The third-person stealth genre has never been one hurting for quality titles and it seemed as though Assassin’s Creed would follow in the footsteps of great games like Splinter Cell and Metal Gear Solid. One set in the time of the Knights Templar really peaked my interest and I was hoping for a stellar title to match the stellar screenshots we have been seeing for months now. For any stealth game to really succeed as a stealth game it needs to focus on mainly just that, stealth. The same goes for an action title and it is really hard to figure out what Assassin’s Creed is trying to be. Before you can carry out one of the nine different assassinations you must do some, and by some I mean a hell of a lot, investigation work around the huge open-ended environment. Ubisoft touted that gamers could go anywhere, climb anything, and “choose their own path” to killing glory and on that front they pretty much succeeded. Unfortunately the developers bit off a bit more than they could chew and the end game is more of a tech demo with a badass story than a solid game with innovative features. Don’t get me wrong there is some really good stuff here but at the end of the day the over used combat system and repetitive missions assassinate the game’s chance at being a success.
A quick warning to skip this paragraph about the storyline if you do not want to learn a small spoiler concerning the game, one that is told in the first few minutes of the game. In early screenshots there was always a DNA looking thing on screen, which just didn’t fit in with the Middle Ages theme, but it was never explained. The secret plotline behind Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed has been one of the best-kept secrets in the industry and kudos to them for doing so. On it’s face value the game takes place during the Third Crusade in the Middle Ages but in “reality” it takes place in modern day. This is a possibility thanks to a special chair that must be jacked into. I don’t want to spoil much of the story but it was very intriguing and once you see the ending it is obvious a sequel is in the works. The main character in the game is Altair, you actually play as Altair’s distance relative that must go back and complete a series of assassinations to stop (or start) a war in the Middle Ages. This is one of the coolest concepts in any video game out there today so it is a shame many people who never play the game will not get to experience it. There are nine different Templars that must be killed to complete the game and with each death we learn a bit more about what is going on and why the powers-at-be are forcing “Altair” to perform the deadly executions. The first time I pulled off one of these amazing assassinations I was hooting and hollering with the best of them, after the third one it had lost all excitement. Because the gameplay is very wash and repeat it quickly gets boring.
The main purpose of Assassin’s Creed may be to eliminate some nine random bad guys (or are they good guys) but during the way the developers included plenty of pointless tasks to complete. Not only can you pick pocket worthless stuff from random people but also you can listen in on unsuspecting common folk, perform side “quests” for other assassins, and interrogate informants. While these are not supposed to be the main feature of the game they end up being just that because ninety percent of your time spent playing Assassin’s Creed will be spent performing these little duties that make you feel more like an errand boy than a badass assassin. Because the premise of the storyline is so freaking amazing it’s necessary that the gameplay be right there alongside it, unfortunately things could not be farther from the truth. On the other hand some of these tasks require Altair to gain access to very high points throughout the city and getting to these specific points is all up to the player. Even though this is not one of the goals of the game itself it becomes the shiniest feature in Assassin’s Creed. Using a very unique, and at times frustrating, control scheme gamers point Altair towards a spot and then start to climb. It is sad that the assassinations are overshadowed, by climbing buildings and swinging from ledges but the truth is that this game should have stopped after the third level. Were it not for the storyline I doubt I would have played through the whole thing.
