REPETITIVE, BUT STILL GREAT
When the Assassin's Creed trailer came out almost a year ago it looked incredible: great graphics, smooth looking gameplay, and a very interesting setting. The game itself had some mixed reviews, and I've finally gotten around to playing it for myself.
The setting itself is somewhat misleading, as right away you realize that the main character is actually a descendant of the assassin in the trailer, and you are tasked with unlocking the secrets of his actions. The premise is that scientists have discovered that DNA houses memory as well as normal genetic traits. Many reviewers have said that showing us this "secret" so early is a mistake, but after I finished the game I definitely feel that the story had to flow this way. It's not really a secret so much as the entire story revolves around this point, and some questions are answered while others are not. The flow of the game is such that Altair is the top assassin, but is extremely arrogant. He makes a grave mistake that his master forces him to atone by way of assassinating nine men. There are 4 main cities, three of which basically look exactly the same. Jerusalem, Acre, and Damascus all have the same look at feel (even the buildings and citizens look exactly the same). This didn't distract me a great deal, but I couldn't shake the feeling of just how much better the game would be if each city has it's own distinct look and feel.
The control is very good, and most of the game plays basically like an open world Prince of Persia game. One major exception being that stealth is the most important gameplay element. Moving, fighting (when necessary), jumping and climbing all feel great and are done well. The controls do get a touch sloppy when you're being chased--the game often misreads that you're trying to run when you're actually trying to hid in bale of hay, etc.--but it's more of a slight annoyance rather than a major problem. Combat is solid as well, although I would have liked to see a more robust combo system similar to the Prince of Persia games to add more variety and a better sense of tactics.
I don't want to give much away about the story, as this is where the game truly shines, but the flow of the game basically goes like this: the master gives you someone to assassin, you go to the appropriate city, speak to city's head assassin at the guild, complete 3 investigations to gather information, return to the guild to review your assassination plan, complete the assassination, return to the master to receive weapon/ability upgrades and your next assassination mission. There are some variants here and there, but each of the nine assassination missions go exactly like that more or less. This is the game's biggest weakness because it gets pretty repetitive especially towards the middle of the game. The very interesting part is when the game goes back to the present day, and your character learns more and more about why he is there, who exactly has him there, and what the motive is behind all of this. As the game moves along, you find out that there are really two stories going on at the same time. Both are very interesting and the game does a great job going back and forth between the two to keep you interested and engaged.
Overall Assassin's Creed is a very strong action/adventure game; the best I've yet played on the PS3. The graphics are great, the gameplay is solid, the story is outstanding, and the ending is one of the best I've ever seen in a video game. This is a great game that I would recommend to almost everyone, and I can't wait for the sequel.
