Assassin's Creed (PS3) > Reviews (34)

The franchise of the action-adventure Assassin's Creed games has been around for for almost 4 years and the game that started it at all was this one - Assassin's Creed. I actually bought this game after the Assassin's Creed II and Brotherhood just because I was put off by all the negative reviews. However, after completing both of those games, I was very intrigued to know what all the fuss was about and it had come down in price to £10. As well as this, there was a Platinum Edition so it must have done something right?!

In-Game Story - Third Crusade

Without giving too much away, here is a brief overview of the story:

Jerusalem 1191. You play the role of assassin Altair ibn La-Ahad. At the beginning of the game he is stripped of all his weapons by Al Mualim, the head of the Assassin Order. In order prove himself to his master, he must complete a series of 9 Assassinations. These people on the list all have something in common, but you have to complete the game (or look it up elsewhere) to find out. These assassination targets are scattered around the different Kingdoms and in each Kingdom is an Assassin's Bereau. This is the place you go to get information on your target regarding location, motives and advice - such as how many guards will be in the surrounding area. In order to find information you have to complete at least 3 investigations for each target.

These investigations are either Eavesdropping, Interrogation, Informant or Pickpocketing. You need to complete 3 out of 4 of these in order to obtain the whereabouts of the target. Admittedly, I found that some were a lot easier than others because you didn't have to do anything too risky. In terms of difficulty, eavesdropping is the easiest because all you have to do is sit on a bench and press triangle. This then activates dialogue between 2 people that are connected the targets location in some way. The most difficult of the investigations is the Informant because, as an example, you have to collect a certain amount of flags in a limited time available.

After 3 investigations are completed, you return to the Bureau, collect a feather and then sleep (fast forward in memory). After this, your assassin target location is added to the map and you can begin the mission. Once you get to the location and have killed all the guards that stop you getting close to the target (although sometimes you don't need to do any killing beforehand) a message comes up on screen saying "Ancestor's Memory Synchroized. Now recording." After this, depending on what stage you're at during the game, the target will either make a speech, be in conversation or be in an unfair battle with someone else. After this scene is finished, this is when your time is to strike. After murdering each target, the location changes to a surreal world where nothing exists (It is difficult to describe, but it is the same process in other AC's). It is during this time that the targets have a few last words and through each assassination they explain more and more about something.

Once you have completed each assassination, you return to Al Mualim who restores your rank and gives you an extra weapon - assassin by assassin. Because the list of targets is of 9 people, it means you have to do this routine 9 times. Now although, each assassin is in a different Kingdom or location within a Kingdom and the characters who you interrogate, listen in on etc. have different stories to tell about the particular targets, it can feel very repetitive. This is the main reason why it receives negative reviews. I can definitely understand because it is very repetitive and there are many flaws, but this is why I recommend you try and complete it quickly. There is a story behind all of these assassinations and this builds to a climax at the end.

In-Game Story - Modern Times

In case you did not know already, the reason for the setting and character Altair is because you also play the role of bartender Desmond Miles. He is kidnapped and taken to a state of the art hi tech facility where the scientists Warren Vidic and Lucy Stillman use him to access his ancestors memories in a machine called the Animus. He is unaware of why he has been captured, and the scientists are very vague when it comes to answers. As you progress through the story you begin to find out what all the fuss is about and the ending is great. I have to admit, the ending did not surprise me too much but that is only because I played the games that follow on from this one first.

Graphics

Astonishing! 4 years on from its release and the graphics still live on with current times. The cities are absolutely fantastic graphically and when you discover a new city, the in-game camera pans from Altair to an overview of the city from the air. This only lasts for a few seconds, but it is the best part of the game graphically speaking. The fighting is also quite realistic but with some occasional glitiches such as the sword disappearing as it enters the enemies body. I guess this is meant to happen because it has to go through the body before it comes out, but sometimes you don't see the 6ft long sword ever coming out. Apart from this the gameplay graphics are incredibly good and maybe just a tiny bit lower in quality than the sequels. I have to say that the horses are quite disappointing. They were disappointing in AC II and AC:B but when riding them, it feels very stiff and not particularly manageable. Having said that, they are important because they are useful for travelling from one city to the next.

Gameplay

Gameplay is okay I guess. Each city is rich in detail and diverse in appearance. However, away from the story there is not really much that you can do. If all you like doing is running from rooftop to rooftop then it is perfect for you. I enjoy doing this but usually when their is a purpose to it as it can get quite repetitive after a while. Away from the story, there are flags that you can collect and each flag in each city has a different name. You can also find all of the viewpoints in city, but many of these are needed in the main story in order to access and show the locations of the investigations.

Basically the viewpoints open up the map and reveal more icons - so they are important. The graphics from the viewpoint are astounding, but once you press triangle to synchronize, it does a full 360 of Altair on top of the building/tower and this creates split screening problems. It can also hurt the eyes. The kingdoms are relatively large, but without much to do. Apart from the investigations, you can save a citizen by the killing the people who are making fun of her and they will either do nothing or give you a favour in return. These are also very repetitive.

Sound

The soundtrack in this game functions very well with the setting and location. Although not my favourite soundtrack of all time, it has a few good tunes and prolonged playing may increase your boredom of them as they are not many. All in all, Danish composer Jesper Kyd is the man to thank for the soundtrack, and it only gets better and better through the franchise. Voice acting is stunning with high profile named actors playing their roles.

Criticisms

Time between dialogue of characters - When characters speak to each other eg. Altair with Al Mualim, it feels like the sentences have been stuck together. The conversation doesn't always feel legit and realistic.

Speech and Movement - Again during dialogue sometimes they can be speaking without their mouths moving or vice versa. This only happens occasionally, but it is noticeable.

Cutscenes - There are cutscenes in this game, but there are no close ups of facial shots of characters like in the other Assassin's Creed games. This can make you feel not entirely engrossed within the story.

No subtitles - Usually I like to have the subtitles on to understand the game better but in this game there is no option to have subtitles on or off.

Horses - Like I've already mentioned, horses feel artificial

No Multiplayer

Guards - The guards in this game are annoying. They are too difficult to kill which take the fun out of asssassinating. Instead I try to hide all the time instead.
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Because I bought this game last out of the 3, I always have something to compare this game to - this game is not the best. The good thing about this game is that in a way because there are two overlapping narratives in this game, it feels like there are two endings which is great, and there is also a cliffhanger which encourages you to buy the sequel. Even if you have played this game but do not like it, I strongly recommend you buy at least Assassin's Creed II. Because in my opinion, although this game is not great, it is good - and AC II is revolutionary. Like I said, I bought this game as I had played all the others already and I am glad I did. Although it is not the best Assassin's Creed, you can not go wrong with £10 and I am glad I made this decision. It also makes the story a whole lot more clearer. I know that when this game came out, it was revolutionary as well, so my guess is that in a few years time, people will have similar opinions about AC II and then AC Brotherhood.