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5stars
404ratings4stars
140ratings3stars
26ratings2stars
5ratings1star
9ratings
Good graphics98% agree
Compelling gameplay98% agree
Good value98% agree
541 Reviews
Good & Bad!
THE GOOD:
* Huge, gorgeous world that feels wholly alive
* It's fun to run across city rooftops
* Joyous mix of stealth, action, and platforming
* Stunning sound design features fantastic voice acting and a beautiful musical score
* Tons of small details will constantly amaze you.
THE BAD:
* Confusing ending
* Remarkably high system requirements and some small glitches
* New mission types aren't as good as the others.
Assassin's Creed features one of the most unique gameworlds ever created: beautiful, memorable, and alive. Every crack and crevasse is filled with gorgeous, subtle details, from astounding visual flourishes to overheard cries for help. But it's more than just a world--it's a fun and exciting action game with a ton of stuff to do and places to explore, rounded out with a complex story that will slowly grab you the more you play. The PC version has a few more issues than its console counterparts, and the keyboard-and-mouse controls strip away some of the smooth magic of exploration. Nevertheless, if you don't mind plugging in a gamepad and have a system that exceeds the system requirements, you'll find the same free-form travels and atmospheric game world that console owners enjoyed last year.
Not enough can be said about the living, breathing universe that you'll inhabit in Assassin's Creed. As assassin extraordinaire Altair, you'll explore three major cities of the Holy Land in the 12th century: Jerusalem, Damascus, and Acre. Each city is beautifully rendered from top to bottom and features meticulously crafted towers that reach for the sky, bustling market squares, and quiet corners where citizens converse and drunks lie in wait to accost you. As you wander the streets (and rooftops), you'll push your way through crowds of women carrying jars on their heads, hear orators shout political and religious wisdom, and watch town guards harass innocent victims. Altair has a profound effect on this world, but the cities are entities all their own, with their own flows and personalities.
The visual design has a lot to do with how believably organic everything feels. The cities are absolutely huge, and though you don't get full exploration privileges in the first few chapters, they eventually open up to let you travel seamlessly from one side to another. Everything is beautifully lit with just the right amount of bloom effect, and almost everything casts a shadow, from tall pillars to Altair's cloak. In fact, sometimes the shadows get to be a bit much and may make you think for a moment that there is artifacting on your screen, when in fact it's a character's head casting a shadow on his or her own neck. Every object, from scaffolds to pottery, is textured so finely that you'll feel as if you could reach out and touch it. Animations are almost as equally well done. Altair scales walls, leaps majestically from towers, and engages in swashbuckling swordfights that would make Errol Flynn proud. And he does it all with fluid ease, generally moving from one pose to another without a hitch. Minor characters move with less aplomb, but that's easy to forgive, considering that the cities are populated with thousands and thousands of individuals.Read full review...
Far from perfect but very well executed.
You play Altair, an assassin assigned to eliminate nine historically prominent figures from 1191, The Crusades. The way you approach these assassinations is partially up to you, and I say partially because it may seem that you have total control of your actions when you first play but as the game progresses, you quickly learn that it gets to become pretty linear with a dash of freedom.
To view the map, you essentially press the "back" button but not everything is revealed immediately. In order to truly see what your surroundings consist of, you must climb high structures (usually mosques, towers, etc.) and this is truly an exhilarating experience. You run up buildings by holding down the right trigger and holding down the A button. Climbing buildings is very easy and Ubisoft made it very fun. As soon as you reach the top of these structures, you synchronize with your surroundings and everything in that radius is revealed to you.
Before you assassinate your target, you must complete 3/6 investigations and this can be done through eavesdropping, pick pocketing, or interrogation. None of these can be done at random, there are set targets for each action and they are all very well done. Once you are actually ready to assassinate your target, you must retreat the Assassin's Bureau (and every town has one,) from which you will rest before you assassinate your target.
Once you reach your target, an elaborate cut-scene/interaction occurs (with optional different angles!) and you have the choice of approaching your target quietly or openly.
There are numerous plot twists and a dissonant back story to the game which cannot be revealed and essentially, this game is the first in a trilogy so don't expect to have all your questions answered. All in all, Assassin's Creed is not a perfect game although it is very well done.Read full review...
Excellent game, worth it.
My son wrote the following review:
"Assassin's Creed is a great game by Ubisoft. For those of you that don't know, (and I hope you do), in this game you play as an assassin named Altaïr, who, through his arrogance and cockiness, has failed to take down a major target, and his master makes him go through the ranks again. Lots of stealth in this game, a little bit of history (some of it may or may not be true), and cool gadgets, like the hidden blade (love making assassinations with it). The reason I bought this from eBay is because when I played it originally, I borrowed it from my friend, and now my brother wants to experience its awesomeness. The graphics are good, the story is excellent, but sometimes the gameplay just doesn't work the way you'd like (or expect) it too. However, it is still a very excellent game and worth getting a copy. Oh, and if you do, and you like it, the second one is awesome as well, so you should try that one as well."Read full review...
Great story telling, but this game is not for all
Graphics: Breathtaking 9.5/10
The player movements, backgrounds, cities, landscape and scenery are thorough and breathtaking. The dreary colors and drab buildings give a sense of this era. The graphics in this game immersed this game reviewer.
Sound: Good – 7/10
The sounds, music, effects, and voices take you immediately into the game, then right back out. It is great to hear the dialogue between all the citizens and soldiers, but it grows tired and repetitive. The score is decent, but it does not carry, nor make up for the faults in the area of sounds.
Gameplay: Spectacular – 8/10
Smooth animations, large levels, smart enemies and A.I., different possibilities for battles and puzzles – makes this game fun and interesting. The controls, camera angles, and finicky battle controls sticks out and hurts the gameplay.
Replay Value – Above average 6.5/10
Without multiplayer, this game is going to have a hard time getting someone wanting to play again without wanting to go back to get all the flags. With over a million copies sold, something tells me there are going to be a lot of copies for sale soon.
Overall – Great 8/10
This has some great story telling and is pretty edgy for what it is trying to say (message wise) for a game. Though once you go through and do everything you want to do in this game, it will sit on your bookcase like a forgotten trophy. This game will not appeal to everyone though.
Let me begin by saying that this game is not for everyone. This is one of those games you are either going to love or hate. Assassin’s Creed is a mix of a sandbox adventure game with RPG elements. The reason the reviews on this game have been mixed because it depends on how you play through this game.
I played through this game going through almost every quest/side mission, minus finding all the flags, and must say that this in an involved and fun game. More fighting than assassinating, this game shows that a lot of minor details were looked during development. The big assassinations come when you take down each “levels” end target, and doing this the right way makes the game that much more fun. My biggest gripe was the last 1/10 of the game. Gameplay wise, it was disappointing, story wise, it was awesome.
I like story telling and this game hit it in a new direction, but I must say, either buy it used or rent it.Read full review...
Eagerly Awaiting Assassin's Creed 2
After playing this thriller, the first thing that comes to mind is hope for a sequel. This game is so good that one can only hope that its creators decide to make Assassin's Creed 2. Why am I so impressed with this game that takes place in 12th Century Crusades? Well, awesome graphics, an enticing plot, and a phenomenal ending. The game-makers leave a lot of freedom for the gamer, as goals can be achieved in a variety of ways. After getting absorbed in this game, you will really feel like an ancient hitman, and it is very, very interesting to get into that mindset. My only con about this game is the level of difficulty. At times, the game was downright hard and extremely tricky. But hey, who doesn't love a little challenge? Overall, this is a great game, one of the best of the year, and I definitely recommend it to anyone.Read full review...
The Real Scoop
Assassin's Creed claims to be a sandbox game. And it is, but other than the storyline there isn't much to do.
The story is probably one of the best parts about this game. The story is easy to follow and is very interesting. But this game has many downsides, many you've probably heard people say a million times before. This game is the most repetitive game in the history of games.
There is 9 (I think) missions. In each mission, you go to the city, do 3 investigations, assassinate the person, and that's it. You repeat that every time. There's no twists, nothing different...until the end of the game but I won't spoil that for you.
The combat is interesting, but it focusing too much around the element of timing. Most of the fights will just consist of you in defensive stance and counterattacking to kill all the guards. It gets to be very boring after awhile.
The graphics are absolutely stunning for a game made in 2007 and many times during the game you will stop and stare...
You've probably heard about how you can climb any wall and all these claims. Well, you can, sorta. Basically on all the walls there are certain spots you are supposed to climb on to get higher, but sometimes this can be frustrating and your character won't go any higher and you'll have to just drop down and give up. Or sometimes you will find out you were supposed to climb up the tower a different way once you are half way up....and falling from heights does kill you...
The achievements are somewhat difficult. Don't expect over 700 gamerscore for this game unless you really work at it. Expect more like 500-700 gamerscore for an average playthrough. There are a lot of missable achievements so read an achievement guide online first.
One more thing to note, the assassinations don't always go like you want them to. Very often you will find yourself saying "Ahh F--- it" and running through all the guards and just sword fighting the person you are supposed to assassinate.
After you beat the game, you can go back and replay any of the assassination missions again. This is alright, but one of the downsides is that you will only have the weapons and abilities that you had unlocked at that point in time, so you won't be able to try out your new weapons on some of the earlier assassination targets. Overall replay value is low, because you will probably be tired of the game by the end.
Gameplay: 7/10
Graphics: 9/10
Storyline: 8/10
Replay Value: Low
OVERALL: 8/10Read full review...
An amazing experience
Assassins Creed is, to me, one of the most amazing titles I have seen in any gaming genre in a long time. The graphics are extrordinary from the birds eyeview you can get of Acre all the way down to the tiniest character details. The gameplay engine imbues an incredibly intuitive control style, with the depth of a fully populated world, including even beggars and drunks who might interfere with your objectives.
The game sets you as Altair, an assassin from a clan based off the historical Hassassins of the Crusades. The majority of the game is set in 1191 A.D., during the 3rd Crusade, in probably as near to as possible recreations of the cities of Maysef, Jerusalim, Acre, and Damascus. You are given a mission to redeem your virtue in the cllan by slaying 9 people who propogate the holy wars in that era. These 9 are actual historical figures who died in the year 1191 and lead lives accoringly similar to the roles they actually played in history. Whether or not they were actually killed by one of the Hassassins in actual history may be debatable, but the presence of real history in this game is so large that it makes it have a very believable story, and an almost instantly immersive experience.
One of the more interesting features in the game is the ability to run, climb and jump from/to/across/up, almost every surface. You see a wall, as long as there is a loose brick or a window sill for a hand-hold, up you go.
The story mechanics used within the game make each kill raise a feeling of doubt, shame, and guilt. Altair kills not because he likes to, but because it is what he must due to help instill peace in the holy land.
Its not all ups though. The prelude to each kill involves missions that recquire you to gather information and whereabouts for your target, and optionally, help to set up the kill or procure an escape afterward. While they do imply the reality of what it may be like to successfully assassinate a person, these become increasingly repetative in nature. Save the monks, eavesdroping, pickpocketing, or intimadating your foes to find out what you want is fun the first few times, but later become only entertaining as the way to further the story. This is how most sandbox games act anyway (i.e. Grand Theft Auto: Drive here, race him, get this item, kill that guy, essentially sums it up).
The game also lacks multiplayer functionality, which really doesn't bother me, but does some people that I know.
And further, some of the things that were noticable in the early previews. Most notably missed is Altair's crossbow, unless there is some way yet unknown to me to acquire it.
The special edition comes in a tin case, and includes the game; a bonus dvd with behind the scenes footage, the trailers, and interviews; a short comic book; and a Altair figurine (cheaply made, poorly painted, but quite detailed none-the-less).
All and all, the game is extremely playable, and re-playable. The story is captivating to the point that within minutes of beating it the first time, I was already online trying to dig up information on a sequel.Read full review...
Great game, intense and different with lots of action and a deep plot.
Assassin's Creed is an award-winning historical science fiction third person action-adventure game series that as of 2011 consists of four main games and a number of supporting materials. The games have appeared on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation Vita, Mac OS X, Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable, iOS, HP webOS,[1] Android, Nokia Symbian and Windows Phone 7 platforms. The main games in the franchise were developed by Ubisoft Montreal, with the handheld titles developed by Gameloft and Gryptonite Studios, with additional development by Ubisoft Montreal. All games in the franchise are published by Ubisoft.
The main story arc of the series revolves around a bartender named Desmond Miles as he is captured by secret megacorporation Abstergo Industries. Using a machine known as the Animus, Desmond is forced to relive the memories of his ancestors, who were all Assassins, in order to recover artifacts, called the "Pieces of Eden," for Abstergo. While the original assassin ancestor of Desmond is Altaïr Ibn la-Ahad (Arabic for "Eagle, Son of None"), the most recent games feature another assassin from Florence, Italy named Ezio Auditore da Firenze. Assassination targets are mostly actual historical figures, although the timelines for their lives and causes of death have been changed to suit the games' plot (in-game these inaccuracies are attributed to the Templars rewriting history to cover up their actions, as well as honest mistakes on the part of historians).
Wikipedia
Great game, intense and different with lots of action and a deep plot.Read full review...
Great action game
This is a much needed break from the mass amount of 1st person shooters that have been released on the xbox 360 system.
The story in the game was a good one and had a twist from the very beginning which was good to me.
As far as game play this is where they loose excellent from me. The positives are the free roaming ability that allow you to access roof tops, and watch your pray from above. For the most part the characters ablities allow him to climb anywhere which really gave great oppurtunities to make successful assasinations.
Another positive is the fighting system. It took away from the constant hack and slash and made it feel like you were really in a sword fight. I think they could have polished it a little bit more because it didn't really become difficult to kill enemies especially once you started to gain new skills. The controls will be a little bit difficult at first but once you start to play you will get used to them.
My biggest negative was the missions. You have to collect information on your target 3 ways interogating,ease dropping, and pick pocket thats it. There was the occasional side missions like save a citizen or help fellow members but nothing more than that so after awhile it becomes redudant and you only have the assasination of the target to look forward to.
There not hurting at all in the graphics department. The enviroment is plush with building and detailed architechture. The characters models a great also and the animations are nice and fluid.
All in all its worth taking a look at and should be an enjoyable experience for any action lover or anyone that needs a break from 1st person shoot'em ups.Read full review...
Assassin's Creed (Xbox 360)
his game. After 30 minutes I was blown away. All skepticism was gone and I was in Gamer Heaven.
Let me start off from the beginning. Yes there is a plot twist and it's pretty bizarre. Just think that your watching a Michael Crichton movie and it will make sense. Playing in the Middle East several hundred years ago is a different idea. It's hard to say what you could expect with this concept.
So what makes this game amazing. Lets start off with the landscape. It's brilliant and beautiful...Really majestic. You don't understand the scope of this game until you start playing. The world is surrounded by several small villages and three large cities. The only way to travese this open terrain with a horse. Fortunately they are about as easy to find as a car in todays society.
What also sets this game apart is the ability to do what you want when you want. There is no clock on you and your not stuck going into a mission. Everything is open based. The character is amazingly fun to control you can scale tall buildings and make amazing leaps of faith. Climbing up a building that is several stories and then leaping to certain doom is breathtaking excitement. This is what games should be about.
Beyond that is a mission based game. Similiar to Grand Theft Auto in style. You can accept simple missions like pickpocketing and protecting citizens to the more main based assasin missions. You can battle soldiers if you want as you have many enemies but it's not really advised. Following the assasin missions can be complex and involve several steps that make the story very intresting. Obviously a lot of time was put into making this top notch.
For anyone who likes open based games with large environments then Assassins Creed is for you. From the majestic peaks to the clustered cities. This is trully a next gen experience. The storyline and incentive program will keep you playing for many hours. Definately a worthwhile gameplay experience. If you want something to keep you busy that doesn't involve guns go out and get Assasins Creed.Read full review...