Assassin's Creed

I got this game for Christmas on my PS3, although I had played the game on the 360 previously. I have to say, I do not regret getting this game, and I will never allow it to leave my home.

You play as Desmond, a man forced to get into a machine and relive an ancestor's past as an assassin from early 1100 A.D. Every once in awhile you will be pulled out of the machine because of random causes, such as the machine overheating, you need your rest, you need to be spoken to, etc. The best part of this game is the freedom you get anywhere, even during fights and missions. You can climb and hold onto literally anything, including cracks in the wall, bricks sticking out, or windows. My one complaint about this game is when you get Counter Attacks. At first, you are doing great and facing an ass load of men, and your scared like hell. Then when you get Counter, you can do 1 hit kills on almost everyone, you can basically run out into the open, kill a load of ordinary people(Not recommended, seeing as how you lose 3 bars whenever you kill 1 person), get almost 30 guys surrounding you, and easily take them out within 5 minutes.

Graphics- 10/10 Gameplay- 9.5/10 Story- 9/10 Music- 10/10 Overall(Not averaged)- 10/10

My best friends were always pestering me to try the "Assassin's Creed" games, but I would tell them every single time that I wasn't interested, mostly because I had no idea what they were about. So, on one of my last trips to my favorite game store (before it shut down), I saw the first game in the series on the shelf for $13.99, and I had the money, so I picked it up.

I'm glad I did.

First up, story. In this game, it has been discovered that the memories of past people are passed down as genes through their descendants, and an unnamed scientific organization has built a machine called the Animus, that it allows them to access these memories. The organization has kidnapped a man named Desmond Miles, a bartender who is a descendant of a Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, a member of the Assassins (a real-life eponymous group who existed at the time). On a mission, he violated all three tenets of the Assassin's Creed, and he is sent out on a mission to kill nine specific members of the Knights Templar to regain his honor. The organization won't let Desmond leave until they get the information they want from him, through the Animus. The story is well done. Altaïr's character develops, and many of the conversations that other characters have with him are deep and thought provoking. It manages to keep you playing.

Next, sound. The music (what little there is) is good and fits the situation when it's there, but is fairly forgettable and not outstanding. The sound effects are done better, but the sounds of the blades clashing together is loud and obnoxious. The voice acting is done very well. Everyone delivers a strong performance, and the voices fit for everyone.

Next, graphics. The landscapes tend to glow one color, and there is very little detail put into most characters (especially the Templars). Altaïr and Majd Addin are the best looking models in the game, but Altaïr simply carries a lot of gear, and Majd Addin has a simple pattern on his robe. However, the buildings and clothing that the characters wear are very accurate to the time, no matter where you are.

Finally, game play. Your goal for every target is simple: learn what you can about them by conducting three specific investigation types (interrogation, eavesdropping, or pickpocketing), get approval from the head Assassin in the city, then go and kill the target. There are a few things you can do along the way, which usually consist of the following: saving citizens from guards that are harassing them, climbing tall buildings known as viewpoints and surveying the environment to reveal parts of the map, and helping fellow Assassins in each city with a specific task. There is some variety in the side missions, and that is appreciated, but unfortunately, the game is so focused on the main objective and taking steps to accomplish. You feel like you're doing something wrong if you don't work towards the main goal the whole time. That being said, the assassination jobs are fairly straightforward, and are fun to play through. The control, however, is a bit stiff. The letter buttons are presented as being linked to a part of Altaïr's body; A for the legs, X for the right arm, B for the left arm, and Y for the head (these are Xbox controls, translate them for yourself if you have a PS3). However, it's a fancy way of saying that these buttons run, fight, and use Eagle Vision. Altaïr moves very stiffly on the ground, and every movement feels like it needs to be forced. Additionally, Eagle Vision can only be used you are standing still and at full sync. Because of this, you may get very, very frustrated within the first few hours of playing it (I got so mad, I was considering returning the game). However, stick with it. You will eventually become better and better at controlling Altaïr's movements, and by the end, he will move naturally. The free running element is done well and flows when done just right. Lastly, the stealth. This game employs a social stealth system that can make or break a mission. There are 5 stealth settings: Anonymous, Vanished, Vanishing, Unseen, and Exposed. Anonymous is what you (should) desire, at all times, as guards will not interfere with any of your actions at these time. If you are Exposed, you have committed a crime and the guards will attempt to kill you. Unseen means that they have lost sight of you, but are still on the hunt. Vanished and Vanishing can only be achieved by using a hiding spot, and the guards will not find you in either of these states. You can sit on benches, hide in roof gardens, or blend with scholars to hide. It's well done, but you can spend a long time in Exposed, because the guards are spaced all over the cities, so it can be hard to escape and go back to Anonymous status.

Lastly, the content. While the game is rated M, it's only because of blood and violence, and language; there is no gore whatsoever. Some of the kills that Altaïr can perform are somewhat brutal, such as kicking a man in the kneecap, and then stabbing them in the neck with a short sword. Blood emerges from the wound and dissipates into a red mist in the air. However, it disappears in less than a second, and the blood can be turned off entirely in the options menu. Overall, I really don't think it deserves the M rating. There is no gore, and blood can be removed entirely.

To end it, the story is great, the sound and graphics are okay, but the game play and controls are great if you can get past the stiffness. This is certainly not the best game I've ever played, but it is a great game regardless.

I just love this game, parkcore through buildings and excelent mechanics make this game fun and amazing. The campaign is amazing with a story that leaves you wanting more.

For me, this game comes incredibly close to being a masterpiece. But it's let down in just one area, and unfortunately it's a key one. The missions.

It has a great many positives, for example:

Graphics. The graphics are good enough that the game is still perfectly playable today, especially the environment models, however I would say the character faces are somewhat lacking.

Mechanics. The game still plays beautifully, the combat mechanics are extremely good fun, as is all the parkour. It isn't as smooth as a modern game but who would expect it to be, that's just advancement.

Story. The story is brilliant. It's clever, interesting in my opinion the games best aspect. If anything it is worth playing just for the story, as it sets up the series, and for that reason, the game is a must play for any assassin's creed fan who hasn't already played it.

However, there is one huge negative to an otherwise great game. The missions are far too repetitive. They essentially consist of go to a place, gather information, kill person. It feels like they put so much effort and creativity into the overarching story that they just forgot about the missions within that. Additionally, it's quite tedious to have to ride between locations the first few times, as the horse riding isn't fun in itself and the area between the cities isn't too much to look at.

Overall, although the missions cause the game to have little replayability, it is definitely worth playing once, especially now it is reasonably cheap, even if you're only playing it for the great story.

One of the pinnacles of my childhood; a game I've probably played and beaten 10 different times since I've owned it. Before this game, I never played anything like it; it truly was something special in my eyes back in the day. Altair was a character I embodied; when I wasn't playing this game, I would pretend I was an assassin just like him, pretending to climb churches and towers, jumping from roof to roof tracking my target, and finally, sprinting and thrusting my hidden blade into my opponents neck.

Yeah, this game was one of those games I incorporated in my personality. And now rediscovering it in my mid 20's, it's a damn fine throwback to my childhood, to the frameworks of the Assassins Creed franchise, and to freerunning video games in general.

This game introduces a bunch of lore/mechanics/characters that would be extremely important to the future of the Assassins Crees franchise, most notably, The Animus(the machine you use to see in the past), Abstergo Industries (the corporation that runs the animus project), Desmond (the main character you play as in present day), Altair( the Master Assassin you play as in the 1200s), The Assassin Brotherhood (the secret society you pledge your allegiance to as Altair), and well, a artifact that changes the entire scope of the game (and becomes the basis for the franchise) toward the end. Many of the mechanics become basis like wall climbing, parkour, stealth among crowds, assassinating fellow targets, combat like hidden blades, swords, throwing knives, and of course, synchronizing locations by climbing tall structures. All of it becomes the staple to the series, and is quite impressive to see all of it done so well in the very first entry.

When I first played this as a kid, I could follow along the story to an extent, but doing the quests involving Altair finding, killing, and then questioning his targets, it never really clicked as a kid. Replaying them now as an adult, the games plot makes way more sense, and gives the viewer 2 different POVs with every assassination you uptake. Also something I never noticed with the game; before going back to the Assassin hideout to turn in your evidence, if you go to every viewpoint in the area and synchronize it, you can get more investigation missions to do, which I can't say fleshed out A TON of plot, but I think it was enough to add to the game is a positive way. The side stuff, like saving villagers, wasn't bad, although just one of those repetitive side missions that end up giving assistance with guards. The one thing I absolutely, and I mean, ABSOLUTELY, despised was the flags and templars. Now, don't get me wrong; I really enjoy finding collectibles and discovering areas of the map I wouldn't normally check out in main missions, but how this game handles them are so ridiculous. For one (and this is the biggest factor) none of the collectibles or templars are shown on your map. You cant use eagle vision to find them either, so you literally would have to scour each area thoroughly to even come close to finding all of them. Second, there are over 400 flags to find, none of which show up on your mini-map or don't have any indicators at all except when you're physically looking at one. I'm sorry, but this is stupid, and I'm forced to use a guide to find all of em. And what do you get when you find all the maysaf flags? Nothing. What about the King Richard flags? Nothing. Oh, but the Damascus flags??? Still nothing. Yeah, the flags don't do anything except unlock you a anchoevment, so I wouldn't recommend it to casual gamers. Only diehard assassins creed fans or achievements hunters should go for it. Now, at this point in my playthrough, I only needed to collect the Jerusalem flags and kill the last 10 templars in Jerusalem, but for some reason, I decided to take a hiatus. The hiatus ended up lasting an entire year, but recently I started it back up to finish it and guess what? The cloud saved data was corrupted.... So I painstakingly started the game back from the beginning, with the goal to just beat the game, do all side missions, but only getting the Jersusalem flags and killing all 60 Templars since those were the only 2 achievements I didn't get yet. Replaying the game ONCE again, I would of thought it would of been more annoying having to go through it all again, but surprisingly, this game has a neat nostalgic feel to me that always transports me to its era, always picking up on some dialogue I missed the first 10 times I've played it. After replaying and collecting the remainder of the achievements, witnessing the ending to this game once again was a great time. Brung back plenty of memories, especially back in 2010 playing and witnessing that twist ending for the first time.

If you haven't played this yet, I would recommend if you enjoy 3rd person RPGs with heavy story, as while this game does seem to end right when it gets super interesting, it's a awesome setup to what's to come to the franchise.