Titles I Missed: Assassin's Creed

By now you all should know that I am not often the first person to get my hands on new titles, but there are plenty of older games that have been out for years that I have not had the pleasure of playing.  Therefore, I will be adding a segment to this blog called "Titles I Missed" where I will play and review older games.  I vow to attempt to play each game to the finish no matter how horrible or difficult the game may be, and render an opinion of the game itself.  I will also discuss how I feel the title has shaped gaming standards and techniques in comparison with other titles. 

With that, let's jump into the review with a title that garnered fairly impressive success, Assassin's Creed from Ubisoft which was released in 2007.  For those of you who don't know, Assassin's Creed (AC for the sake of brevity hereafter) follows the exploits of an assassin named Altair (al-tay-ear) as he fights the enigmatic Templars during the early years of the Crusades.  The main story is supplemented by the story of Desmond Miles who is the imprisoned descendant of Altair.  I won't go into too much depth regarding the story, but suffice it to say the game highlights the conflict between European and Middle Eastern forces during the Middle Ages.  As Altair, you will spend most of your time exploring this world and the turmoil that has taken hold there.  Rest assured that the developers took a very diplomatic approach while crafting the story so that no parties should be too offended. 

Story


Religion is a rudimentary backdrop for the setting and for the motivation of the character in AC's storyline, but you aren't beaten in the face with cultural or religious issues of conflict.  The story telling style of AC is simple yet effective with 2 separate storylines being told that intertwine to make one cohesive whole.  On one hand, you are Desmond Miles, the unwitting participant in the plot of the modern day Templars to find an ancient artifact.  On the other hand, you are Altair fighting to regain your honor and status as a master assassin and to do the bidding of the assassin leader Al Mualem.  Most of the cinematic elements of the game are told through a series of in game interactive vingnettes, and through exploration discoveries that also serve to uncover important intel about assassination targets.  The voice acting of Altair leaves a lot to be desired at points (he doesn't even have a Middle Eastern accent) but the narrative serves its purpose.  The most important focus of the game is on Altairs return to glory, but it is overshadowed by the sci-fi elements of Desmond's imprisonment and pseudo-interrogation by the use of a genetic memory scanner called the "animus".  The story was never overbearing or underwhelming, and I found it to be interesting overall.  The only thing I found fault with was the length of time spent questing between snippets of story, but that has more to do with gameplay mechanics than the story itself.

Gameplay

At first glance, AC is a free roaming sandbox game which presents players with a vast landscape that is ripe for exploration, and like other exploration games (Grand Theft Auto, Fable 2) quests and side missions are key to successful completion of the game.  In each city you must climb tall buildings to push back the fog of awareness and open up your map of the surroundings.  Minor missions are unlocked by climbing these viewpoints, and information vital to the successful planning of your assassination endeavors is unlocked by completing these missions.  Where AC fails in this regard is that the missions become very redundant as they do not differ between different cities.  The basic missions are: save a citizen, pick pocket, eavesdrop, aid informer, and interrogate.  Each mission type really only has 2 or 3 various outcomes, and it is not necessary to complete all of the mission types in each region to move on to your ultimate target.  If one were inclined to play through the game as quickly as possible, it would suffice to complete half of the missions in each region and then move on to the assassination target. 

This system lacks the freshness that you get from other "errand" based mission games like Grand Theft Auto 4 or Red Dead Redemption.  If the cinematics between errands had been more rewarding, it may have been more bearable, but it was sometimes painful to have to go through the same actions in different settings over and over again.  The assassination targets themselves, which really are the main focus of the game, did offer an interesting challenge as each target could be approached in a variety of different ways.  The only fault that I found in this is that each assassination could be performed without any stealth at all.  In fact, it was possible to barrel right through most targets and deal with the fallout without any planning at all.  This seemed to contradict the very essence of the game itself.  In short, I was expecting more of a Splinter Cell/Metal Gear Solid feel, but I ended up with Ninja Gaiden instead. 

Controls

This segment can be broken into 3 basic sections: Blending, Free Running, and Combat.  Blending involves keeping a low profile so as to not draw the attention of city guards as you explore.  As you walk around the streets of each city, the contextual sensor in the top left corned of the the screen represents your level of exposure with the local guards.  As long as Altair remains in a fairly inconspicuous state, you can move through the streets without causing any alarm.  I found it possible to hold down the run button through most of the less crowded streets without arousing suspicion, but some areas were far too congested to traverse quickly.  In short, blending consists of a methodical, and sometimes tedious approach to navigation. 

Free running is a much faster way to navigate each city, but beware of rooftop archers.  The controls are simple here.  Hold down the run button, and leap from rooftop to rooftop.  As the game progresses, Altair will regain free running skills such as balance and the ability to grab ledges if he should misjudge a gap.  The most important part of free running is picking the most expedient and reasonable route.  Half of the time will be spent climbing by using the left control stick.  However, this can be a bit frustrating at times.  Every once in a while, Altair will refuse to grab a ledge that seems easily within reach, but this was a minor setback.  I would have liked to see a little more puzzle solving involved with the climbing aspect, but AC is but the first installment in a 3 part franchise (not including off shoot titles that weren't on major consoles).  There were some frustrating points with free running towards the end of the game where Altair was forced to navigate through a city port.  Apparently, swimming is not a necessary skill for an assassin, and falling in the water spells instant death. 

The combat system in AC either makes or breaks the game for me.  When Altair is exposed and surrounded by guards, the battle system employs some sort of turn based mechanic that has your opponents waiting to strike at you.  Though it may be tempting to strike out at foes with wild abandon, this always leaves you open to attack.  Instead, you must usually wait for a guard to strike, and then push the counter attack button at the correct tome to trigger a lethal or non lethal blow.  Tough the counter attack animations are fun to watch, this system quickly becomes repetitive.  You always have the option of escaping from the guards and lowering your visibility, but it is often more prudent to simply kill them all off.  Stealth kills are also possible, but in the last part of the game you are forced to face waves of enemies head on.  During some of these later battles, it seemed almost impossible to evade some attacks, and combos are quite frequent.  The fault that I found with this is that it seemed like the game took a substantial jump in difficulty in a short time.  I'm not complaining that the game was too difficult, but some battles seemed quite lopsided.  The last shortfall that I found with the combat system was the camera.  Many times the killing blow animation would move the camera to a position which obstructed my view of the continuing battle. 

Final Opinions

Overall, Assassin's Creed was a good game.  I played the game from start to finish in around 10 cumulative hours, though there are plenty of collectible items to be found in the world of AC for the hardcore gamer that I have little desire to pursue.  In terms of replay value, I have no desire to relive the game.  There is one way to play through, and only on possible outcome, although there may be some value to planning your assassinations out differently if you should desire.  However, this was a Gamefly rental for me which I promptly sent back to receive my next queue selection.  I played through the PS3 version of the game, and I feel that at the time of its release, the title was overshadowed by other popular games like Uncharted: Drake's Fortune for me.  Although the game was quite successful for its release, I felt that I could have been more fleshed out.  Perhaps if less effort was devoted to the free roaming, it could have been devoted to filling in the gaps in the action more.  I have a copy of Assassin's Creed 2 that I have started, and the second title already shows more promise.  The review should be on its way in a couple of weeks.  The release of Homefront will impede my progress with AC2 a bit. 

I will post a video review that will cover all of the main console installments of the Assassin's Creed franchise after I complete all 3 games.  I also have Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines for the PSP which is a continuance of the first game, but I don't feel that it contributes to the evolution of the regular series.  In closing, I give Assassin's Creed a 7 out of 10 by current gaming standards.  AC has clearly left it's mark on the "sandbox" game genre, but its descendants promise to provide a more well rounded experience.