Product Description

Assassin's Creed is set in 1191 AD, when the Third Crusade was tearing the Holy Land apart. Shrouded in secrecy and feared for their ruthlessness, the Assassins intend to stop the hostilities by suppressing both sides of the conflict.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #744 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: UBI Soft
• Released on: 2007-11-16
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Platform: Xbox 360
• Dimensions: .25 pounds

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It’s easy to see why there was so much fighting amongst the console manufacturers to try and make this game a format exclusive. Where early launch titles may have disappointed this game not only looks like a next generation game but it plays like it too. Taken at face value the story casts you as an Arabic fighter in 1191, out to assassinate the nine Western leaders of the Third Crusade. There is more to the story than that though making it more than simple historical adventure it first seems.

Since it’s developed by many of the same team behind Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, it’s no surprise to find the game using many of the same ideas. With the bold claim that you can climb on or over anything in the game world that sticks out more than two inches, this allows incredible freedom of movement, with a style of acrobatics heavily influenced by Parkour/free running. The game also innovates in terms of combat, with each of the face buttons controlling a different area of the body, rather like a marionette. As such one button controls the feet, one your open hand, one your weapon hand and the other your head.

As an assassin stealth plays an important role in the game too, but here it’s often a case of hiding in plain sight as you mill around inside large crowds of people. Everyone will react to you realistically though, so if you go around pushing people out of the way, or even killing them, the crowd will react and report you. With stunning graphics and genuinely innovative gameplay this is destined to be one of the most important releases of the year.
HARRISON DENT

Manufacturer's Description:
Assassin's Creed is set in 1191 AD, when the Third Crusade was tearing the Holy Land apart. Shrouded in secrecy and feared for their ruthlessness, the Assassins intend to stop the hostilities by suppressing both sides of the conflict. Players, assuming the role of the main character Altair, will have the power to throw their immediate environment into chaos and to shape events during this pivotal moment in history.

Our story follows a disgraced master Assassin (ALTAIR) who embarks on an epic quest to restore his status within the Assassin Order. After failing to assassinate the Templar Leader (ROBERT DE SABLE) and recover the legendary Templar Treasure, Altair is demoted to Uninitiated (the lowest rank in the Assassin order).

SINAN, Leader of the Assassins, offers our hero an opportunity to redeem himself. Altair must venture out into the Holy Land and assassinate men said to be exacerbating and exploiting the hostilities created by the Third Crusade. In doing so, he will stabilize the region, allowing Sinan to usher in an age of peace.

When our game begins, Richard the Lionheart has just recaptured the port city of Acre from occupying Saracens. With a base of operations established, the Crusaders prepare to march south. Their true target is JERUSALEM – which they intend to recapture in the name of the Church. However, SALADIN, leader of the Saracen Army, currently rules Jerusalem. Stinging from his army’s defeat at Acre, he will now allow Richard to humiliate him again. The Saracens are massing at the ruins of Fortress Arsuf, intending to ambush the Crusaders and prevent them from reaching Jerusalem.

These war maneuvers have left the rest of the Holy Land wide open. While Richard and Saladin battle one another, the men left to govern in their stead have begun taking advantage of their newfound positions of power. Exploiting, manipulation, and provocation rule the day. It is into this chaotic mess our hero now finds himself thrust. He is ordered to assassinate those most active in their exploitation.

And so Altair begins his missions.

Along the way, however, he will begin to discover that his targets are bound by more than just a shared interest in personal gain. They seem to share membership in a secret society – a group all too familiar to the Assassins. And they are not simply looking for profit. The true goal, and how they plan to achieve it are secrets to be discovered during the course of our story.

Customer Reviews

Nothing new but entertaining.
Ubisoft seem to have promoted Assassin's Creed as a stealth game, which would make a lot of sense seeing as the main character is a medieval assassin but let's get this straight, the stealth elements are underwhelming and what you have instead is a beautiful, quirky action/platform game with a compelling story.

The majority of assassin's Creed puts you in control of Altair, moody badass and Hashshashin extraordinaire. Altair fumbles an important job for the guild and is stripped of his rank/ability faster than you can say `Super Metroid' and from there on must prove his worth by assassinating nine of the key figures responsible for prolonging the crusades. Controlling Altair is pretty intuitive and it only takes a few minutes to get to grips with the controls. Expect to have as much fun climbing up buildings as in `Crackdown', running across rooftops is very rewarding and gives an impressive feeling of speed and Fighting plays a lot like a rhythm-action mini game.

Each assassination is made up of a few steps, first you must travel to the city on horseback. These over-world sections feel a little bit under developed and whereas the horse riding mechanics are fun, they don't really add much to the game. It would have been nice to see a few secrets around the map but as they are these sections resemble those in `Shadow of the Colossus' or `Gun' more than they do `The Legend of Zelda'. Once you arrive at the city you will have a few tasks to complete, firstly you need to seek out tall structures, ascend them and survey the land. This will allow you to see more of the map and cause side missions to show up on you HUD. The side missions are undertaken in order to gain information about your mark and in some cases to make the job easier.

These side missions take the form of assassinating guards, eavesdropping, pick pocketing, rescuing citizens from guard brutality and oddly, hopping above the city in timed flag collecting races. They seem to have come under a lot of fire from reviewers but the repetition didn't really bother me a lot. I'll be honest, this isn't `Oblivion', you can expect to hear the same lines over and over again and the challenge or variety never really increases as the game progresses. It would have been nice to see some real depth and variety here but they are what they are and most have some aspect which is fun. My favourite were probably the flag races which reminded me of Ubisoft's other Fall platformer `Naruto: Rise of a Ninja'. There are precious few of these races, largely due to the problems of implementing them into the game narrative. There are only a few times that you can use `Erm... I lost a bunch of flags, can you get them for me before... a generic event happens'.

I found the actual assassinations to be a lot of fun, most only really involve going to point A, watching a cut-scene, running up and putting a blade through the target's face then legging it back to the Assassin's Bureau. This will obviously annoy those anticipating a more cerebral take on killing. I'm sure that it's possible to put more thought into the kills but the game doesn't really encourage or reward it and `Hitman' it aint.

Graphically the game looks amazing; it renders huge densely populated areas without really struggling. Just climb to the top of one of the towers and you'll feel overwhelmed by what the developers have managed to pull off. I noticed a handful of small glitches as I played such as texture pop-in, and screen ripping but nothing that hindered my enjoyment of the game. Similarly I experienced a couple of stutters while loading areas but I can count the number of times on one hand.

The voice work was largely professional, Altair sounds a bit too much like Troy McLure and a few of the NPCs are a tad on the `wacky' side but it's entertaining rather than aggravating. There was music there but I can't really remember it which is usually a good thing in soundtracks. Presumably it supported the action rather than intrude upon it. All in all the sound was adequately done with a couple of stellar moments such as Kirsten Bell's performance as Lucy.

Without spoiling what is an admittedly poorly kept secret there are some small adventure chapters that link the sections of the main game and add a twist to the story. I strongly advise players to make the most of these sections as they provide likeable rounded characters, an interesting mystery and hint at the direction of future installments of the franchise. Depending on how much work you put in these sections will either be slow paced and boring or fascinating and you can't skip them so it's up to you to make the most of them. Explore the rooms, use the computers and rummage through emails, I think that fans of TV shows like `Lost' will be well pleased with the overall direction of the story.

Overall Assassin's Creed is a solid action-platformer with next-gen looks and last-gen gameplay. I personally enjoyed it a lot but it doesn't really bring anything new to the table and reminds me of a number of existing games. It also leans a little bit to the easy side and offers little immediate replay value. There are numerous flags to collect but Ubisoft have taken the cheap option and bagging each set will only unlock an achievement. Gamers expecting a world changing experience will be disappointed but I suggest that anybody interested in the genre, setting or those frustrated by a lack of complexity in Video Game narrative pick this one up.

7/10

Brilliant, yet awful
First of all I'd like to say that the whole concept and idea of this game is absolutley brilliant. However now for the bad points, and believe me there are tonnes of them. First of all the trailers and the hype from the creators is rubbish. It is virtually impossibnle to assassinate your targets stealthly. I have tired every target at least 3 times but everytime i get spotted by the guards or byt he target for doing nothing but standing in the crowd plotting my means of attack. When taking out your target you cant go where you like becuase to activate the targhet you have to stand in a certain area to activate a cut scene etc etc which then allwos you access to the target. So thats the first down point. the second down point is the as everyone says repetitive information aquiring missions which to be frank are rather dull. The dullest part is riding to the different towns, but that is ok later on as you can quick travel.

The free running and how they have created the controls for it is brilliant however at times you find yourself screaming at the screen say I didnt want to jump that way or something those lines.

My last moan and probably the most irritating thing, as it usually is the cause of the failure to stealth assassinate a target, is the fact the guards are permenatly suspisious of you when you have done anything...why arent they suspicisous of the bloke next to you who is also "doing nothing"

This game has potential and I hear they are making a number 2. Personnally I would wait for that and hopefully they would have sorted out the stupid things.

Overall the game has potential but dont waste your pocket on it. Wait for number 2 if it comes!

Wonderful Graphics - Tedious Game
The central disappointment with Assassin's Creed is that it could have been the most entertaining game ever made. Set partially in the crusades, with a weird sci-fi subplot that is genuinely unique (hint--you're in a game within a game) you play the part of a deadly killer crossing ancient cities to murder your targets. Along the way you can free-run the buildings, merge into busy crowds, dive into subplots to gain info or forge allegiances, engage in combat with swords, daggers and throwing knives and even ride horses. It all sounds pretty amazing, doesn't it?

Then of course you have the graphics--gorgeously detailed graphics with amazing lighting effects--which offer the kind of environments that you've been begging for since you first bought a next-gen console. When you add the stunning panoramic views from the tops of the soaring minarets the whole things sounds like it was made by god. I mean what else could possibly be right about it? Perhaps only if it lit your cigarette and passed you a beer could the game be any better.

Sadly that isn't the case as Assassin's Creed truly stinks. It is shallow, irritating, repetitive and coma-inducing. What you do is more-or-less trundle around these vast environments experiencing déjà vu. After being demoted at the start of the game you have to hunt and plan to assassinate 9 targets to redeem yourself, which means that you sit on some benches and listen to a conversation or two from bland NPC's, pick the pockets of a few more bland NPC's, save some other bland NPC's from being robbed while beginning to wish that you were an NPC yourself, as that way you'd never have had the money to waste on this silly game.

Still, you do have to climb a lot to fill-in the map. Endlessly scaling the various towers to take a bird's eye view of the scene, the camera swoops around you in way that is supposed to be awe-inspiring but only plays as a yawn after you've seen it for the umpteenth time. Then of course you jump off those towers (the much vaunted "leaps of faith" hyped-to-glory by Ubisoft) which are equally dull when they've happened half a dozen times. You simply land in a pile of hay or into the back of wagon full of hay and then climb out onto the street with a sense of perfunctory non-achievement.

As for the assassinations themselves, then they are brief and feel like non-events. Having waited and waited to get to them, suffering as if you were having teeth pulled in slow-motion, you finally kill someone with less room for style than you possibly could have imagined. Oh goody. So it was all worth it, then.

In summation: this game is rubbish and I kind of suspect it knows it--hence the last minute, delayed reviews and the desperate barrage of advertising. When it should have been better than Bioshock it's more like the disaster that was Two Worlds as it is simply BORING--really, very boring and it's no fun at all. It lacks intelligence, it can't seem to pick-up the slack with the combat elements, and to be brutally honest the whole sci-fi thing could have been dropped with no loss to the story whatsoever.

The prevailing atmosphere of Assassin's Creed is that of a design meeting that went off the rails. Someone mentioned Splinter Cell, someone else mentioned Oblivion, it turned into an argument about the Matrix films and some maniac started leaping around the furniture. It's like an object lesson in how not to build a game and as I regret that I bought it, I'd advise you to avoid the grief.