Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Publisher: Ubisoft
Available On: XBOX 360, PS3, PC (2008)

When kidnapped by an unknown assailant and forced into a machine with the purpose of retracing the genetical memories of your assassin ancestor to learn the location of an unknown item from the year 1191, it’s hard to say no. Seemingly confusing at first, when paid close attention to Assassin’s Creed’s story is actually quite engaging. A convoluted plot of future technology, genetics, holy wars and crusades, it gives a very solid and substantial background to one of the most impressive XBOX 360 games to date – not only in graphics, but in terms of general production, execution and style.

After a lengthy training session, opening plot events and a range of ability loss that would make Samus Aran jealous, Assassin’s Creed replays a story of the past through the eyes of Desmond Miles, a resident of the year 2012 and direct relation to that of Altaïr, our more well-known Arabic acrobatic assassin.

Once the concept of plot and scenario is developed Assassin’s Creed truly begins to shine. Opening scenes show off show nice graphics and action, but when Altaïr heads into his first big city the game really begins to impress. Cities are enormous, filled to the brim with chatty civilians, hostile guards and suburban designs that would drown out any minimalist while our hero navigates the rooftop terrain with ease. Activating the first view point in the game is a moment anyone would remember, displaying an amazing 360 degree panoramic scan of the entire city from bird’s eye height. Unfortunately this will be a bit less impressive each time you do it… down to the twentieth time.

Assassin’s Creed has a sizable focus on city transportation. When you’re a shady hooded assassin trying to move from city-to-city killing and saving, a natural amount of attention gets drawn to your surroundings. Assassin’s Creed has a big focus on avoiding guards, conflict, and city navigation. Rooftops always serve a much more adequate path around town, if only running and jumping were a little more interactive. Holding the right shoulder button puts Altaïr into a run, while the A button while add an extra sprint. Any jumps, hops or falls will be done automatically, not only lessening the interactivity and mobility of the world, but often results in unwanted ledge-hopping or jumping on top of a basket in the middle of a chase.

While Altaïr moves around the city beautifully, a bit more control would have created much more reward. The real skill in running is mainly directing Altaïr in a direction and sighting out a path ahead, resulting in some erratic behavior and a break in what could be a very fluid run. Jumping outwards from a cliff seems to always be pre-set in horizontal distance. Often I’d find a suitable landing spot just below Altaïr, yet any attempts at jumping outwards would always result in the same distance outwards, so it’s either a leap or a fall.

Once you reach a destination, Assassin’s Creed varies through different missions ranging from pick-pocketing, assassinations (surprise!), interrogations and not much more. The most pressing downside of Assassin’s Creed is ironically the most repeated in how each mission gets a little samey after a while. Repeated missions results in, for example, 3 different pick-pocketing missions that could all be confused for one another as differences are minimal. Though mission objectives can get quite repetitive, similar missions tend to be far apart as a good amount of city-hopping, side-missions and relaying back to base can serve as some enjoyable filler.

Assassin’s Creed offers a variety of gratuitous stealth-based assassin moves, enacted by 3 different weapons, with a large focus put on sword fights, popping up quite frequently through a variety of missions. Sword fights while kept simple are more than impressive and a huge amount of fun. The mechanics of sword fighting allows some amazing fight scenes as Altaïr takes on large amounts of armored enemy soldiers. Sword movements and defensive moves are played out through certain buttons when pressed at certain times. Simple and fun at first, yet a fine art to master. Later on when one gets a true feel of the timing involved and a nice chunk of different abilities any sword fight has the potential to be flawless, when done right.

While Assassin’s Creed has an engaging story in a beautiful world of fun combat, the true shining point of this game is the authenticity of the Middle Eastern world. Each city is claimed to be modeled after it’s real life architecture, even each assassination target and the events within are scoped around real-life events. While each city is amazingly defined, the large amount of citizens within truly finish a convincing experience. Each citizen can speak any of many lines of dialogue, proclaiming about their surroundings or pointing out when some crazed assassin is jumping all over their pots. Sound not only stands out in civilians, I suggest Assassin’s Creed be best experienced with a good amount of volume. Sword fights sound amazing and gut-wrenching, especially when finishing off an enemy results in a lengthy screaming death. Even the birds among rooftops create a convincing aura of sound.

Altaïr even has some bonding moments with his towe turban wearing civilian friends. Saving a citizen in peril can result in a new pack of friends who will help hide you, or even hold down guards with force when in a battle, leaving you to easily, well, stab them in the back. In another aspect of personality interaction, enemy forces can sometimes react to a falling comrade, convulsing or gagging at the sight of slaying, leaving them open for a sudden attack.

It’s the small things like turning around to see a friend you’ve helped in the past hold a guard into submission that set off Assassin’s Creed. It’s convincing, immersive and beautiful, I don’t think I can use those words more. It is disappointing that the main downfall of the adventure is missions that get repetitive and in their core, lack a certain amount of content. An hour or two in and you’ll have already done most of what is to come for what is a generally short game. Fortunately, Assassin’s Creed does more than necessary to justify this and maintain an enjoyable game. A unique experience that may leave you wanting more… until the sequel.

Assassin’s Creed

90%

The Good -

* Unique and interesting storyline
* Immersive and convincing through amazing graphics, sound and presentation.
* Sword fights and assassinations are a lot of fun.

The Bad -

* 1-2 hours in and you know what you’ll be doing for the rest.
* Questionable control over Altaïr’s mobility.
* Transportation can be a bit lengthy and over-used.