Assassin's Creed Review
Assassin's Creed is one of the best games I have ever played. The storyline is intense, the gameplay, controls, and combat magnificent, and the graphics top-of-the-line.
STORY:
Assassin's Creed is about a man named Desmond who is kidnapped by a company that wants him to go back in time and control one of his ancestors using the Animus: a strange machine that allows access to "cell-memories" (a common theory that memories are passed along down generations through cells in the body).
In the Animus, you take control of an assassin, Altaïr. You start the game with all abilities and weapons, but as you control Altaïr, his actions get him in trouble, and his rank and most of his equipment is stripped. I have not finished the game yet, but for most of it (as of now), the rest is spent assassinating 9 characters in the game's three cities. When you assassinate each one, you will be ranked up and get a new ability (or two) and a piece of your equipment back. Each time you assassinate a boss, they will speak cryptically. Altaïr begins to think perhaps something is up -- all of these men believe that what they are doing is right in every way, that they are saving people, not harming them.
GAMEPLAY:
As Altaïr, you have incredible agility and speed. You can scale buildings and jump from rooftop to rooftop in mere seconds. When you're in combat, Altaïr can perform deadly maneuvers with his two types of combat-ready swords. He also possesses a hidden blade in his sleeve that you can use to silently kill anyone. Be wary, though. If there are many witnesses around, they may catch on that you just killed someone.
Crowds add a sense of realism to the gameplay, with everyone reacting to you and what you do at any moment. If you run like a madman through the city streets, you may hear whispers of "he's going to hurt himself," or "what's gotten into him?" Scaling a building, you can hear "what is that man doing?". Every move you make is constantly being watched by someone, and if you act too suspiciously, the guards will catch on and begin to attack. Don't run into them, or they'll attack automatically. Beggars will follow you asking for money (though there is no way to do this, so if you're annoyed, either ignore them or switch to fists ("4" key) and give them a good ol' punch in the face). Drunks and mental patients will push you away when you get near, and thugs will attack you if you get into a fist fight with them or someone nearby. The AI is very intelligent.
NOTE: Guards will NOT attack if you get into a fist fight (unless you get into a fist fight with a guard).
When you are caught by the guards, their actions and your escape are exceedingly unique, in that, if you climb a building, so do the guards. If you run, guards along the way will attack or leave you be depending on how close they were to where you first got caught. Finally, your escape methods are different. You have to find hiding spots, but the way that it works is that there is an icon in the upper-left corner of the screen: when it is red and in the shape of a triangle, you are in full view of the guards and you have to keep running. If it's yellow and in the shape of a triangle, you're out of view of the guards and have to find a hiding spot fast. When the icon is a blue triangle, you're hiding and slowly becoming "anonymous", the word the game uses to mean "not in trouble and not suspicious". Finally, when the icon is gray and flashing green, you're safe. You can hide in many places, most of them being piles of hay, little "rooms" on rooftops, and benches where other people are sitting. If you're on a high building and below you on the ground is a hay bale, when you jump off that building, Altaïr will do a sky-dive maneuver and land straight in the hay.
Some people may be offended by the comments made in the game -- as it's taking place during the time of the Crusades and in Israel, Christians were largely persecuted. You will hear protestors on the street complaining of the "Christian King and his infidels". I also seem to remember hearing the "British King and his infidels" once, as well. Altaïr never explicitly shows what religion he follows and tends to remain neutral in his assassinations. The game also is not portrayed as being "pro-" anything. It also states at the beginning of the game right after the "Ubisoft" ad that it was created by a large group of people with diverse religious beliefs and customs.
Finally, the game uses a unique "synchronization" method in gameplay. Synchronization is basically Altaïr's health bar -- when he's fully synchronized, he's at full health and can use the special "eagle eye" ability. You lose synchronization in a few ways, either by falling from heights, getting hit when in a fight, and killing innocents. When Altaïr dies, you are "desynchronized" and must restart from the nearest Checkpoint (luckily, there are many checkpoints along the way -- you are never left wanting for one).
CONTROLS:
The controls take some getting used to, but are extremely imaginative. On the default settings, the shift key controls the "non-fighting" hand, the space key controls the legs, the E key controls the head, and the left mouse button controls the fighting hand. Holding down the right mouse button will allow you to perform a number of actions, such as run and block.
GRAPHICS:
The graphics are simply spectacular, but you need a very powerful graphics card to use them on the highest settings. I get fairly high FPS, even on the highest possible settings, using my EVGA e-GeForce 9500 GT 512 MB DDR2 PCI-E 2.0 Graphics Card 512-P3-N954-TR. Every texture is rendered incredibly and that coupled with lighting, bloom, shadow, and multisampling make the game have a very realistic feeling.
BOTTOM LINE:
This game is a must-have, though if you are easily offended by comments against Christians, be warned as there are some not-so-nice comments made that are supposed to help the game be more historically accurate.
As I stated above, the graphics are spectacular but require a fairly good graphics card to run with a decent framerate.
The storyline is innovative and creative, exploring parts of history that not many know of. The combat is difficult, but satisfying, and the stealth-action genre has received another great addition to its collection.
Assassin's Creed Feature
Assassin's Creed Overview
From the team that brought the world Prince of Persia and Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell comes a sophisticated new franchise utilizing the power of next-gen technology for its complex action. The setting is 1191 AD. The Third Crusade is tearing the Holy Land apart. You, Altair, intend to stop the hostilities by suppressing both sides of the conflict. You are an Assassin, a warrior shrouded in secrecy and feared for your ruthlessness. Your actions can throw your immediate environment into chaos, and your existence will shape events during this pivotal moment in history.Special Features Be an Assassin - Master the skills, tactics, and weapons of history's deadliest and most secretive clan of warriors. Plan your attacks, strike without mercy, and fight your way to escape.Realistic and responsive environments - Experience a living, breathing world in which all your actions have consequences. Crowds react to your moves and will either help or hinder you on your quests.Action with a new dimension for total freedom - Eliminate your targets wherever, whenever, and however. Stalk your prey through richly detailed, historically accurate, open-ended environments. Scale buildings, mount horses, blend in with crowds. Do whatever it takes to achieve your objectives.Relive the epic times of the Crusades - Assassin's Creed immerses you in the realistic and historical Holy Land of the 12th century, featuring life-like graphics, ambience, and the subtle, yet detailed nuances of a living world.Intense action rooted in reality - Experience heavy action blended with fluid and precise animations. Use a wide range of medieval weapons, and face your enemies in realistic swordfight duels.Next-gen gameplay - The proprietary engine developed from the ground up for the next-gen console allows organic game design featuring open gameplay, intuitive control scheme, realistic interaction with environment, and a fluid, yet sharp, combat mechanic.
*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Aug 24, 2010 19:17:07
