Assassin's Creed.
What can I say about this game? You enter the game and are immediately confused by the complete shock of finding that, surprise, this game is sci-fi. Yessir, rather than immediately being plunged into the Middle East in the 12th century, you start with what looks like the game you think you bought except on a really old TV with terrible reception. You hear voices talking about someone (you) rejecting the software and suddenly the protagonist, Desmond Miles, wakes up in a white room reminiscent of Portal. Although you could never tell by the commercials, at the very beginning you are told that, guess what, you're playing a game within a game, as unstable as that may be (specifically you're exploring the memories of one of your ancestors, an Assassin called Altaïr). This has two main effects that stick out, at least to me: the entire interface now has the freedom to be explained in-game without breaking out of the experience at all (unlike most games where they have no choice but to tell you to use the A button to interact), including the pause menu and the entire control setup; and you may feel like nothing you do actually matters, even within the boundaries of the game itself: not only is this a game, which comes preloaded with the fact that you can save your game and reload it, but everything you're doing in the game is practically irrelevant--while other games subtly prod you in a certain direction so the plot can advance, this game has the unfortunate trait that everything has already happened, making you essentially an outsider.
These facts however quickly fall to the wayside of your conscious mind as you start to play around in the memories of our present (future?) protagonist and take over as Altaïr. Let me start by saying I'm not going to spoil anymore of the game for you--although I'll get into my feelings on the story later, I'll tell you now that it is amazing and should be experienced firsthand.
Now this game is a third-person view action-adventure game. Like any adventure game, whether action-based or not, there are a plethora of weaponry and skills to acquire and use for your dastardly assassinations and for slinking back into the shadows. The introduction to the item-system however is similar in nature to most Metroid games: you start with all the tools of a master assassin, yet some unfortunate event that's all Altaïr's fault deprives you of almost every single item you have, and sets the foundation for the plot. Your master, Al Mualim, is ashamed of your awful deed, and has decided you need to earn your way back up to master assassin rank. So he sets you killing certain people, and each one of those people you kill rewards you another rank and another tool to kick (kill?) butt with. By the time you're at the last assassinations, you're so decked out in amazing gear that you're practically godlike--which also has two big effects on the player, or at least me: fighting basic enemies is unbelievably satisfying, as you can crush them with the greatest of ease and practically no one can stand in your way; yet this godlike power detracts from the whole idea of assassination. I don't know, maybe it's just me, but I felt that the point of the game was supposed to be, well, assassinating people. Quietly. As in secretly. Not as in killing your target and then leaving an enormous trail of dead guards behind you when you leave. I mean, don't get me wrong, I didn't feel worse off for the godliness, my logical side just felt the need to complain about that one point.
Another quick point to touch on is the health system, which isn't really health--it's actually a measure of how synchronized Desmond is with the memory of Altaïr, and it is reduced whenever you take damage (like health) and whenever you do things Altaïr wouldn't do, such as killing civilians (unlike health). It also regenerates over time when you're not in combat or being chased. I also felt a couple big effects resulting from this system: first of all, the game punishes you for not being like Altaïr. And that's OK, really. If we're exploring a memory of something that happened and you start doing stuff he never would have done, well yeah, you're going to "lose sync", it literally means you're being unlike him. However the fact that it doubles as a health system seems to imply that, frankly, Altaïr never got hurt (because he's such a beast), and if you take damage, well then dammit you're not being like Altaïr was. And while that's sorta cool (the implication that Altaïr was so badass that he simply never felt pain) it also seems to tell you you're doing it wrong simply by taking damage in an action game. Again, this is just a logic point I'm complaining about and it doesn't actually hurt the gameplay--I don't for instance feel like crap for taking damage--and in the game's defense, it is actually fairly possible to beat the game without taking damage even once (if you're epic, of course.)
Next point of order is combat--an example of fluid action where a little forethought can go a long way in any battle, whether you're fighting 2 men or 20. The fight system responds quickly to your commands--hit the main weapon button and bam, you're slashing. Simple responsiveness isn't enough to make an amazing battle system though, so they went a whole order of awesomeness higher and flatout made Altaïr a god of melee combat. If you remain in a defensive stance, whenever an enemy begins to attack, if you can hit the main weapon button in time, you will parry that poor bastard's sword to the side and flat out kill the guy in a matter of seconds. And there isn't just one counter-kill in-game cutscene either: there are at least 4 for each of the 2 melee weapons you have, and each is seriously impressive. PS: if you're curious, that system there is what allows the possibility of never taking damage: defend, counter and kill.
Now we're onto the artwork/graphics. Allow me to go on a limb here and say, wow. Just...wow. The individual character models aren't exactly tear-jerkingly beautiful, but they're pretty damn good, I must say. Altaïr's model is definitely the most convincing, although perhaps that's because you can't see his face most of the time. What really stand out in this game as far as artwork goes are the cities--the building textures, the city layouts--everything is recreated in painstaking detail to accurately depict the cities of Jerusalem, Damascus and Acre as they were in the 12th century, and by God does it look amazing. And it's not like you only see it from the streets either--the game frequently has you taking to the highest points in each of these cities so you can get a better look at your surroundings, and each time you do you get a nice view of the hard work put into making the gameworld right--and that work shows.
Last but not least is the story, and I'll be damned if this isn't a seriously well-told story for any game, especially an action game. It's satisfyingly deep, and although some smaller questions are answered in the end, more questions are raised than answered--but rather than being incredibly frustrating, it rather makes you wish there was more--and since Assassin's Creed 2 has already been out for a while, that problem is easily remedied. Meanwhile, the game doesn't provide many details directly about the story--most of it has to be deduced by you, the player, just as the present/future protagonist Desmond is trying to figure out why on earth he has to go through these memories. The game progresses quickly enough if you want it to, leaping rather than crawling from point to point (although there are many sidequests you can do to increase your max health/synchronization that, while repetitive, can help in the long run). My only complaint about the story is also a very minor point, actually relatively unrelated: the voice acting for all the characters is great, sounding very professional and working well with the story....except the voice actor for Altaïr. Although he sounds good, he is perhaps the only VA without an even remotely Middle Eastern accent, and his tone is rarely more complex than "I'm quite serious" or "I'm fairly angry". Not enough to warrant a dislike of the game, but it still bothers me, more than the other issues I've brought up at least.
In somma: the gameplay is fluid and highly satisfying, especially when assassinating a well guarded target, or fighting off a dozen enemies. The movement of the player is natural, allowing him to scale buildings quickly and to leap back into or out of combat with ease. The learning curve for using combat effective however is fairly steep and can be very frustrating before mastered. Also, the side quests for extra synchronization are very repetitive to the point of being almost identical--but since they aren't required to finish the game they won't detract a lot from the total score, giving gameplay a total of 8/10.
The graphics in the game aren't top of the line--but they're more than enough for Assassin's Creed. The character models don't have very expressive faces, making for relatively odd cutscenes, but since most characters you encounter are either irrelevant civilians or assassination targets, in-game the models work well. The graphics of the world however is fantastic, taking the player to the heights of Jerusalem and other cities in the area. The city layouts are historically accurate (or so they claim--I've never been in the area), and the rushing sights seen after leaping off the tops of enormous towers are really something. 8.5/10.
The story is twofold: the story of Desmond, and the story of Altaïr. While you don't get a lot of Desmond's story, there's enough pauses between Altaïr's missions to give the player a clue about what's going on in the present. Altaïr's story is fairly uncomplicated--not one of the most creative stories in gaming history--but the way it ties into Desmond's story is certainly unique, and well told. 7.5/10.
Overall, Assassin's Creed is a great game, combining a well-established stealth/assassination mechanic with a slightly overpowered combat system in a well constructed game world, accompanied by a compelling story that at this point, spans a total of 4 main games. Final rating? 8/10: I highly recommend it.
Hope you enjoyed my first review. Here's to many more in the near future.
Safety and peace,
Fireninja
Next point of order is combat--an example of fluid action where a little forethought can go a long way in any battle, whether you're fighting 2 men or 20. The fight system responds quickly to your commands--hit the main weapon button and bam, you're slashing. Simple responsiveness isn't enough to make an amazing battle system though, so they went a whole order of awesomeness higher and flatout made Altaïr a god of melee combat. If you remain in a defensive stance, whenever an enemy begins to attack, if you can hit the main weapon button in time, you will parry that poor bastard's sword to the side and flat out kill the guy in a matter of seconds. And there isn't just one counter-kill in-game cutscene either: there are at least 4 for each of the 2 melee weapons you have, and each is seriously impressive. PS: if you're curious, that system there is what allows the possibility of never taking damage: defend, counter and kill.
Now we're onto the artwork/graphics. Allow me to go on a limb here and say, wow. Just...wow. The individual character models aren't exactly tear-jerkingly beautiful, but they're pretty damn good, I must say. Altaïr's model is definitely the most convincing, although perhaps that's because you can't see his face most of the time. What really stand out in this game as far as artwork goes are the cities--the building textures, the city layouts--everything is recreated in painstaking detail to accurately depict the cities of Jerusalem, Damascus and Acre as they were in the 12th century, and by God does it look amazing. And it's not like you only see it from the streets either--the game frequently has you taking to the highest points in each of these cities so you can get a better look at your surroundings, and each time you do you get a nice view of the hard work put into making the gameworld right--and that work shows.
Last but not least is the story, and I'll be damned if this isn't a seriously well-told story for any game, especially an action game. It's satisfyingly deep, and although some smaller questions are answered in the end, more questions are raised than answered--but rather than being incredibly frustrating, it rather makes you wish there was more--and since Assassin's Creed 2 has already been out for a while, that problem is easily remedied. Meanwhile, the game doesn't provide many details directly about the story--most of it has to be deduced by you, the player, just as the present/future protagonist Desmond is trying to figure out why on earth he has to go through these memories. The game progresses quickly enough if you want it to, leaping rather than crawling from point to point (although there are many sidequests you can do to increase your max health/synchronization that, while repetitive, can help in the long run). My only complaint about the story is also a very minor point, actually relatively unrelated: the voice acting for all the characters is great, sounding very professional and working well with the story....except the voice actor for Altaïr. Although he sounds good, he is perhaps the only VA without an even remotely Middle Eastern accent, and his tone is rarely more complex than "I'm quite serious" or "I'm fairly angry". Not enough to warrant a dislike of the game, but it still bothers me, more than the other issues I've brought up at least.
In somma: the gameplay is fluid and highly satisfying, especially when assassinating a well guarded target, or fighting off a dozen enemies. The movement of the player is natural, allowing him to scale buildings quickly and to leap back into or out of combat with ease. The learning curve for using combat effective however is fairly steep and can be very frustrating before mastered. Also, the side quests for extra synchronization are very repetitive to the point of being almost identical--but since they aren't required to finish the game they won't detract a lot from the total score, giving gameplay a total of 8/10.
The graphics in the game aren't top of the line--but they're more than enough for Assassin's Creed. The character models don't have very expressive faces, making for relatively odd cutscenes, but since most characters you encounter are either irrelevant civilians or assassination targets, in-game the models work well. The graphics of the world however is fantastic, taking the player to the heights of Jerusalem and other cities in the area. The city layouts are historically accurate (or so they claim--I've never been in the area), and the rushing sights seen after leaping off the tops of enormous towers are really something. 8.5/10.
The story is twofold: the story of Desmond, and the story of Altaïr. While you don't get a lot of Desmond's story, there's enough pauses between Altaïr's missions to give the player a clue about what's going on in the present. Altaïr's story is fairly uncomplicated--not one of the most creative stories in gaming history--but the way it ties into Desmond's story is certainly unique, and well told. 7.5/10.
Overall, Assassin's Creed is a great game, combining a well-established stealth/assassination mechanic with a slightly overpowered combat system in a well constructed game world, accompanied by a compelling story that at this point, spans a total of 4 main games. Final rating? 8/10: I highly recommend it.
Hope you enjoyed my first review. Here's to many more in the near future.
Safety and peace,
Fireninja
