Assassin's Creed Review?

[ShinRa]

So how big is the game so far? How big are the cities and, more importantly, how detailed/deep are they? Are they just a collection of blocks with people walking around or are there interiors, nooks and crannies and other such Zelda: Majoras Mask type things?

(Man, I loved Clock Town.)

There's not many interiors. The cities are huge. And when I say huge, I mean like San Andreas huge without a car to get around. They're insanely detailed, though a bit much on the repeating textures. More nooks and crannies than you can fathom. this game is sheer brilliance. I've never had so much fun just walking around.

 

[Asus]

It really does seem like you are in a city. The crowd works well and the background sounds (crowd chatter) change in different areas and markets. Plus a lot of times you hear someone, above the rest of the crowd chatter, yelling for help a block away (save citizen) or hear someone preaching or protesting in the streets.

 

[Asuka]

Its overwhelming like i said before. Cities are huge! The detail is simply breathtaking.

 

[knut]

There's not many interiors. The cities are huge. And when I say huge, I mean like San Andreas huge without a car to get around. They're insanely detailed, though a bit much on the repeating textures. More nooks and crannies than you can fathom. this game is sheer brilliance. I've never had so much fun just walking around.

Sweet. Seriously considering this now what with all the talk of its scale and not-so-noticable-as-the-reviews-made-out-to-be flaws.

But... Mass Effect next week. Time to sell some stuff, me thinks.

 

[AmishSlayer]

I rented it today before work and got to play it ~2 hours during my shift. I've done 1 assassination and I'm almost 1/2-way through completing everything (not just the minimum, but all the look-outs and side-missions) for the 2nd.

Combat is ridiculously easy like reviews said. Now that I can counter-kill I have no qualms with getting into fights with any number of guards. If they're near a cliff it's even easier, I can just grab and throw them off the edge in quick succession.

I still don't quite get the AI in the game. Sometimes I'll have a red dot and I can sprint around without getting chased or even noticed. Other times I'll have just 'vanished' into a pile of hay (making sure to wait for everybody to lose me), I hop out and instantly there are people on me again for no apparent reason :|

Also, I never even got a chance to try and stealth kill the 1st assassination target because the moment the little cutscene ended he attacked me when I was standing still (no weapons out) like 15 feet away...

Other than that climbing around is pretty cool even if some of the times Altair doesn't respond to what I'm telling him for a bit sometimes while climbing walls.

I do like to roam around and I hope the other assassinations work better than the 1st. I have no idea why he would've just charged at me with no provocation whatsoever.

EDIT: Where the hell do I get throwing daggers? I heard part of a tip in the loading screen that you have to pickpocket them...but how do you pickpocket unless it's a side-mission?

 

[Wanted Bob]

Wanted Bob, if the city is always on alert can you leave the city and come back to reset the guards on alert?

Actually, what was bizzare was that this alert "glitch" happened only in the Kingdom area between cities. Once I reached the city, the guards were back to normal, although at the very early stage I am at, you can get away with a lot of things (sprinting, freerunning....).

However, there isnt a loading point between cities and the Kingdom, so there isnt a "reset" button. The haystacks, canopies and benches(???) can help you there

Such an awesome game, though I cant nail the combo attack for some reason (I havent unlocked Counterattack yet, so fights against 12 guards is somewhat challenging).

Oh, and the cities are PHENOMINAL! Seriously, they are teeming with life, countless merchant stands, protesters, beggars, and many, many side quests for you to do. Not to mention the flags, which are sorta like the agility orbs in Crackdown, only a little easier to find.

 

[Top Secret]

I rented it today before work and got to play it ~2 hours during my shift. I've done 1 assassination and I'm almost 1/2-way through completing everything (not just the minimum, but all the look-outs and side-missions) for the 2nd.

Combat is ridiculously easy like reviews said. Now that I can counter-kill I have no qualms with getting into fights with any number of guards. If they're near a cliff it's even easier, I can just grab and throw them off the edge in quick succession.

I still don't quite get the AI in the game. Sometimes I'll have a red dot and I can sprint around without getting chased or even noticed. Other times I'll have just 'vanished' into a pile of hay (making sure to wait for everybody to lose me), I hop out and instantly there are people on me again for no apparent reason :|

Also, I never even got a chance to try and stealth kill the 1st assassination target because the moment the little cutscene ended he attacked me when I was standing still (no weapons out) like 15 feet away...

Other than that climbing around is pretty cool even if some of the times Altair doesn't respond to what I'm telling him for a bit sometimes while climbing walls.

I do like to roam around and I hope the other assassinations work better than the 1st. I have no idea why he would've just charged at me with no provocation whatsoever.

EDIT: Where the hell do I get throwing daggers? I heard part of a tip in the loading screen that you have to pickpocket them...but how do you pickpocket unless it's a side-mission?

You can only have daggers after our 2nd assassination.

 

[Asus]

I think I did a pick pocket at the very begining (be for you get stripped of your weapons/abilities) and it said I had the max number of knives. Not sure if there is any other way to get knives (once you get the ability back).

You can only have daggers after our 2nd assassination.

After the 2nd assassination you get throwing knifes back? cool
Not there yet. Will be playing tomorrow more.

 

[AmishSlayer]

lol, I'm doing the last little side-mission before the 2nd assassination (inside a church). I had to kill a couple guards at the entrance to get inside. Everybody inside freaks out except the two I'm supposed to overhear. I casually walk to a pew, sit down and listen while chaos is erupting around me. Every so often a scared civ. will run in front of my view and freak out into the camera. Once it's over, I calmly walk out stepping over the dead guards.

EDIT: Does anybody else think the entire "Kingdom" area is completely pointless?

 

[ailevation]

Picked AC like 5 hours ago, just quit playing. The start was very boring for me as the process was too slow for my liking although, I do understand why. But, once I started the first assassination, where everything stripped away from altair except for a sword. I was intimidated by the overwhelming city, so massive that I did not know where to start. Eventually I found my way and ventured out toward damascus from the beginning city and every single bit was gorgeous. Once I got into the city of Damascus I started getting the vantage points as it would enable me to familiarize with the city by doing so. I then focused on the saving citizens(those are really fun) with a little bit of main objectives here and there to finally just main objectives. The 1st assassination was not that epic imo, I failed to stab him the first time with the hand dagger, so it lead to a sword battle. I like the present day bits as they remind the player when to take breaks, atleast that is how I see it for thus far as the plot development has not kicked in yet. I take each memory segment completion as a cue; when we go back into that albertrose(whatever its called)lab and the doctor reminds that kid to go to sleep, that's when I should take a stretcher/drink/eat/bathroom break.

Eliminating the 'memory error' cut-offs separating areas would have been nice imo. But, I understand the possible restrictions due to the practicality of being able to run the game and/or preventing the player from jumping into different obj's that might be present if those 'memory error' areas are eliminated.

 

[Wanted Bob]

Yeah, I totally understand the whole overwhelming thing. You see like six things on your GPS, and its just "where to start?".

Lol, I lost track of the first target in the crowd, went nuts tackling everyone in sight trying to find him, found him talking to a merchant so I just stabbed him from behind.

 

[KagePrototype]

Just finished the first assassination, and I'm loving this game. There are problems though:

-- The tutorial is way too long, it takes ages to get to Damascus and begin the game proper.

-- You have to sit on a bench to eavesdrop, but when you pickpocket or are observing your target you can just stand around and listen to them talk. Kinda silly tbh.

-- Altair is a gigantic prick. I wanna be a cool assassin like Hitman, not some whiney arrogant bastard.

Otherwise, awesome game! The Freeform parkour stuff is a dream.

 

[ShinRa]

I take back what I said earlier about the combat. I didn't have my countering ability then. I'm sorry but as easy as it may be, it's goddamn awesome to watch.

 

[Dynasty]

You have to admit, some of his counters just look...so badass.

With the short sword he has this one particular one where he slices them to their knees, then drives the sword into the top of their head with this...epic crunching sound and then yanks it out..make me cringe with glee everytime.

Some of the best animation are when you power attack then attack when the swords clash. Those are just..wrong.

I do love the fights. Sure the AI is kinda 'the hell are you doing just standing there as i murder your mates', but its still fun. Been killed many times by getting overcocky and then basically getting raped from all directions and i loose all my sense of timing.

 

[Cerpin]

Just finished the first assassination, and I'm loving this game. There are problems though:

-- The tutorial is way too long, it takes ages to get to Damascus and begin the game proper.

-- You have to sit on a bench to eavesdrop, but when you pickpocket or are observing your target you can just stand around and listen to them talk. Kinda silly tbh.

-- Altair is a gigantic prick. I wanna be a cool assassin like Hitman, not some whiney arrogant bastard.

Otherwise, awesome game! The Freeform parkour stuff is a dream.

He gets more humble as the game progresses, through various events.

 

[Asus]

I like bouncing between targets even if I don't kill the first one I go at. Swing at one a couple times and then switch targets for a few more swings and throw one of them on top another in the crowd around me. Makes it real fun and varied. Something that is pretty funny is when a bystander gets between the enemy and my guy. One of us is going to be attacking soon and that bystander will get sliced up pretty bad.

At the beginning of the game when you have full weapons and abilities, my brother was using gentle push to harass some people. While that was funny the next thing was even better. My brother bumped into her and the gal started whining saying he had no right to push her around etc. My brother didn't mean to but he assassinated her in the throat. Was hilarious.

 

[Lukasz]

great game

 

[Gargantou]

Great game, great story, confusing ending.
All I've managed to figure out so far from the ending is

Spoiler

Biblical references, references to the Mayan calendar as well as some Chinese emperor...

 

[Tollbooth Willie]

It's awesome.

 

[mrbloke]

why is the pc version coming out ages after the 360?!:hmph:

 

[craig]

Mine finally arrived today and I've been playing it pretty much non-stop..

I have to say though, the 'Special Edition' is jack. It's a normal 360 game in a tin with 4 cards... whoopee. The american version comes with a 3" Altair figure and some Penny Arcade comics.

The game though.. I like it, I've just completed the assasination with the guy who was about to hang one of the Hassassins, but I've yet to complete a stealthy kill. Before I killed him for example, I had to dispense with 20 of his posse.

I'd agree with the comments above too Altair is an ass and the Desmond bits are just so damn boring. They tried to be smart by adding this Sci-Fi twist and it just doesn't work too well imo.

As far as the combat goes and the jumping around though, I think it's fine.

 

[Stigmata]

I have to say though, the 'Special Edition' is jack. It's a normal 360 game in a tin with 4 cards... whoopee. The american version comes with a 3" Altair figure and some Penny Arcade comics.

That tin with the cards is what I got when I pre-ordered the game a month in advance D:

 

[Cormeh]

Excellent game so far. It is fairly annoying that galloping on a horse in the middle of nowhere is enough to send soldiers into a frothy-mouthed psychotic episode, but otherwise it's pretty damn good.

I haven't even assassinated anyone yet. Just reached Damascus for some citizen saving, flag collecting shenanigans.

 

[Lucid]

To those who've played it, in your honest opinion... do you think it could be ported to the PC well?

 

[DigiQ8]

To those who've played it, in your honest opinion... do you think it could be ported to the PC well?

Maybe
but you need a gamepad thats for sure

 

[Asknoone]

I don't know squat about this game, but apparently it's good. Might pick it up.

 

[Asus]

The fact that this game is so big and free to go in the city where you want makes it really fun. I'd say similar to spiderman games as far as exploring and messing around. If you can't entertain yourself then you may not care for this one.

I really love the combat though. I get into guard fights all the time. Go up to one of those 8+ groups in the Kingdom (land between the cities) and fight em all. Sometimes I die but it's always fun.

 

[AmishSlayer]

The fact that this game is so big and free to go in the city where you want makes it really fun. I'd say similar to spiderman games as far as exploring and messing around. If you can't entertain yourself then you may not care for this one.

I really love the combat though. I get into guard fights all the time. Go up to one of those 8+ groups in the Kingdom (land between the cities) and fight em all. Sometimes I die but it's always fun.

I like to roam the city too, but it wears on me because all it consists of is me holding RT, A and forward.

The combat to me gets stale to play but it's kinda fun to watch. It's either counter-killing by holding RT and pressing X or pressing X in rapid succession to attack.

 

[Wanted Bob]

The short blade counterattacks are wonderfully brutal. It annoys me when enemies power attack all the time, so your counterattack is always off.

 

[Acepilotf14]

Finshed it. Amazing ending, And I hope you all got the Visions of the Future achievment.. you should have. I missed a few parts.. [spoilers]

Spoiler

I never got Vidic's digipen, nor did I completely understand the endings.. 2? Is there anyway to relive the laboratory parts? I need to get the Coversationalist achievment, and I want to read the rest of the emails on Vidic's computer. :\

 

[Asus]

Spoiler

Can't you reload an earlier memory (saved game)?

I generally don't rely on counter-attacks. I use em and they are awesome but if that is how you kill the enemies then you are always waiting on them to attack. Besides, trying to attack one enemy but then having to defend an attack from behind at almost the same time is more fun and challenging.

 

[Acepilotf14]

Spoiler

Yes, but it only reloads Altair's memory, not his. I think I may have to start a new game eventually..

weeeeeeee

 

[AmishSlayer]

Ug, I just finished one of the assassination missions at work and the AI was pissing me off.

I had just regained control of Altair after the obligatory cutscene before each assassination. I step off a 1-2 foot tall platform (not actually pressing RT at all) that I was on - OMG PEOPLE RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!! There's an assassin here!!!

I let them kill me because I want to try and actually stealth this guy instead of just killing like 30 guards while trying to kill him. It takes an annoying amount of time considering I can take 21 hits before I die and the guards like to take their time in attacking me when I don't even have a weapon out :|

2nd try, I step down a couple stairs to avoid the previous problem. I wade through the crowd and just before I get to the spot I wanted to be, some crazed hobo pushes me. Once again - OMG AIEEEE RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! I let them kill me again.

3rd time I draw this idiot hobo away from where I wanted to be and I get in with the scholars I wanted to get to in the first place. After they get to their destination I unblend while staying still among them and yet again, the entire world freaks out that I've stopped bowing my head with my hands clasped.

This time, pissed off I just kill all the guards I see (got the 25 guard achievement and then some), the target and that asshole hobo for good measure.

 

[jimbo118]

/\ that sucks amish, btw where do you work that you can play games on lunch?

 

[Cerpin]

Can you play the early missions again using your beefed up character?

 

[AmishSlayer]

/\ that sucks amish, btw where do you work that you can play games on lunch?

I don't play on lunch, I just play during the hours of downtime I have during my shift

I work at a place called US FoodService as an "Evening Computer Operator"

Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays I bring in my 360 and hook it up to one of the monitors there

 

[jimbo118]

I don't play on lunch, I just play during the hours of downtime I have during my shift

I work at a place called US FoodService as an "Evening Computer Operator"

Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays I bring in my 360 and hook it up to one of the monitors there

aw cool, btw Amish, how would you rate the stealth mechanics in the game? would you even consider it a stealth game? This is one thing i'm really wondering about:|

From your mission description above it would seem not.

 

[ShinRa]

aw cool, btw Amish, how would you rate the stealth mechanics in the game? would you even consider it a stealth game? This is one thing i'm really wondering about:|

From your mission description above it would seem not.

The stealth is a little screwy. I put it up to the fact that none of us really take the time to completely understand our surroundings and how and why the soliders react the way they do. The crowd however, is very screwy.

 

[AmishSlayer]

aw cool, btw Amish, how would you rate the stealth mechanics in the game? would you even consider it a stealth game? This is one thing i'm really wondering about:|

From your mission description above it would seem not.

This will be a long post

Let me explain the stealth system:

Anonymous Your indicator is a little triangle, nobody can see you or witness you doing whatever it is you're doing - (you pretty much only get this on rooftops when there are no guards around)

Yellow-suspicion - The indicator has a yellow eye at the center, people are watching you. You can still use the blade to silently assassinate somebody without alarm. Any flashy violence (pushing civs. is fine) will cause civilians to freak out and call guards if there aren't already at least 3-6 around already.

Red-suspicion - Guards are on the lookout for you or you're on a rooftop and guards can see you. This is the limit you can go to before alarm is raised. Now you have to be careful. Don't knock people over, don't run, don't climb (even climbing ladders can raise alarm sometimes), don't do anything but walk or blend around. While just walking there's an annoying beep that constantly rings so I usually blend to avoid hearing this. This is usually where the AI gets flaky. Sometimes you can sprint and climb around and nobody will raise alarm. Other times if you're blending guards will freak out and attack you.

Red Alert - Guards see you and are chasing/fighting you. Either kill them all to go back to anonymous or break line of sight to get to yellow alert.

Yellow-alert - Guards lost line of sight of you. You can now use hiding spots to become anonymous again or you can just keep running to get away from guards if you want.


Stealth is completely unnecessary unless you want it to be. If you are undiscovered, you can hold A to "blend" by bowing your head in prayer like a scholar. While doing this you can walk up to any target or guard, press X to assassinate (while still holding A) and you'll go straight back into blending. You can do this in plain sight, even two feet away from guards or anybody and nobody will come after you, they'll just walk towards the body and start telling the "assassin" to come out and say, "there's a murderer about" etc.

Getting to the main assassination targets via stealth is tricky as well. There's only been 2 of 8 I've done so far that I was able to get to without raising any kind of alarm. In these missions guards are on highest alert for anything remotely un-stealthy (see my previous post) and your target is usually behind at least one wall of guards so if you try to get past them, you raise alarm, if you climb anything in sight of anybody, you raise alarm. Sometimes the alarm is already raised when you start the mission for story purposes. You're virtually always on red-suspicion during these missions.

Once you actually assassinate the target, all bets are off and no matter how stealthy you were guards will be after you. This bugs me because it completely takes away the Hitman-like feel of being a silent assassin walking calmly in and calmly out. It also forces a chase or large battle, both of which are easy.

Stealth gets to be VERY annoying later in the game - especially in Informant missions where a fellow assassin will puss out of his duty and have you assassinate 5 guys in an obligatory time limit (5 minutes in this case - you must kill silently I might add, no flashy kills) and if you raise alarm the mission resets after you get away from or kill the guards after you. The annoying thing is that the informant and targets are amongst very heavy guard patrols or are on rooftops, so even trying to get up there in sight of anybody raises alarm and resets the mission. You pretty much have to blend the whole way and try your best to avoid the annoying crazed hobos that shove you, because the second you get shoved or break the blend, alarm will sound and the mission resets.

One thing that this game suffers from is also kind of one of it's strengths. The cities feel real and vast which people love, but I think this hurts the free roaming aspect because every area is very forgettable. They could copy and paste complete areas and I wouldn't notice. There's nothing fun to do while roaming besides just climb stuff, so you'll probably only remember the biggest churches and whatnot around town. In a game like GTA3 however, I could identify where I was no matter where I happened to be in Liberty City. Each area looked unique and had various things you could do in it and it was designed in a fashion that I didn't need the map to get around. Assassin's Creed consists of forgettable street upon forgettable street. I am constantly checking the map to see where the closest side-mission is.

This game doesn't really feel like a stealth game to me because stealth isn't really rewarded unless you're doing these informant missions - then you're forced to stealth and it just gets annoying. Even when you try to stealth, the AI detection is flaky. Sometimes you'll get busted for no apparent reason while blending around under yellow-suspicion, and other times you can sprint, knock people over and climb around with red-suspicion with no problem.

EDIT: I'll give a review once I finish the game. I'm pretty close, I'm about 1/2way done with the side missions for the 2nd to last assassination mission. I've been doing EVERY side mission there is to do in the game so it's been slow going - but I bet I've played the game more than most people.

Speaking of side missions, they get EXTREMELY repetitive. There are 7 total types of missions you go on that are virtually identical to each other.

-Save Citizen - you usually do this around 10 times per assassination mission - come across person being accosted by guards, kill guards, save person

-Pickpocket - listen to conversation, then pickpocket target. The actual pickpocketing act takes about 20 seconds and is quite easy.

-Interrogate - 2nd most annoying side-mission. Listen to speech from some guy, follow him to an alley or any area you want really. Punch him numerous times - listen to confession. It's annoying because of the speech at the beginning and the fact that I get impatient following the guy after like 30 seconds and I just start hitting him in the open. Thugs try to join the fight, but the moment you land the last hit on the target, they leave you alone so you can listen to the confession The punching match is essentially block until he swings at you, punch, repeat.

-Informant: Flags - A fellow assassin 'loses' flags in a nice linear path for you to free-run along. Collect about 20 in 3 minutes and return to him. It usually takes me about 1.5 minutes.

-Informant: Assassinations - I mentioned this before, assassin wusses out, you need to stealth kill them, blah blah blah. Annoying and boring. Usually very short.

-Eavesdrop - The most boring one by far. Find a bench close to the targets, sit on bench, target the two people, press Y, watch cutscene. The End.

-High point or whatever it's called - Climb structure to reveal more of the map and more missions. Self-explanatory. There are ~10 of them per assassination mission.

 

[jimbo118]

Excellent detailed post Amish. I respect and trust your opinion on the game more than most of the reviews i have read. You should do a review like you said when you finish the game btw.

The A.I sounds incredibly paranoid, reminds me a bit of Hitman's tetchy A.I.
p.s: whats your sig mean?