Assassin's Creed: Impressions.

So, I've been playing Assassin's Creed since Saturday and it is certainly a fun game. Now my last post discussed some of the issues that have popped up around the game regarding reviews. I've played through 7 of the 9 assassinations now, I'm planning on finishing it off tonight. Like I said above the game is fun, quite fun at times. It has some problems though and, to me at least, those problems keep it from being a great game.


THAR BE SPOILERS AHEAD!




I'll start off with the fun. Holy crap do the environments in the game look amazing. The cities of Damascus, Jerusalem, and Acre look just wonderful. They aren't necessarily completely distinct from one another, but they seem very real. As for the interactions you have as a player with these environments, those are the games high points. The biggest invention that I think this game pulled of is their introduction of parkour to video gaming, at least in this integral a manner. It is an absolute joy to run around the rooftops leaping from building to building and grabbing onto whatever little thing you can find to pull yourself up.

UPDATE: I started this post yesterday afternoon and I'm going to finish it today after having completed all but the final assassination.

Assassin's Creed has captured the best elements of the movement found in Prince of Persia and nearly perfected it. It allows for a sense of freedom and the willingness to take risks, something that is very encouraging from a design standpoint. One of my favorite moments in gaming is the end section of The Sands of Time, when you are climbing the side of a giant fortress. Most of the combat is gone and it is all about the moving. Assassin's Creed was really able to rekindle that feeling much of the time.

Unfortunately, that leads me to the problems I have with the game. Firstly the game definitely becomes repetitive. That isn't bad, if you enjoy the parts that repeat, but I just can't be bothered to go through all the investigations for each assassination. Once you've saved one citizen, you've saved them all. In nearly always found myself rushing through the investigation phase to get down to the assassination. Too bad even they couldn't always maintain the excellence of other parts of the game. My biggest gripe with the assassinations lies in the "stealth" of the game. I would relish assassinations that were inventive and required lots of sneaking and thinking. That's usually not the case. I think I've only completed one assassination with a stealth kill, the others involved slogging it out with the target. I suppose that would be forgivable if the combat were a little more than simple counter-attacks. Enemies will stand in a circle around you and attack one at a time, which is a somewhat sad state of affairs if you ask me. The part that gets me the saddest about lost opportunity are the assassinations that involve targets that flee. They run through the city to a guard tower that is stationed somewhere and if you don't catch them you have to fight past all the guards. I feel as though you should have failed your assassination at that point, but the game will let you kill tens of guards before you have to kill your target and it is still okay. Doesn't seem nearly as assassiny to me.

Finally there is the story. (Here's where the spoilers be) I was originally very excited to play a game set in the era of the Crusades when I heard about Assassin's Creed. Then all this stuff about Sci-fi nonsense began to surface and I became concerned. Turns out I was right. I love science fiction, good science fiction mind you, but I don't think it's really serving a purpose in this game. Granted, I have yet to finish the story so there is still the chance the game will make me 180 on the story, but I'm doubtful. There is so much that could have been done with just the setting of the crusades that I regret the lost opportunity this game represents. Sure they have set themselves up for sequels, Assassin's Creed 2: Electric Boogaloo, but they haven't created a unique setting that would have been truly original. They do have an explanation for their decision, namely that they wanted the game to be set in a flashback and that it allows them to justify many a gaming cliche. While I applaud their efforts to fight cliches, or at least acknowledge and justify them, I don't think that makes up for the lackluster story. The dialogue doesn't help either. Sigh. I've likely been spoiled by months of slaving over a hot Mass Effect, but I expect better than what Assassin's Creed has to offer.

I'm going to do some ruminations on what would improve the game and what I've learned from playing it and have those up sometime. Overall were I to review the game, I'd give it a solid 7. It's fun, but it isn't great. Don't pay $60 for it, wait until it is cheaper.