Assassin's Creed

[Darth Jebus]

I know it's been out for quite a while, but I have to give this game much props for it's realism in its graphics. The game FEELS dirty and gritty and honestly makes you feel like you're in the 12th Century. The combat is fluid and does one thing that I usually don't see other games do: when you stab a target with your sword, it actually dies. None of that slash 10 times or pull off a combo that does a lot of damage but doesn't kill. When you pull off a maneuver and your sword goes into the mob's body, blood squirts out and it dies.

 

I'm not trying to sound morbid, but that's pretty realistic. This serves to make you, the player, feel all uber and badass even though you know that the mobs are ridiculously easy to kill. Even your primary targets. Not to go into too much detail but even things like riding a horse are very real. You can see the PC steer the horse with the reigns and small clouds of dust get kicked up as you go along.

 

The buildings look worn and ancient and the townspeople react to you in a very realistic way. For example, if you run through a town, this is known as a High Profile action and everyone in town will be like, "That guy's in quite a hurry. He's gonna hit someone if he keeps running like that." Or if you scale a building like Spider-Man rather than climbing up a ladder, people will be like, "Now, just what the hell is he doing? Has he lost his mind?" And drawing your weapons in town will also draw the attention of the guards.

 

I hate to gush over a game that's been out for so long, but this is one of the first games I've played on a console that seemed so polished, and generally well put together.

 

Am I wrong or did anyone else feel the same way? And does Ubisoft have a reputation for putting out quality games like this?

[Kaftan Barlast]

AC is very good technicly and artisticly, but its increadibly repetitive. You keep doing the exact same three quests over and over again in cities that are way too similar. The first three missions are ok, but then it gets really boring

[Pidesco]

I thought Assassin's Creed was rather hit and miss. The plot was crap, it took itself way too seriously, and the combat was atrocious. Running across a city could be awesome, especially with soldiers chasing after you, but the controls were too hands off. Also, planning out and executing the assassinations could be awesome, but the death monologues completely knocked the goodness out of them. What ended undoing the game for me, however, was the repetitive and bland gameplay. If you've played one city, you've played them all and the side missions were completely uninspired collectathons.

 

In a sentence, the game's core idea was great but the execution was lacking.

[Kaftan Barlast]

The assassinations werent all that great either, you killed them with the sword or blade just like evrything else. They should have had real unique missions that involved stuff like disguises, poisoning, sneaking about and all the stuff that was fun in the hitman games.

 

Altair (pronounced all-tear, not allh-taah-iiiihr) has to be the worst assassin ever. Poncing around the city in the official assassin uniform covered with weapons, he's about as discreet as Conan the barbarian.

[Darth Jebus]

I thought Assassin's Creed was rather hit and miss. The plot was crap, it took itself way too seriously, and the combat was atrocious. Running across a city could be awesome, especially with soldiers chasing after you, but the controls were too hands off. Also, planning out and executing the assassinations could be awesome, but the death monologues completely knocked the goodness out of them. What ended undoing the game for me, however, was the repetitive and bland gameplay. If you've played one city, you've played them all and the side missions were completely uninspired collectathons.

 

In a sentence, the game's core idea was great but the execution was lacking.

 

Yeah, I'm not gonna disagree with you about actual gameplay. It wasn't really innovative other then I appreciated the realism in it. You stab something, it dies. I know that doesn't sound like a big deal, but in games such as Oblivion or Fable 2, or even Mass Effect, you stabbed or shot things SEVERAL times before they went down. Which of course is Gaming 101. But I liked how in AC, you could one-shot kill everything for the most part.

 

There is repitition, but because I'm a history geek, I liked the scenery and the realism. I know I'm a nerd, but there was a lot of aspects about AC that I thought were well put together.

[Deadly_Nightshade]

Yeah it was a good game, but I'm glad I only paid $10 for it during a sale at Best Buy.

[Rosbjerg]

The side missions were quite lackluster and I found them awfully boring, but I didn't have a problem with the main story at all, and unlike Pidesco I thought it was interesting - sure it was a bit pretentious, but most games/films/books are really.

 

But I especially like the combat for much the same reason as Darth Jebus - although I wished that Altair could be killed more easily, at times I felt like an immortal due to the almost endless sync bar.

[Calax]

I personally LOVED the game. I wasn't bothered by the story, although some of the future bits could have been re-written for greater effect. And the combat could get really cool when you figured out how to counter with the hidden blade rather then the short sword or long sword. I do agree that it was almost impossible to die due to the MASSIVE synch bar, but I was ok with it.

 

I think if they made more of the assassinations like the very very beginning of the game (more of a Prince of Persia style rather than the free roaming that we got) it would have been much better received over all. Also the whole bit where you had to charge through the "Kingdom" section to get to each city to begin with felt bad because once you got where you're going you'd just warp as soon as you left the home village.

 

So in a sentance: Make assassinations more linear, and remove the kingdom.

[Maria Caliban]

And does Ubisoft have a reputation for putting out quality games like this?

 

I've never picked up an Ubisoft game that I didn't find very polished. I assume you're familiar with the Prince of Persia games, with which this is obviously a cousin to.

 

As for AC - I have it on my PC right now. It's beautiful, but as others have noted, repedative.

[J.E. Sawyer]

Altair (pronounced all-tear, not allh-taah-iiiihr)

?

 

Arabic uses very few diphthongs, and the diaresis in the Romanized name (Alta

[Calax]

Altair (pronounced all-tear, not allh-taah-iiiihr)

?

 

Arabic uses very few diphthongs, and the diaresis in the Romanized name (Alta

[J.E. Sawyer]

wow... just... wow. Did you learn arabic in highschool or just at home?

College, though I remember almost none of it. After that one term, I had no reason to ever use it. :/

[Calax]

wow... just... wow. Did you learn arabic in highschool or just at home?

College, though I remember almost none of it. After that one term, I had no reason to ever use it. :/

Interesting how foreign language can possibly play a role in video games. The more you know...

[Kaftan Barlast]

Correct or not, this comparison will show you why "all-tear" is the name of the game

 

 

is better than

 

 

 

..but mostly because I think all semitic languages sound horrible, its even worse than dutch and afrikaans. Those back-of-the-throat sounds really creep me out.

[Tigranes]

Broken grammar, je ne comprends pas.

[newc0253]

Assassin's Creed looked incredible.

 

also running, climbing and jumping over rooftops was fun.

 

and it had Kirsten Bell.

 

these things were almost enough to overcome endlessly repetitive quests, irritating combat, a bloody silly story, and unskippable, tedious cutscenes filled with pretentiously bad dialogue that made you long for death.

 

almost.

 

if Eidos had any sense, they'd scrap work on a sequel, fire the folk who came up with the story & dialogue and instead retool the engine to make Thief 4.

Edited February 10, 2009 by newc0253

[Maria Caliban]

if Eidos had any sense, they'd scrap work on a sequel, fire the folk who came up with the story & dialogue and instead retool the engine to make Beyond Good and Evil 2.

 

I so agree with you.

[Hell Kitty]

Running, climbing and jumping over rooftops was indeed fun. As was attempting to kill the target and then escape unseen. I actually enjoyed the combat and wasn't too bothered by the repetitive investigation quests. Unskippable dialogue was horrible though.

 

I'd be pretty surprised if Eidos managed to steal the AC team from Ubisoft.

 

Also, who broke Kaftan?

Edited February 10, 2009 by Hell Kitty

[newc0253]

I'd be pretty surprised if Eidos managed to steal the AC team from Ubisoft.

sorry, was confusing Eidos Montreal with Ubisoft Montreal for some reason.

 

although since Eidos is apparently looking for buyers, it'd be a smart move for Ubisoft to use the Assassin's Creed engine for a Thief sequel. although, otoh, a Thief sequel made by the folk who wrote Assassin's Creed fills me with dread,

[Kaftan Barlast]

Fine, Ill re-phrase myself from:

 

Correct or not, this comparison will show you why "all-tear" is the name of the game

 

 

..but mostly because I think all semitic languages sound horrible, its even worse than dutch and afrikaans. Those back-of-the-throat sounds really creep me out.

 

to:

 

 

I dont care if "alh-tah-iiihr" is the correct pronounciation. I prefer "all-tear/alt-air" like the 1970's computer

 

 

And I think all semitic languages sound bad, even worse than dutch or afrikaans. I especially dislike the sounds that originate form the back of the throat.

[J.E. Sawyer]

Interesting how foreign language can possibly play a role in video games. The more you know...

Alta

[Kaftan Barlast]

And I think all semitic languages sound bad, even worse than dutch or afrikaans. I especially dislike the sounds that originate form the back of the throat.

k but none of those sounds appear in Alta

[Morgoth]

AC was, just like the recent PoP, an artistically great achievement, dumbed down by unable and unimaginative designers.

 

Ubi Montreal has some great and talented artists, but no good designers/writers.

Edited February 10, 2009 by Morgoth

[mkreku]

You cant go using logic and reason on one of my posts, its like trying to eat soup with a knife.

Great, Sweden has gotten its own Hades. I'm not thrilled.

[Matthew Rorie]

I really enjoyed Assassin's Creed. I think it could've used some kind of RPG levelling system, where you got to pick your upgrades after each assassination, but then I think that about most games.