Assassin's Creed is a stunning game but has some flaws.
Assassin's Creed offers a unique blend of stunning graphic design, excellent voice acting and a very different, but complex storyline. There is an endless amount to do in the game that will leave you satisfied and hungry for more.
Assassin's Creed follows the tale of Altair, a highly skilled 12th Century assassin and his journey through the Holy Land, during the Crusades. You will encounter different environments in the cities you will visit: Acre, Damascus and Jerusalem. Each city is beautifully designed and rendered which will leave you speechless at how life like the cities are.
Each city is alive with a thriving populace and busy streets. In the cities you will encounter beggars, drunks, town guards and hardy Templar Knights; and of course the people going about their normal business. You must take into account the population when making your move on your target as the population can be your best friend or worst nightmare.
The visual quality of Assassin's Creed is one of its many strengths. Each city is enormous and is your's to explore--though most of the cities are cut down to districts which are unlocked as you progress through the story. Everything is beautifully textured from the ancient pottery to the exquisite rugs and detailed clothing on the citizens. Most walls can be scaled one way or another by Altair and you can jump gracefully from one building to another, and you can leap from high towers into bails of hay when the opportunity arises. This makes gives you an extremely fun alternative to running from the guards in the busy streets--why not take them to the roofs?
Moving around the roofs and in combat is easily mastered by the sleek controls also make the game very fun to play. It seems effortless to cut down guards and just running and climbing is extremely easy to master. Fighting the guards in close combat can be a tempting challenge but it becomes more difficult when you are being pursued by 10 or 15 guards who will encircle you and attack; fleeing from them and using your profound agility can help you fend off the guards, allowing you time to escape to the roofs where they will be no match for your speed.
Assassin's Creed's sound quality is one of the best to date for a game. Everything you will hear adds to the experience of being in a busy city. As you walk the streets, you will hear the cries of endangered citizens, their views on religion and politics, the pleas from desperate beggars and the ramblings of drunks all makes the citizens all the more interesting to interact with. The voice acting is also magnificent, each character is made their own thanks to the fantastic voice actors. Combined with this is a beautiful musical score. The subtle sounds of Middle-Eastern tones and harmonies brings the game to life and provides a unique blend of scores for the different situations that will arise.
The story is what binds the whole game together and makes it unique. The story is in two parts. One is centred around Desmond, descendant of Altair, who has been forcibly kidnapped by a researcher and is placed in a machine called and Animus, which withdraws Altair's memories from Desmond's mind. This is when you will begin to play as Altair, eliminating assassination targets sought by your Creed master. The story can be rather confusing at times and switching back to Desmond can some-what slow the pace of the game. The ending especially leaves you on a cliff hanger which opens doors for a possible sequel that will surely be on the table.
There are an endless amount of tasks to do in the game that will take you away from the main story for a short time. You have the opportunity to rescue citizens being bullied by the guards; you can climb tall towers to get a synchronized view of the cityscape and you can collect various flags which will eventually unlock some achievements. Each will grant you elusive benefits like vigilantes that will grab your pursuing enemies allowing you time to escape. Climbing "View Points" will also allow you a bird's eye view of the city and will reveal missions you must do to discover the location of your targets. These varied missions come in the form of eavesdropping on people's conversations, beating information out people and pick pocketing victims for more information on things like your target's position. All of this grants you opportunities to flex you stealth talents by creeping around gathering information on your prey and preparing your strike.
The game also gives you important choices to make: should you go in all knives blazing, or sneak in through the crowds of people and cunningly killing your foe with your hidden blade. You can use your throwing daggers to kill enemies from a distance or use your sword or short sword to kill them in close quarters. Each way has their own satisfying rewards, be it smooth gruesome combo kills or a sneaky knife in the back. Close combat can be risky business as killing innocent citizens will give you a severe loss of health which will hinder your confidence in a large fight.
Needless to say, stealth is your best option. You have the ability to sneak past guards by hiding among white-robed scholars or by blending into the crowd. However, knocking over crate and pot carriers will draw the guard's attention to you and or even drawing your weapon in public will make the guards draw their's in retaliation. This can lead to all sorts of problems whither it be trying to complete a mission or just getting from A to B. You may choose to stay and fight the guards off, but running to the roofs is a far more enjoyable experience as you can throw guards to their deaths from the rooftops or hide in the hay stacks or small gardens located there until the guards regroup and go back to their posts. It all adds to the game's immersive quality.
Assassin's Creed is one of those rare games that portrays how hard Montreal Studios has worked on this game. The graphics, especially in High-Definition are stunning and is the sound quality of the game. From the living and breathing cities, to the slick combat and free running qualities of the game, it provides a deeply satisfying experience that you will soon not forget.
