Assassin's Creed

November 13, 2007 - In our most humble, convict opinions, there is so much Assassin's Creed gets very right that it sometimes makes other elements that tiptoe the generic line stand out a little bit more. It's not perfect - there are issues and points that will either get under your skin or not - but it never fails to entertain throughout. Here's a point to mull over that is really going to guide the rest of this review: Assassin's Creed isn't GTA. It's not an RPG - even casually. The setting is huge and somewhat open-ended, but the game structure is not. If you were hoping for a game that lets you go anywhere and do anything, then please understand - this is a platformer with action and a bit of stealth. It's not particularly deep and you can follow a straight line from one goal to the next, just traversing rooftops and through villages on horseback. If you can contend with this, then you're in better stead to enjoy what is a game that only does a few things, but does them very, very well. First of all, let's get this out of the way - the big twist is stupid and unnecessary; who knows why Ubisoft made such a hoo-ha about it. Actually, we do know why. It was for two reasons: to generate a groundswell of hype, and secondly, to avoid a backlash from players by revealing it at the end of the game and basically undermining the last 15 hours you just spent playing through it. How so? That's hard to say without spoiling things, but if you've been privy to any of the internet speculation, most of it has been spot on. By revealing this key detail at the end, it would come as a cop-out. If you took Prince of Persia and tossed in elements of Hitman and Shadow of the Colossus, the end result would look something like Assassin's Creed. In a lot of ways, the formula behind Shadow of the Colossus holds up well against Assassin's Creed. From early in the game, after going through early training levels and basic missions, the main game structure presents itself - you are ordered to start systematically bumping off supposedly corrupt, evil, violent and oppressive leaders and social figures throughout Jerusalem, Acre, Damascus and the surrounding Kingdom. You're effectively a pawn for the Assassin's Guild, where you get stripped of your rank and work your way back up the chain. However, those expecting a smooth-flowing, GTA-like experience are in for a shock. Assassin's Creed is divided into chapters of sorts, and between them you're stuck in a confined holding space where a lot of exposition occurs and you can explore the story a little further. If this sound vague, believe me, it is for your own good. This section is all tied to the 'big reveal' - and we kind of wish it had been handled differently. The structure of the game suffers from breaking away from the action after every major assassination. It literally pulls you out and away from the action while characters talk at you for a few minutes and you walk around slowly until it's time to start the next mission. It works as a plot device, but we didn't really like the way this was handled. Sometimes, a cutscene just works better. Free-running and combat are the game's strongest drawcards. Both are done exceptionally well; Altair is a master of his environment and this extends to the way you can use him to scale just about any vertical surface with an edge or jut. Ubisoft has erroneously compared the controls to that of a marionette - that's not quite right. In theory, the face buttons are assigned to body parts, but only in a very general sense. A lot of the time is spent holding down A and the right trigger to free-run - it's not exactly like you're actively controlling his legs; ultimately, you're just pressing buttons that happen to be linked to actions on screen. Clearly, running through a crowd and knocking peasants on their ass is a great way to get spotted, whereas blending in with hooded monks or gently filing past people keeps the ever-watchful eye of the guards mostly off your back. When you start running, jumping, scaling, falling or scrapping, then you start to see the rules of Assassin's Creed's engagement. Criticisms have been levelled at Assassin's Creed in this respect. On one hand, guards and peasants mostly react the same way when attacking you or chasing you, leaving them open to exploitation. If you can break their line of sight with you, you can dive into a bale of hay or a veiled rooftop gazebo to escape; that's about as sophisticated as hiding in a cardboard box in Metal Gear Solid or in a dark corner in Splinter Cell. Anyone in real life with half a brain might do a little investigating. They don't in Assassin's Creed. Nor can they hear murderous acts being committed or care too much when they stumble over the corpse of a guard you tossed over a ledge or knifed from afar. They stick to routines and limited AI rules set up by the programmers, and there isn't a lot of flexibility.