Assassin’s Creed

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Well today I have completed the video game Assassin’s Creed, a game I was looking forward to for quite some time and was one of the main motivating factors in my acquisition of an Xbox 360. For those of you who have heard mixed reviews of this title I’m going to tell you now: it really is a love it or hate it game. Not because the people on either side are stubborn, either, but because your personal taste will decide if you like this game or not. If you like your games to be strictly games rather than something more toward an interactive movie then you probably want to avoid this one. Likewise if you don’t like the idea of being unable to just run in and stab people to complete your missions you may want to rent it first. That’s not to say Assassin’s isn’t a good game, it’s an absolute marvel, but many of the things that are special about it are, in fact, easily taken for granted.

For example: the main character Altair’s ability to climb any building in the game’s cities. He doesn’t simply shimmy up the side, but he finds handholds and hoists himself up, he has a sense of weight and balance and moves so very fluidly and realistically. This makes for a fun aspect of gameplay, but it’s easily overlooked as the huge step forward in game programming it is. Amusingly enough, despite this achievement in gameplay, Altair is unable to climb rocks and trees.

At any rate, on to the plot! As you may have heard there is a "sci-fi twist" to this game. I’m not going to give it away, but I have to say I was very resistant to the idea of there being such a twist at first. However, after correctly guessing what that twist is and then seeing it for myself, its actually very interesting and is just as engrossing as the rest of the game. But rest assured you do play as a 12th century assassin during the 3rd Crusade, and there is no time-travel involved as earlier speculated in internet forums. The sci-fi twist, however, is also used to justify gameplay elements like your health bar and the targeting system.

The story itself is extremely cinematic in execution, style, direction, and dialog. The game also has an incredible soundtack of haunting scores unique to each city and action. The gist of the plot is you, as Altair, have been tasked with taking down 9 men who are profiting from the wars in the holy land. You’re told these are evil men, however, as you take down each one you are greeted with an abstract scene on a hazy backdrop in which the man you’ve just killed confesses interesting things to you, including his motivations. So with each man you kill more of the story is revealed to you, and things aren’t as they first seem.

The gameplay isn’t always action-packed, before each assassination you need to investigate in the city, eavesdropping on people, pickpocketing, completing tasks for informants in exchange for information, and beating peoples’ faces in as way of interrogation. This all prepares you for when you finally go in for the kill. This is the part people often claim becomes repetitive, however, you only need to do 3 out of 6 investigation missions to get the go-ahead to assassinate your target, and each time these missions are in an entirely different context with unique dialog and information. Each target, as well, is a unique character with their own distinctive story, personality and appearance.

I’ve heard many complaints about the battle system in Assassin’s, and I, like many others, wish to defend it. The idea that its a "one button" battle system is not entirely true. Certainly you can jam on the X button and defeat enemies eventually, but to really work the battle system and pull off some cool moves you need to toggle between two stances and make use of the other abilities you gain along the way. Each weapon you carry also behaves differently in battle, personally I prefer the short blade and throwing knives, you can even battle with Altair’s famed hidden blade, however you can only use it to counter-attack which becomes rather tricky. The idea that the enemies only attack you one at a time is also bullshit. I’ve been fighting one solider only to have another run up and stab me in the back plenty of times. Your enemies will become more hesitant in their attacks, however, the more you cut the group down. Sometimes the last one or two standing will even run away or kneel down and beg for their lives.

Enemies in Assassin’s are mostly guards in the cities. You can kill regular citizens if you wish, however your health bar takes a temporary hit for not following your creed. There is an in-game explanation for this, but again I don’t really wish to give it away. There are also optional side-missions called "save the citizen" in which you save usually a woman or a monk who is being harassed by city guards. These missions are definitely worth your while for three reasons A.) the grateful citizens will assist you B.) on the 360 you get achievements for completing every one of these missions in each of the three major cities c.) it’s fun!

In the end, Assassin’s is definitely a plot-driven game, and is just another step up in cementing video games as both a story telling and artistic medium. You’ll want to keep playing to reveal the plot (unless you can’t stand plot-driven games, of course) and free running from rooftop to rooftop and climbing tall buildings to complete your map never gets old. I found the gameplay fairly easy up to the final two assassinations, which were quite tricky and took me a couple of tries. During the last one especially my heart was pounding in my chest. The ending of the game itself is quite exhilarating, but it is a cliffhanger, totally setting it up for the next game.

Oh? Didn’t you know? Assassin’s is just the first part of what’s slated to be a trilogy. The mystery continues even after you’re through, and I’m definitely looking forward to the next installment.