just running up to the target and killing them. The story is engaging, well voice-acted and the visuals are nothing short of stunning.
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