Assassin's Creed (PS3) > Reviews > Assassin's Creed PS3 - The low down.

Author's product rating:   

Playability & Enjoyment	A good game - playable and enjoyable
Originality	Excellent - very original
Graphics	Excellent
Sound	Not bad - needs improving
Difficulty & Complexity	Average - suitable for most

Advantages:	Beautiful graphics and an original story line .  Fantastic free - running and combat system .
Disadvantages:	At times repetitive and predictable .  Also a little short .

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

=== About the game ===

Assassin's Creed was the game that convinced me to part with the chunky sum of money that the PS3 price tag carried. Set in 1191 AD during the Third Crusade, the game promised to be an exhilarating one player adventure. You play Altair, an assassin of the Creed, who has been stripped of his ranks after failing to comply with the rules of the Brotherhood. You are set the mission to assassinate key targets across the land as you slowly regain you lost rank and reputation.

At a glance...

If you do not want to read this whole review then in short: The game is fantastic and I definately recommend it. With stunning graphics and lighting, a terrific combat system and slick controls, the game is thoughtful and well composed. Being able to scale almost every surface in a Prince of Persia esque style, Assassin's Creed takes free roam gaming to a new level. Explore the sprawling city streets and aid citizens, or catch a breath of fresh air and free-run across the cities rooftops: the game provides an original take on the adventure genre. However the game is not without faults. (read on)

The combat system

The games greatest strength's are the combat system and the free-running. When faced with guards you must tactically decide how you will fight them. The key to the fighting, unlike furious button bashing in other games, is to use well timed counters to dispatch or floor your enemies, or to care dodge an attack before launching a counter attack. After some practice at this, you quickly feel in control of Altair's every move.

Free-running

Within the game you will often find the need to scale a building and explore rooftops. The fact that just about every surface can be used in the process makes this a refreshing and fun experience. You don't think twice about leaping from a church spire to a rooftop, only to roll and continue your effortless journey across the city. The controls are simple and can be used to great effect. Soon I found myself wanting to explore the rooftops, not because I had to, but to escape the bustling streets below.

Perfect?...

However is it without faults? - No. There are very few games that are.
Here are a few of the weak points within the game in my opinion.

Repetition...Repetition

Each assassination requires you to collect a minimum of three pieces of infomation, with a maximum of six to be found. The location of the information can be found in one of two ways- either combing the city streets or by climbing to a view point within the city. By doing this Altair will gain a birds-eye-view of the city and nearby investigations will appebar on the map.The investigation will have to be retrieved in one of these these ways:
-Pickpocketing
-Eavesdropping
-Interrogation
-Informers
Although the idea behind this is good and to begin with are an exciting concept of the game, the missions rarely are challenging and can often be completed first time round. The lack of variation in these missions also makes them repetitive, at times making the game predictable and dull.

Maps that don't help

After some missions you receive maps with details that will hopefully aid you in your assassination mission - be it the location of guards or likely places your target will try and hide. However in my experience I often found that the maps were hard to interpretate and actually were of little help. When I was in the middle of a chase i often forgot or did not want to stop and look at the maps because at first glance they were confusing and provided no written explanation.

Good idea... but it doesn't work!

Now I am really nit-picking. Within the city streets there are often beggers within the crowds. The beggers will run up to you and plead for money for several seconds. If you try and walk away they will run after you and get in your face. This is extremely irrating, however you cannot retaliate as any nearby guards will chase you. Although perhaps this was a deliberate decision when designing the game, they appear far to frequently and always say the same thing in the same voice and often get in the way during investigations.

Summary

Overall The game is well thought out and is definately one of the best titles on the PS3 market to date. However if you are easily bored by repetitive missions perhaps this game will not impress you as much as it impressed me.