Released by Ubisoft - Reviewed 1/2/08 - LatinRapper.com

 

In all my years playing video games, I don’t think I’ve ever gone back and forth deciding whether or not I like a game as much as I did until I played UbiSoft’s Assassin’s Creed. I went from staring at the game in awe on the first day, ready to anoint it as game of the year. Eventually, all sorts of profanities were thrown at my television. And once a complete grasp on what needs to be done was attained, the things that once amazed me became boring. What the player has before them with Assassin’s Creed is a product that will shock them, amuse them, and aggravate them at nearly every turn.

The stunning visuals are every bit as beautiful as the hype surrounding the game has suggested since it was announced. The lighting in the game is done masterfully, and the recreations of cities we’ve only ever read about and seen ruins of are truly beautiful. Scaling to the top of a tower to synchronize your view with a soaring eagle shows just how in depth the team at UbiSoft planned to travel. To keep it short, the cities feel alive. Riding throughout the Kingdom on horseback from Masyaf to Damascus, to Acre, or to Jerusalem is as epic as it sounds. The one flaw that can be credited to this massive effort presented to us is how often you’ll get lost if you don’t make proper use of your map.

The control scheme isn’t as complex or difficult as reports about the game made it seem when it was being previewed. The explanation was much more complex than the actual presentation. Walking and looking controls are done as most games are these days with the Left analog stick being used to walk, and the right analog stick controlling the third person camera behind our hero, Altair. Apparently, the people at UbiSoft were convinced it’d be too complex for some gamers to pick up, so they made an extensive training level that quickly feels tedious when you’re ready to start assassinating. Once you learn to use your weapons, you'll have a wonderful time walking around and silently killing the city guards. If you like to watch crowds gather, assassinate a guard with your hidden blade, sit on a nearby bench and watch as people gather around the body and wonder who could've done such a thing.

But UbiSoft didn't want to give us too much of a good thing. Nope. The question you need to ask yourself as a buyer is if the strength of the game’s positives are enough to make you continue playing long after certain aspects of the game become tedious. The aforementioned control scheme is so easy that fighting eventually becomes a case of simple button mashing. That’s okay, though. Not every game needs to have complex button combinations for different moves, and the cut scenes on particular kill maneuvers keep things fresh. Try not to get too annoyed pressing the same button in fights with multiple guards, though. You will hate saving citizens after the 5th time hearing the same voice clips thanking you for a job well done. The little cut scene UbiSoft does every time you save a citizen during the auto-save is absolutely unnecessary. Each city has well around 20 citizens to save, and each time you hear one of what seems like three different “Thank you” speeches, while it then cuts to the “vigilantes” that will now patrol the area are unnecessary.

Also, the "crazy" citizens that push you into guards causing fights to break out and missions to fail at the most inopportune times will cause the most hateful words to fly. For example, on one of my assassination target missions I'm combing the area looking for the best point of attack when I get pushed into a group of patrolling guards, commencing an elaborate fight against the best guards the city has to offer. A game bearing the title Assassin's Creed doesn’t give you many opportunities to complete your missions like a true assassin in stealth and secrecy. But there are rarely opportunities for true stealth assassinations. No matter how careful you are, each main kill is loud and involves a long and tiresome getaway over rooftops and through the streets. For the main nine assassination missions given to Altair maybe two, three if you’re lucky, can actually be accomplished through stealth. But you won’t be walking away casually. The getaway is always complex.

A plot heavy game like Assassin's Creed also needs better voice acting. Ten years ago when cut scenes and plots were being utilized in video games more often poor voice acting may have been acceptable. But today we have video games that are so well presented and acted that movie adaptations are useless because the game is done so well. But the man who voices our main character, Altair, sounds bored; as if he’s reading directly off the script sheet. It takes away from the gaming experience when you can’t connect with the main character. Since this game is obviously going to spawn sequels, we can only hope that the development team at UbiSoft improves those areas. This is the same company that brought us the Splinter Cell franchise, with brilliant stories and top notch acting. And with more studios hiring established voice actors to bring life to characters they hope to turn into franchises, the brain trust behind Assassin’s Creed can ill afford to neglect that aspect of a successful game.

With that said, this game must be played. If you make it a purchase or an extended rental is inconsequential. What is certain is that this game can’t be one that you allow yourself to pass up in favor of another first person shooter involving aliens or the undead. It may seem like I was a bit harsh, but the things this game does well are astonishing. Despite the shortcomings mentioned, the game takes a bold leap forward to redefine the way we play games, and as gamers that's exactly what we should look for and support.
 

Assassins Creed official website: assassinscreed.uk.ubi.com/experience