By Stevie Smith Dec 5, 2007, 8:00 GMT
(Review provided courtesy of Play.tm)
Disgraced assassin Altair takes on the Third Crusade single-handedly in Ubisoft's spectacular Assassin's Creed. Credit: Ubisoft.
When 25-year-old Desmond Miles awakens to find himself a captive of modern day pharmaceutical giant Abstergo, an intriguing series of epic events are set in motion that involve Miles being forced to interact with the 'Animus,' an experimental virtual reality simulator that taps into the genetic memories of its host.
With Abstergo scientist Dr. Warren Vidic apparently seeking something of intense value from the ancestral memories embedded deep within his latest test subject, Miles unwillingly assumes the role of Altair, a disgraced master assassin who lived during the Third Crusade. But what is Vidic really searching Miles' memories for? What ancient conspiracy lies behind the trail of devastation wrought by Altair in his quest to reclaim lost honour? And why exactly should Miles, a seemingly innocuous bartender, be so important to a corporation such as Abstergo?
You'll have to play the game to learn the answers to all those questions, and no, there are no spoilers in the above paragraphs (or in those following); all the information they contain is revealed within the first ten minutes of Assassin's Creed and includes nothing eventually revealed in the game's finale.
Without disclosing any more of the sporadic science fiction narrative that runs alongside Altair's epic adventure, beyond the sterile confines of Abstergo's laboratory and the plug-in accessibility of Animus, the game world in Assassin's Creed is set out across the Assassin stronghold of Masyaf, three core cities, and a sprawling Kingdom that exists as a vast segueing environment.
While the Kingdom is a huge and richly adorned open area of undulating hills and sloping plains that can be explored at the player's leisure (on horseback is preferable), it holds no direct significance to the game's integral assassination missions or the unfolding narrative in general. However, it is densely populated with lively village settlements, crumbling ruins, representative inhabitants, and collectable items, as well as offering scaleable watchtowers, ominous barrack camps and plenty of bloodthirsty Saracens.
The majority of game time is spent in the aforementioned trio of cities, which are Damascus, Acre (pronounced 'Acker'), and Jerusalem. All are truly massive walled environments, all are rich beyond compare in a visual sense, all are teeming with truly emotive and believable A.I. inhabitants, and all are quite simply breathtaking to behold. Indeed, as Altair and his steed crest a rise in the Kingdom and the trailing camera sweeps majestically upwards to reveal the wonders of Damascus for the very first time, it is difficult to recall an in-game view that successfully rivals that which Ubisoft tantalisingly lays out before the player. That is, until progressing to the grimy beauty of Acre... and then again to the jaw-dropping scale of Jerusalem.
Therein lies one of the key points of ambition and attraction for Assassin's Creed: it's scale. The often stunning aesthetic beauty and level of uncompromising detail associated with the game's presentation and design are instantly apparent, but it's the sheer size of the interactive world that is likely to rock players back on their heels. Of course, while a game such as Oblivion might offer up more square kilometres throughout its entire world, Assassin's Creed manages to cram so much living and breathing life into the cramped streets and alleyways of its three cities that any subsequent sessions of Oblivion would likely feel extremely empty by comparison.
The focus of virtually any and all advanced coverage during the game's development has revolved around an innovative character control system, supposedly capable of seamlessly channelling Altair's interactions within his environment, while also providing a refined approach to the conventional button-combination battle mechanic witnessed during Ubisoft's popular Prince of Persia series. But does it deliver?
A period of acclimatisation is certainly required (this is new territory), especially with the fighting aspect, but the act of simply guiding an ever-willing Altair as he leaps between rooftops and effortlessly free-runs across obstacles, support beams, scaffold, and battlements is little short of gaming joy. Some may bemoan the lack of interaction on the player's part, as nimble stick fingers are all that is required to watch Altair dance majestically through the environment, but the flawlessly responsive animation system crafted by Ubisoft is, without doubt, the very pinnacle of character creation. How anyone can say that videogames cannot be classified as art is beyond this particular reviewer.
From a fighting perspective, those critical sources decrying the fact that players will likely pursue an easy reliance on Altair's defensive counter attack move when faced with multiple close-quarter enemies, clearly did not seek to utilise the full extent of what Assassin's Creed has to give for those who care to look.
At the dawn of the game, a disgraced Altair is stripped of considerable rank and weaponry following an unsuccessful assassination attempt. As he progresses from mission to mission, Altair is gradually promoted back to his initial ranking, receiving various restored skill and weapon elements along the way. The counter attack move is but one fighting skill, and it is extremely useful in thinning the massed ranks of angry guards looking to spill Altair's blood. However, simple but aggressive timed-combo kills are just as useful, as is the defensive break, or the dodge attack, or throwing enemies into collapsible scaffolding or market stalls - all single button moves that need little more than expert timing while facing multiple sword blades. Fights may initially appear simplistic and unrewarding but they become more and more intense and demanding as Altair's skill grows to accommodate increasing difficulty. In short, Assassin's Creed gives back what the player puts in.
And 'giving back' is the game's other key point of attraction and appeal. Specifically, if rushing through the investigative missions associated with Altair's core assassinations is the player's only motivation, then labels such as "repetitive," and "lack of variety," might be deserving of their placement in the surge of negative press that immediately followed the game's release. However, when taken at a more controlled pace, Assassin's Creed veritably begs the player to enjoy the layers of primary and secondary involvement on offer through seemingly unimportant side missions - which later repeatedly prove their worth.
Upon entering a city district (each city has several, which gradually open as the game progresses), Altair must perform a number of prerequisite missions, all of which contribute to the collection of information related to his eventual target. Firstly, Altair must consult his map and scale various highlighted buildings spread throughout the district, gathering a thrilling birds-eye views (which never gros tiresome) that reveal yet more missions via the map screen.
These missions are scattered across the city in various forms: Eavesdrop, which involves simply listening in on NPC conversations to collect nuggets of information; Interrogation, which requires Altair to follow a vocal public speaker to a secluded location before forcing the release of target knowledge with the application of unforgiving knuckle bone; Pickpocket, which demands some light-fingered dexterity to deprive a twitchy-eyed NPC of some useful documentation; and Informer, which sees Altair rewarded with yet more information after performing either multiple minor assassinations or frantically traversing rooftops to collect 'lost' Masyaf flags against the clock.
Can those missions be described as limited, boring, dull, repetitive, and lacking in variety? Perhaps, but only by those players entering each city district to do nothing but get to the target assassination within the quickest possible time - and those who've never played Grand Theft Auto. For everyone else, there are plenty of other things to be done before spilling the blood of evil men and progressing the story, some of which are leisurely distractions, and some of which offer up delayed rewards.
Those leisurely distractions are provided by way of Achievement-related side missions, which can be engaged or ignored at the player's discretion. For example, each city and district (and also Masyaf and the Kingdom) contains literally hundreds of scattered flags, some easy to reach and some in seemingly inaccessible places. In order to collect them all, which is no easy task, the player must exercise a keen eye while Altair exercises the very best in his climbing ability. Then, much like the flags, there are 60 Templar knights peppered through the game, all of which will attack Altair on sight without falling for his adopted pseudo pious stealth approach. Initially providing a tough challenge when encountered early in the game, hunting down Templars later becomes a satisfying route of vengeance - especially when able to creep up from behind before delivering a silent and instant death strike. Other Achievement-based tasks involve diving through market stalls while being chased by guards, and even semi-assaulting female beggars desperate for a little coin only to be suitably shocked upon tasting Altair's stoked anger.
However, perhaps the most important and rewarding optional tasks are provided by the game's 'Save Citizen' moments. By successfully wielding his sword to assist any random folk suffering persecution at the hands of the city guards, Altair subsequently finds himself allied with the local scholars and vigilantes, who, in return for his perilous sacrifice, offer up their own brand of assistance to help Altair during his more important missions.
For example, when sneaking into protected areas or running from adversaries, Altair can choose to blend with groups of monk-like scholars in order to move through guard lines or escape unwanted attention. Furthermore, the true and unexpected worth of 'Save Citizen' missions is revealed when executing any major assassinations that involve pursuing a fleeing target through the city streets. While the sensation of giving chase across rooftops is undeniably exciting, it stops the player (and their shocked target) literally dead when aligned vigilante groups converge and grapple the target to a standstill, which allows Altair to close in for a swift yet somehow more poignant and tangible kill. Ignoring the 'Save Citizen' missions garners the player no such NPC assistance, and removes a great deal of the enjoyment on offer outside of completing the bare minimum of investigative tasks.
When not involved in a breathless bout of free running against one of the game's core assassination targets, Altair is able to use his gathered information to approach predetermined kill zones stealthily, perhaps removing eagle-eyed rooftop archers along the way, or relying on map documents to show alternative paths into a building. The actual face-to-face assassinations can be a continuation of that stealth, with Altair revealing his deadly intentions only at the final moment. Or, if the player prefers the more direct route, then boldly drawing any form of weaponry in close proximity to the target will attract their blade - usually along with those belonging to a stronghold's worth of faithful guardsmen. Either way, whether suddenly leaping from a ledge to slam a hidden short blade through an exposed throat, or trading lengthy blows with seething ranks after openly slaying their master, Assassin's Creed doesn't scrimp on its action.
Naturally, there is no such thing as 'the perfect videogame' and Assassin's Creed does have a number of glitches, bugs, and annoyances that rear up to taint the overall experience. Thankfully, however, these are largely limited to elements beyond the core gameplay mechanics. For example, the scrumptious visuals do come at a price, which is noticeably short draw distance and some jarringly abrupt pop up (especially when racing into a street just before the game engine is able to create its foremost NPCs). A.I. controlled enemies, while generally merciless in their pursuit of Altair across rooftops, through buildings, and down alleyways, will occasionally walk off high ledges to their lemming-inspired deaths, or become inexplicably catapulted skywards by a collapsing scaffold. Also, the graphics betray signs of flicker while intermittently stuttering into the realm of clipping during closely confined battles, with characters momentarily absorbed by walls and other environmental details that would otherwise provide physical barriers. NPC chatter is generally responsive to actions unfolding around the player, but mission-based NPC dialogue quickly strains the ears through limited samples that loop all-too quickly. That being said, the negatives that crop up during Assassin's Creed are never serious enough to pull the player away from the always compelling storyline or the genuine sense of gameplay immersion.
Factor in unabashed moments of 'pure thrill' into the game, such as the death-defying 'leap of faith' from high vantage points into the safety of a conveniently placed cart of hay, the always satisfying hidden-blade kill, and the savagely gruesome but seamless counter attack cut scenes that make battles cinematic experiences surpassing anything that has come before, and Assassin's Creed is never anything short of a standout creation - which also happens to be a blessed rarity in that it's a new IP.
And, as a closing note for those supposedly objective and reputable review sources that have so woefully misjudged Ubisoft's latest high-profile offering: Assassin's Creed is a lovingly matured fine wine to be consumed at one's leisure, not merely swilled and spat while staring absent-mindedly down the nose of reticence. It is an engrossing adventure to be investigated thoroughly, not simply perused in conjunction with the ominous tick-tock of the editor's deadline clock. And it is a marker of next-gen progression to be lauded for its bravery, not spitefully hauled backward because it occasionally fails to accomplish all of its lofty ambitions.
Assassin's Creed arrives as a glorious but flawed masterpiece that deserves to be praised for all that it does so brilliantly, not shamefully criticised for a smattering of minor detractions that never threaten to do anything but temporarily blemish an otherwise glistening gem.
94%
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BrianJul 28th, 2008 - 18:48:10
I think this game is way over-rated. I would definitely rent before buying. I played it for about 20 minutes, that's all I could take.
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