Assassin's Creed

Voices of: Philip Shahbaz, Nolan North, Kristen Bell, Phil Proctor, Haaz Sleiman, Fred Tatasciore, Ammar Daraiseh
Developer: Ubisoft
Directed by: Patrice Desilets
Rating: M
Genre: Action-Adventure
System: Playstation 3
2007

Times Completed:
Tim: 1

Summary: A man is forced to use a mysterious machine called the Animus to relive the memories of his ancestor, a 12th century assassin.

Review:
Tim: I knew about the landmark Assassin's Creed video game franchise long before I actually played the game. I played it on a PS3 and I had a lot of fun with it- this first game in the franchise has its flaws, but it's a wonderfully entertaining game that is big on lore and narrative. Although I grew frustrated with it at times, I'm still a huge fan.

The premise itself is intriguing and it definitely feels like this game barely scratches the surface. The game starts with the protagonist, Desmond Miles. He is kidnapped by a shadowy organization and forced into using a machine called the Animus. This machine allows him to relive the memories of his ancestor (through ancestral memory, or something). This sends this modern-day guy back into the 12th century and allows him to live as Altair, who fought in the Holy Land during the Third Crusade. This is a lot to take in already- you have modern day, science fiction aspects to the story. But, the majority of the action takes place centuries ago, in a tinderbox of religious and cultural clashes. To play a historical game like this, that is so focused on recreating the world at that time, I found to be wonderfully interesting. You get to visit Jerusalem, Damascus, and Acre. You hear from citizens (who annoying, repeat the same phrases over and over), you get a glimpse into life at this time. The historical aspect was terrific and it made this game feel unique and different from many others.

One of the most interesting mechanics here is that this is first and foremost, a stealth game. Altair is trying to navigate the cities unseen. Along the way, you're given numerous challenges. That might to be collect flags, to reach high viewpoints, to save citizens, to pickpocket, etc. These different challenges force the player to engage in different skills, which really improve your abilities quickly. I had a ton of fun doing these challenges- at first. Eventually, you see through the game to the immense repetition. It's truly quite stunning, how repetitive this game gets. I mostly did every challenge in every city, as I was working to fill the Sync bar. Towards the end of the game, it looked like I maxed out the Sync Bar, so I didn't do the last few challenges in the end areas of the cities. I think it was pointless at that stage? So, in the game, I did reach 100% of the Viewpoints in the cities. That was my favorite mechanic- I loved stealthily moving through the city, and then climbing up, higher and higher to a viewpoint. From there, you'd do one of the coolest (and most illogical) acts of the game- the Leap of Faith. At times, I laughed to see Altair swan dive from immense heights and land safely in a wagon of straw. So illogical, but so cool. That part of the game was actually beautiful and I loved it. I did only reach 85% of the Kingdom Viewpoints, but I felt good regardless.

One of the more frustrating statistics is collecting random flags. You never quite know where these flags would be. At an early point in the game, I considered going for 100%. However, it quickly becomes apparent that there's no point. There's no great reward and the search and collect aspect felt unnecessary and cumbersome. I was already running around these cities, back-and-forth. It would have been madness to search out every flag. I could have followed a guide, but I had no interest. So, I collected flags whenever I saw them, but never really searched them out. I got 85% of the Assassin Flags, 30% of the Hospitality, 18% of the Templar Flags, 42% of the Teutonic Flags, 40% of the Saracen Flags, 40% of the King Richard Flags, and 48% of the Jerusalem Crosses. That's a lot to type out, imagine trying to get all those to 100%. That does highlight a big complaint I have- so much of this game felt like filler. Run here, run there, do the same challenges over and over in different parts of different cities. It makes the game feel bigger than it is, but not in a satisfying way. It was fun at first, but eventually, you get fatigued and a bit disillusioned. For a while, I considered trying to kill all the Templars, but again, it felt ultimately pointless and not worth the time to invest. I ended up killing 35% of them.

What I truly appreciated about this game is the narrative. The Assassin Brotherhood, waging war against the Templar Knights to retrieve Pieces of Eden is a fascinating concept. Bringing in historical, cultural, religious animosity roots the game in something real. The whole story is a bit obvious, and even the narrative does get repetitive- you eventually have to assassinate big-time individuals in each city section- but even those eventually feel redundant. Still, taken as a whole, this game features an ambitious narrative that felt unique among video games.

I do want to highlight the need to run and take cover when you're discovered. I struggle with this mechanic- it's so cool in a sense- this isn't just a fighting game, it's primarily a stealth game. The need to hide until your pursuers give up is an interesting mechanic. At times, it's wildly fun, to leap from building-to-building in a desperate attempt to escape. However, it's absurd how easily your chasers can follow you. I thought this was ruined by their ability to follow. There would be times when I'd make some ridiculous moves, only to turn around and they'd be right behind me. At times, this grew unbelievably frustrating. You'd run and run, have a second where you're out of sight, and then just as you dive into a hiding spot, they see you and you have to do it all over again. At times, it's not fun at all- it just feels like another chore. Balancing this was certainly a challenge, but I don't think the game quite nailed it. One other thought here- I did start the game really trying to be stealthy and I avoided as much as possible. Toward the end, I got tired enough that I'd quietly kill nearly any guard that I found on a rooftop. It's a flaw of the game, maybe, but I grew bloodthirsty toward the end and went on a rough killing spree. Every guard I murdered was one less I'd need to worry about when I tried to escape. Not sure if that was the intention of the game, but the guards chasing you are so frustrating that you do kind of resort to eliminating them, even when unnecessary.

I wouldn't say I was especially sleek as an assassin. Especially on the bosses, I would too often resort to brute force. I likely needed to invest more time in training, but I hated the boring training bouts. I'd give myself a very average score on stealth assassins, but sometimes brutality gets the job done. At times, I was wildly frustrated. Robert de Sable was a brutal fight- to take down numerous Templars first, and then hope you had enough energy to take down Robert- holy moly, it was a challenging bout. I got absolutely destroyed numerous times. That was one where I really had to manage my emotions. It was a huge challenge for me. The final boss of the game wasn't terrible, but there were definitely rough moments. I'm not sure how people figured out how to defeat him- I certainly needed to get some advice online. It wasn't easy, but it felt more doable than Robert de Sable.

Assassin's Creed is a flawed game with brilliant moments. Ubisoft might not be my favorite game studio, but they certainly got more right here than wrong. I sincerely hope they fix some of these issues in future games and make some quality-of-life improvements. This game was fun, but too repetitive and at times, a slog. That being said, I'm wildly interested in seeing this story continue. I'm intrigued and I want to learn more. I absolutely need a break from this franchise for a bit, but I'll definitely be back.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: N/A



If You Enjoyed This Game, We Recommend: Assassin's Creed 2, Mass Effect, God of War