A look at Assassin's Creed

[thunderhero4]

Helo everybody. This is my review of the game Assassin's Creed for the Xbox 360!



Name: Assassin's Creed
Platform: Xbox 360
Genre: Sandbox, Stealth, Action/Adventure
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Publisher: Ubisoft
ESRB: M (Mature, 17+)
Retail: $59.99
Also On: Playstation 3, PC
Input: Xbox 360 Controller
Release Date: November 14, 2007

I wasn't quite expecting what i got in this game, but here goes.

Story

Quite the story for quite the game. It takes place in the near future. You start out as an unnamed man taked prisoner by a group of mysterious scientists. They force you to lay on a futuristic machine every day, all day that pulls you into your memories and lets you relive them. This man has been discovered to have been part of a family of assassins who follow a certain creed. The scientists want you to sit in the machine and gather all the information as you can while you control this man's ancestor: a guy name Altair (all-tie-air).

You get into the world of memories. After an unavoidable tutorial on your skills, you go to the ancient world Altair lived in, 1191 apperently. He disobeys orders of his creed and is stripped of his rank and killed. For an odd reason, though, he came back to life. You must then go on missions through a bunch of towns in a HUGE gameworld, assassinating many people. Good luck, you are going to need it! ;) The rules of his creed:

-Do not harm the blood of an innocent
-Always hide in plain sight
-Do not harm other creed members, and disagree with them

He broke all 3 of these rules

Story is well thought out and has meaning! A 5/5!


Altair, the guy you control and part protagonist

Gameplay

Gameplay in Assassin's Creed takes some time to get used to. You control Altair, an assassin who is good at what he does, assassinate people. I will start off by saying the controls are very fluent, and go very nicely for a limited amount of buttons on a controller.

You have 4 weapons you may use at any time (or at least until you gain them back):

Hidden blade
Sword
Fists
and Throwing Knives

Each of these are essential to getting the right job done. I will explain the 4:

Hidden Blade: In general, a huge switchblade hidden in his sleeve on his arm. The ultimate tool in the art of the kill, simply sneak up on anybody with this out, and with a push of X, you will assassinate this person and they die instantly, usually silently too. When you do this, you hear a *shink* noise and the person loses balance and falls, as you walk away. Use this to instantly take out anybody with one hit, providing you can get to them without being detected. Best used for hard to kill people. Beware though, for if they see it coming you will fail.


An assassination rom above using the hidden blade

Sword: A rather large longsword that you carry on your back. Bust it out when you are detected and it is the ultimate fighting machine. By simply button mashing X, you can deal strong swift strikes. By Holding X, you deal a slow but powerful slash that will penetrate defense and give you an opening. Strategy can be key to using this weapon. Good timing of RT and X will gain you expert blocks and finishing counters. When you do a finishing counter, a tiny cutscene happens and Altair does a badass kill move with his sword. There are many different finishing counters, but they all deal the same thing, death. They are easy to use too, hold RT and press X when someone strikes at you and you dodge and kill. Use this when you are cornered and cannot run anymore.


A sword fight

Throwing Knives: A knife you can throw to deal instant death, or fight with. You are limited with these so use them wisely. When fighting with a throwing knife, it is alot quicker than the sword, so I recommend using it battles with larger groups of enemies. However, there is no block present. You will likely not need it though, for it has a finishing counter as well. Use it to take out  enemies from a distance or for fighting large groups.

Fists: Self explanitory, punching. Use it when you are in a frantic situation or to beat the answers out of people. Just keep punching and your target should die eventually.

Mobility is another big part of this, as it is for all sandbox games. You can climb just about everything in the game. Just look for a foothold or handhold. You can also use this to escape people chasing you. Simply get out of site and hide and a haystack, a group of monks (imitate praying), a roof garden, or by blending in with people on a bench. You have a meter showing your status in your position.


You can climb just about anything ::)

Basic white symbol: Hidden / got away
Basic white/blinking green: Hidden and cannot be found
Blinking yellow eyeball: Enemies are suspicious of you, be careful
Blinking red eyeball: You are inches from being caught, stay back
Red symbol: They have spotted you, fight or run for cover
Blinking yellow symbol: They've lost sight of you, quickly find a hiding spot
Blinking blue symbol: You are currently hiding and waiting for them to lose you

In this aspect, this game is very similar to a game I have previously reviewed: Bully: Scholarship Edition. If you enjoy this game, get it too, for it's also for Xbox 360.

Missions are confusing at first, but you get to understand them. You have main objectives (getting info, assassinating) and minor objectives (collecting collectables and such). Completing main objectives will get you further in the story, completeing minor objectives simply help unlock achievements (and we all want those! :) )

This game's gameplay is very well thought out, and it's alot less complicated than it sounds. It makes this game what it is, and it makes you truly feel like an assassin!

5/5

Replayability and Fun Extras

Every single part of this game can be redone from start to finish, so you can replay any part of the game. Quite a good idea. And being Sandbox, you will not get bored of it for some time.

As for fun extras, there really is none with story and side missions.

4/5

Graphics

This game looks AMAZING! Next to Gears of War, this game has the current best graphics on the 360 in my opinion. Everything looks so real and colorful. The textures and lighting are where it really shines, and it's what gamers usually enjoy looking at anyway. Its beautiful. The only complaint I have is that during cutscenes, when a blade is poked through the body of someone, it doesn't look at all realistic. More like the body was never there. But that wont turn away enough from my score:

5/5


Look at that city! So real looking! :O

Sound

Everything sounds good. Swords connecting has never sounded more real, and all other sounds seem to fit as well. Done right.

Music isn't all that great however. None of the tunes really get you goin. Im afraid that it may slightly lower sound's score.

Voice acting is top notch. You will be wondering why some people seem to be speaking english slang in a place like arabia, but that is explained. And also, remember that the guy from the beginning is controling Altair so they have the same voice. And it sounds different to hear him say "This is so...so...FUCKED!" snce you rarely hear that in video games.

4/5

Controls

Very fluent and feels good to control. Further explained in Gameplay section.

5/5

Multiplayer

There is none, it's a single player experience.

X/5

Overall

This game is alot of fun and will last a long time. It has beautiful graphics, great controls, sound, a good story, mediocre music, and no multiplayer.

It gets an overall 9/10 Excellent for being so cool and fun.

Get it if you are a hardcore gamer who wants a long and badass game. You will enjoy it.

Gameplay Movie

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2H75sED4o8s

This shows an escape and an assassination.

I hoped you enjoyed my review of Assassin's Creed. I am Thunderhero4 and I approve this message! ;)