Assassins Creed thoughts

Hello to all of you out there in the Interwebs! My name is Keaton (Call me Keato. Everyone else seems to:)) This is my first stab at a blog using our new system (a very nice system, by the way), so remember that I am giving it my all, and will try not to disappoint. As you may have noticed, I like to speak with brackets. Consider these irrelevant to the topic at large, but useful for the larger picture.

But I'm not here to talk about myself! No, I'm here to talk about a certain game that I've recently been sinking my *hooks* into, Assassins Creed for the Xbox 360.

Some may have noticed that Assassins Creed took home our #3 spot for 360 game of the year, over a little game that I have become *hooked* on (I also use witty (or not so witty) jokes sometimes) called Bioshock. I rose a bit of a stink about Bioshock placing lower than Assassins Creed, but why?



If I were to say that I disliked Ubisoft Montreal, I would be a liar. In case you didn't notice, my favorite game series of all time is Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, which (for the most part) has been developed by the fine folks at Ubisoft Montreal. So, If it isn't the developer, than what is it?

Well, I'm trying to figure that out myself. I do like the game, I just happen to pick out the parts that aren't... Fully realized. The story, for the most part, is excellent, except when the game forces you out of the past and puts you into a rather boring future where it is revealed that *SPOILERS* you aren't actually the assassin, just an ancestor who is using a device to relive his memories. The story before would have been fine, but this extra bit makes it seem a bit more.... Well, average. Luckily, the ending does make things interesting, and brings up a lot of questions, that even I myself are asking for answers to.

Then there are gameplay problems. The basic premise is excellent. You are an assassin, who can climb just about anything and travels by rooftop. You think this would be an amazing stealth based game, right?

Wrong.

Why, for instance, is the hero's main weapon a sword? While the hidden blade is very useful, it rarely gets used to its fullest extent, and combat, for the majority of the time, revolves around the player pressing the X button at the right time to counter-kill enemies.

The controls aren't what you'd expect either. At times, you rarely feel like you are actually doing anything, with Altair, your assassin, jumping when he needs to jump, climbing when he needs to climb, and occasionally jumping in the completely opposite direction of where you want. There are also AI issues that take you right out of the world. The graphics are excellent, and it looks just like a Crusades-era Middle East should look like, but when you see a enemy guard trying to walk through a door and not moving, it tends to remind you that yes, you are playing a game.

Worst of all, the next installment of my beloved Splinter Cell series is based on a similar type of gameplay, like using the crowds (which is another thing that isn't realized for Assassins Creed). Conviction (The next game in the series) was going to bring new life to the series, but after playing Assassins Creed, I am a tad more skeptical than before...

That being said, Assassins Creed is the ultimate try for yourself game. Some may hate it, some may enjoy it, and some may be in-between, like me. There are positive things to be said about the game, like graphics, and that the assassinations are fun.

Well, that was long, so hopefully some of you stuck around and read it all. Until next time!

Keato