Platforms: PS3, Xbox 360, PC, DS, Mobile
Assassin's Creed released on the Xbox 360 last November to generally good reception. However, this review will deal with the PC port, which admittedly isn't the better game.
First of all, Assassin's Creed for the PC has very steep requirements. A minimum 2.6 Ghz processor, a 256 mb GFX card and at least 2 gb of RAM for Vista. My review machine was sweating to keep up, so i had to turn the graphics down quite a bit where other games would run fine on high settings.
You play as Altair, the ancestor of modern day bartender Desmond Miles. The latter has been invited to Abstergo, a Templar-run lab to provide them with details of his ancestor. Apparently, our DNA is able to store not only our memories, but those of our ancestors as well.
These two conflicting timelines do not help the story along much. Most of the time the game left me feeling slightly confused as the two alternating timelines do not show much similarity, so it seems like the game can't make up its mind on what era it wants to be set in.
Past that however, the gameplay itself isn't that bad, the variety of investigation minigames you can play are well designed and are actually quite entertaining...for the first few chapters. After that, the exact games get rehashed and repeated so many times that it feels almost like a chore to do the tasks just to unlock the assassination.
Even these assassinations comprise of very little action; you simply walk up to the target and deal him a death blow. You're forced to sit through some very long cutscenes after each hit, and they are the only place where the story is told. Assassinations in general make up very little of the actual game.The game is based on the concept of free-running exploration, and that's a really good concept. I found myself climbing up all sorts of buildings and running on rooftops to get to my objective. This excellent sandbox gameplay, however, is thrown right out the window during the final two hours or so of the game, where you're forced into fights that really go against the sandbox style of the game.
Combat is smooth, realistic and pretty fluid. You're given an assortment of tools to carry out your task: a sword, throwing knives, and a hidden blade wich is used to stab random persons on the street. However, i feel that the combat is more suited for the Xbox 360's controller as the face buttons provide easier access to all of Altair's skills.
Horse riding makes up a small portion of the game, as you travel between the cities of Damascus, Acre and Jerusalem. The only complaint i have for this particular section is that the kingdom seems to have an unspoken speed limit on horses that everyone but me seems to know about. If i trot past a guard at the normal speed, it somehow sets off warning lights in their heads and they come running after me. but if i hold a key down to make my horse walk a little bit slower, suddenly no one seems to care.
Graphically wise, the visuals are amazing when turned up fully. The buildings exhibit very detailed architecture and none of those "architectural bits" feel like they were put there for you to climb about; they just look so natural. These building climbs are usually accompanied by lush musical overtures, and chases have heart thumping musical scores to accompany it.
Another thing that stands out is the NPC crowd. They behave rather realistically; i found myself being stared at by some passers-by when i was climbing around the building, and they exhibit notions of surprise at every unusual move i make. However, the guards aren't as smart. The game lets you escape from pursuers by hiding in certain special "hide zones", and this is where the stupidity comes in. You can actually sit down on a bench right in front of them and they will simply scratch their heads and walk away.
The PC version isn't exactly superior to its older brother in the 360, it's marred by clunky controls and very high system requirements. Its porting to the PC isn't exactly perfect either; it feels very rushed and slipshod. Pick it up if you have never got a chance to play it on the Xbox 360, but you're not missing anything out from the 360 version.
FINAL VERDICT:
You'll like:
Free-climbing
Assassinations
Swordfights
You'll hate:
Repetitive minigames
Steep system requirements
Poor port
Score: 7.5/10
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