Late Pass: Assassins Creed

The 4^th quarter of 2007 was what many thought the perfect storm of video games. Triple A titles were coming out every week. Now that it’s the summer, school is out it is the perfect time to catch up on the games that I happened to miss. Each week I’m going to go back to my pile of shame and look at the game after the hype has been long gone. Also since it's been almost a year since the game has been out i may say some spoilers but you probably already know what I'm referring too

Leading up to its release I was heavily looking forward to playing Assassins Creed. I found the setting was new and interesting and I have always loved to play as sneaky roguish characters. So the game seemed like perfect match for me. But then the game came out and so did the reviews.

Early reviews of Assassins Creed were mixed; the game has stunning graphics and a intriguing story. But the game play became an issue; the game was one of the most repetitive games created. The Cities were mostly the same… the characters were mostly the same and the actions that you take part in were also … The same.

Me being a fledging enthusiast Blogger, I wanted to ignore what I heard about the game and just enjoy it for what it’s worth. I found the experience to pass my expectations. The combat was different from what i am accustomed too(god of war), though I would have like more offensive skills since parrying NPC attacks were rewarded more then offensive barrages. One or two extra combos would have been nice or moves that could kill multiple enemies at once. Although this would have drastically changed the image that Ubisoft had intended for Altair. Assassins were not combat bad asses to the extreme, but instead were opportunistic predators waiting for his enemies to make a mistake for him to capitalize. Also why the fuck didn’t Altiar just wait until night fall so he could just sneak a la Splinter cell.It's the same publisher steal a couple of the guys from that team for a month and get some of those "Sam Fisheresque" skills into the game. If the game would have given the player the choice to attack in the day time or at knight so the type of sneaking could have been more varied. I got really tired of trying to hide in plane sight. Also besides throwing knives it would have been great to get a crossbow to do some longer range sniping to clean out the guards.

What I found more promising was the story that is revealed as the game progresses. The world that Desmond and Julie live in is a world turned on end. An experiment gone wrong in Colorado, the evidence of more objects like the piece of Eden all these elements will lead to a plot that can explain myths and legends from the past.

But the criticism that the hardcore game press outlets spoke about the repetitive nature of the game. You only experience really a handful of different activates leading up to each of the games 9 assassination missions. So after the 25^th building scaled to find where you need to rob some moron talking about their plan and broad fucking daylight or be a complete douche and beat up flunkie for your target for information only to kill them once they serve no more use for you. I found myself playing very sloppy trying to get through as fast as possible. Even during the assassinations I played very recklessly when I found out I could just fight my through any mistakes I make, which took me out of the experience as well.

To sum things up Assassins Creed was only a taste of the true potential of this series. It’s being billed as a trilogy and I hope the sequels don’t all take place in the past but also to take experience the near future of the games true setting. But the Ubisoft has to take more time to develop a better pace in the game play, I am tired of getting cock teased by games that have you start out with all of your abilities and equipment but then takes it away in the first 30 min of the game (I’m looking at you Link and Samus, try and hold onto your shit for once!!!!). More variety is needed in the sequels in this franchise, giving the players more tools in their arsenal could also help alleviate this. I know the three main cities in Assassins creed are having slightly different looks and feels. But it’s still the desert in the Middle East. How amazing would it have been to fight in Caves and catacombs bellow the cities or even exploring the city at night would have been enough of a change to fool me that it’s different. The game almost feels like a demo, stretched out for the length of an entire game but for the most part i enjoyed my experience and i saw what Ubisoft was trying to accomplish with this title.