This game rocks.  It's loads of fun to play, has an excellent combat system, a really interesting story, great voice acting, amazing graphics, and you can climb shit.  They do some really interesting things with the storytelling in the game, as well.  Sure, the actual missions get a bit repetitive, but there really aren't any sandbox games out there that don't fall into this trap, and I'd say it's far less so than something like GTA4.

I always like to go back to the huge, massively hyped games months after their release and give them another go, seeing them in a different context outside the "huge disappointment" or "omfg best thing ever" hyperbole.  Assassin's Creed, I'm happy to say, is an excellent game long after that holiday rush, and I would say holds up better than several of the big name holiday titles released last year.

How much of it have you played?  I got about 3 hours in before giving up.

I've already beaten it twice back when it came out, this is actually my 3rd run through the game.

Ah, and here I was thinking I was the only one....
Game was mad fun, repetitiveness et al.
But...
Vaxadrin said:

a really interesting story,

I thought it was a great game. Almost everything is what I initially expected from it but the crowds could have been a bit more diverse. The combat and all the other gameplay elements felt smooth and fluid which made it an interesting game to play.

Have you beaten the game? Because the game is horribly repetitive and the combat system in flawed due to an extremely overpowered counter-system. Combat is way too easy and there really isn't anything to do in the game besides "climb shit", as you so eloquently put it, and do your assassination missions. The game is just average in my eyes; it's not horrible, but it ins't fantastic either...just average.

It just got too repetative and boring for me. Interesting gameplay mechanics, but poor execution.

"WHAT?"

"I've already beaten it twice back when it came out, this is actually my 3rd run through the game."

"Have you beaten the game? Because the game is horribly repetitive and the combat system in flawed due to an extremely overpowered counter-system. Combat is way too easy and there really isn't anything to do in the game besides "climb shit", as you so eloquently put it, and do your assassination missions. The game is just average in my eyes; it's not horrible, but it ins't fantastic either...just average."

it truly was a fantastic game. I can understand why some reviewers panned it for being repetitive , but if you play it a little bit at a time its not a problem, and the story is great. 

Game is awesome  I agree.

I actually thought i wouldnt like it after reading the reviews. After renting it for a day I liked it so much i went out and bought it.

I think alot of people ruin this game for themselves by rushing through it (reviewers included). I really enjoyed the process of analyzing the clues to plan the assassination. The average gamer probably never even looked at the clues.

And i did like the story. Really looking forward to seeing where this goes in the future.

A game can only get repetitive when you tire of what you are doing, that never happened to me.

"atejas said:

"WHAT?"

The monologues of the people on their deathbeds contain some really interesting ideas & great writing, as well as the "glitch" techniques to show you their inflections & body language are also a really cool touch.  Being able to move Altair around during the "cutscenes" sort of turns them into a form of theater, which is entertaining.  The interactions between Altair and his master also contain some great lines, and feel like they're taken right out of an ancient text.

The story of Desmond in the present, is pretty lackluster, I'll admit, but they do a great job of conveying claustrophobia & being trapped (much more so than Silent Hill 4, even), and is purposefully opaque for the sake of setting up the sequels.  Also, just last night I figured out you could climb up on the counter in the bathroom to listen to Lucy & the doctor's conversations through the air vent.  Little passive things like that always get me excited."

I think we can just go ahead with spoilers since the game's been out for almost a year...

I didn't think the Piece of Eden really threw a wrench in the works because there's a whole sci-fi / paranormal theme running throughout the entire game with the whole Animus concept / hud / matrix-like glitches & walls in the cites.  They can do some really interesting things with it in the sequels if they play their cards right.

If you restart the game, you'll see the very first scene (when Desmond's mind is rejecting the memory) has Altair surrounded by scantily clothed women, throwing themselves at him.  This is possibly some abuse of the Piece of Eden's power or something, and there could be a very good reason his body was rejecting the memory.  This is all stuff they could really flesh out in sequels.

What excites me most, though, is the idea of modern times Desmond acquiring all the genetic memories / skills of Altair and using them to do a crazy parkour escape from the Templar facility, similar to the final level of Portal.  How awesome would that be?

^^^^It's more high-tech than paranormal. And the ending was downright absurd for a medieval game.
But yeah, it'll be more believable when you're Desmond. But you'll end up going to China or something in AC2, didnt you see the messages on the wall?

No, that shit was all gibberish to me. :D

" ...there really aren't any sandbox games out there that don't fall into this trap [repetition]... "

Gameplay was kinda of repetive, but I still enjoyed the game. I can't wait till they make a sequel based on what I saw at the end.

"No, that shit was all gibberish to me. :D"

"Vaxadrin said:

" ...there really aren't any sandbox games out there that don't fall into this trap [repetition]... "

Good point. I thought Assassin's Creed was great, too."

What killed my interest in this game was when I started trying to look for the flags right after realizing that all the assassination missions were just as boring, when I was near the end. I ended up not even finishing the game...

"Vaxadrin said:

"No, that shit was all gibberish to me. :D"

I read somewhere online that some of the characters written on the wall were chinese, and that the wall'o'words was a code for something like 'Their Crusades have not ended' and other (seemingly) meansingless rants. I'll try to get a link, if you liked the main story, you'll love this."

What excites me most, though, is the idea of modern times Desmond acquiring all the genetic memories / skills of Altair and using them to do a crazy parkour escape from the Templar facility, similar to the final level of Portal.  How awesome would that be?"

"What killed my interest in this game was when I started trying to look for the flags right after realizing that all the assassination missions were just as boring, when I was near the end. I ended up not even finishing the game..."

"Yeh I honestly dont have a clue where they are going with the game now."

Another thing to remember is that in the present, all the assassins are dead. That, if it turns out to be true, would suck. I want to talk to Malik's descendant!

"Have you beaten the game? Because the game is horribly repetitive and the combat system in flawed due to an extremely overpowered counter-system. Combat is way too easy and there really isn't anything to do in the game besides "climb shit", as you so eloquently put it, and do your assassination missions. The game is just average in my eyes; it's not horrible, but it ins't fantastic either...just average."

"Kush said:

"Have you beaten the game? Because the game is horribly repetitive and the combat system in flawed due to an extremely overpowered counter-system. Combat is way too easy and there really isn't anything to do in the game besides "climb shit", as you so eloquently put it, and do your assassination missions. The game is just average in my eyes; it's not horrible, but it ins't fantastic either...just average."

I agree, but the really sad thing about it is that AC could have been sooo much better, so i hope AC2 will be better, there is so much they can do with the series."

If you turn off most the HUD it gets even better.

"How much of it have you played?  I got about 3 hours in before giving up."

"If you turn off most the HUD it gets even better."

Couldn't even bring myself to finish that game.

Fell asleep twice in the first 5 hours......horrible game

having just gone back to play the Call Of Duty 4 Campaign, I was gonna jump on AC straight after that before the holiday rush starts...... ;)

loved it the first play through, only the missions got a bit repetative after awhile, nothing beats climbing the Cathedral in Acre for the first time tho.

Assassin's Creed: One of the Best games of 2007.
I was SHOCKED by all of the negative reviews. I played that game start to finish with nary a bad thought. Totally an amazing experience.
Maybe I was playing it wrong. All i did was go through the story mode and try to do every side mission in the game. Maybe that's not the way it should be done?

Opinions seem to be somewhat divided on this gae. For me the repetitivity kept me from completing the game but I still don't regret buying it one bit, it was great to experience. However, I have my doubts about Assassin's Creed 2.

I thought it was pretty good not great but good nonetheless

"ZimpanX said:

"If you turn off most the HUD it gets even better."

That's actually what I'm doing, a no-HUD run.  It's great because it forces you to pay attention to your surroundings, see if soldiers are looking for you or nearby.  You have to climb the towers and spot the assassin's bureau, and use the eagle vision to find missions.  I'm loving it."

Well that's what i thought..... for the first like 30 minutes.  I was like this is pretty cool but then after that i had a strong feeling of "this is fucking it?!?!"  I mean the most interesting part of the game was collecting flags.  The combat was so crap and I did not feel like an assassin at all; just some guy who happened to have a finger blade and could jump around.  The AI of the guards and town people was incredibly stupid.  Sure the game looked nice but the gameplay was just too crap to make up for it.

So yeah the main failure of this game was that it did not make me feel like an assassin nor did it have good gameplay to make up for it.

I think it's a good game (not great).  Only thing I hated about AC are the flag capturing achievements -_-

I made myself play through the whole thing, although it really was just a chore towards the end the game was just to repetitive and nothing was really happening story wise.
This is one game I don't ever want to play again, I barely made it through a single play through.

Im excited for a sequel but first one was a love hate relationship and slightly repetitive but a good start for a series.

Man, I totally agree: this game is excellent. It's incredibly original both in theme and gameplay and the execution is near-flawless. It's worth noting that in the PC-version there is much less repetition than on 360 as there's a full four extra mission types. I took my time (a week or so) calmly playing through the whole thing and never once felt it was getting old.

Honestly the only things that bothered me were the scifi meta-story (would have preferred straight historical) and intentional glitches (flags, selection, etc) and the fact that once you get to the actual assassinating the game becomes a lot more linear than the rest would lead you to expect. Having to move into place to activate the big cutscene every time was really frustrating and often defeated the purpose of all that preparation exploring the area and picking off guards. I actually found the generic "assassinate random guard X"-assignments more compelling sometimes because you had more freedom to act on your own terms.

Yeah I like Ace Combat as well.

I loved Assassins Creed, defiantly a hell of a lot more fun then I had with Halo 3 yet it didn't get as good a score from most reviews. I never understood the repetitive line as I never felt it was repetitive. Some folk seem to hate it with a passion which I never understood. I loved the way it captured the time and only Bioshock as done that any better. The story was brilliant even if the ending wasn't great and left you on a cliff ending.

But thought it was a brilliant game and the crisitism was unfair.

yeah its one of my favorite games

Did not like Assassin's Creed...

- The combat system was just one big cycle of who can out counter the other.
- The enviroments were pretty generic, offering zero to no difference in gameplay
- The mission's were EXTREMELY repetative, it was a grinding finish for myself.
- The way the game makes you "gain" back what you lost, is just an old design element that just doesn't belong in video games anymore.

Oh and yeah this game has NO stealth. When I bought this game I was hoping for something that made you feel like an Assassin, not Ninja Gaiden, all you constantly do is mow down the enemy until you get to the target.

It was fun for awhile, but then the repetition started to sink in...that and my cousin's copy was scratched so I couldn't finish it. ;)

If ever there was a game which I could best define as average in every department, Assassin's Creed would be it. Which is a shame considering the potential it had.

ooh you guys are just bitter because it was not Jesus on a disc