But if you do happen to find yourself in a scuffle, know that the fighting mechanics in the game are based on timing, meaning you can't just hack 'n slash. While you can repeatedly swing your sword by hitting the X button, learning the nuances of battle, like dodging, countering, and using your combo attacks, are the key to making it out of the fray alive.

But if you do happen to find yourself in a scuffle, know that the fighting mechanics in the game are based on timing, meaning you can't just hack 'n slash. While you can repeatedly swing your sword by hitting the X button, learning the nuances of battle, like dodging, countering, and using your combo attacks, are the key to making it out of the fray alive. Just as there is no set path to completing you assassination objectives, there is no set way to finish a battle. If you so choose you can simply run away, you can, provided your free-running skills are good enough.

Stabbing Crusaders in the neck is more fun than we ever expected
Words: Mikel Reparaz, GamesRadar US
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Nov 8, 2007
 
We're just going to come right out and say it: Assassin's Creed is fantastic. More to the point, it's beautifully realized, richly detailed and carried by a story with twists that rival the surprises of BioShock. It's also endlessly fun, giving players complete freedom to tear ass across the rooftops and streets of its medieval cities as they track down their targets and try to avoid attracting attention while doing so.
 
Cherry-picking elements from games like Prince of Persia, Gun, Crackdown and Hitman, Assassin's Creed offers up a huge, freely explorable game world consisting of three crowded, historically accurate cities - Damascus, Acre and Jerusalem - as well as the Assassin-controlled fortress village of Masyaf. All of these are connected by The Kingdom, a vast expanse of secret-filled wilderness that can be explored on horseback.
 
The meat of the game revolves around slipping undetected into each of the cities in turn, fully exploring one of its three districts while investigating a single assassination target, and then pulling off a risky, high-profile hit in public before cheesing it to safety and reporting back to Masyaf. Along the way, you'll pick pockets, save citizens from armed bullies, sprint recklessly up walls and across debris-strewn rooftops and play lots and lots of cat-and-mouse games with the cities’ guards.
 
Publisher Ubisoft has been extremely cagey about the game's long-rumored sci-fi trappings, but because they're revealed so quickly, it's not really a spoiler to say what we're about to say (although if you really don't want to spoil the game's first five minutes, go ahead and skip to the next page): Assassin's Creed actually follows two storylines. First, there's white-robed Altair, an arrogant young Assassin cultist who lives in the Kingdom of Jerusalem circa 1191, during the Third Crusade. Soon after the game begins, Altair botches a vital mission deep underneath Solomon's Temple; disgraced, he's given a chance to restore his honor by assassinating nine key Muslim and Crusader political figures, thereby restoring some peace to the region.
 
Then there's Desmond Miles, Altair's near-future descendant, who's kidnapped by a shadowy corporation and strapped into a machine that can unlock the ancestral memories stored in his DNA. His segments - which bookend each chapter of Altair's story - play a little like a point-and-click adventure and are confined to the lab where he's imprisoned. Why this layer of sci-fi weirdness even exists isn't clear at first, but it never feels tacked on, and the things you'll learn here will gradually cast an unsettling new light on Altair's story.
 
 
 
Each of the game's nine central missions breaks down in a similar way: when Altair enters the district where your target lives, his knowledge of the area will be a complete blank - the map is fogged over, and there are no visible objectives. To unfog your map and reveal points of interest, you'll need to seek out and scale an assortment of "View Points," dizzyingly tall structures that range from relatively small watchtowers and minarets to gigantic, realistically detailed castles, cathedrals and lighthouses. Climbing to the top of one reveals the locations of the others in the area, as well as opening up access to a couple of side missions. The best part is that, when you're finished climbing, you can get down quickly via a vertigo-inducing swan dive into a conveniently placed haystack (which will automatically break Altair's fall from any height, anywhere).
 
Key to getting up there in the first place is the game's free running feature, which takes a little getting used to but is incredibly fun once you do. Rather than worrying about jumping over obstacles manually, you can just hold down two buttons while running and you'll automatically parkour over anything in your way, whether it's a crate, a wall or a series of tightropes. It feels a little like cheating, until you realize that it enables you to effortlessly get around in a hurry, which is especially useful when a bunch of guards are hot on your tail and you don't want to deal with any complex jumping puzzles.
 Big Screen, Main Screen    
 
The side missions you discover by climbing view points, meanwhile, are what you need to pursue in between entering a district and actually killing your target, and they break down into a few simple tasks: eavesdropping on conversations; pickpocketing sensitive documents; interrogating some preaching demagogue by following them into an alley and beating them senseless; doing a favor for an informant (which always either involves stealth-killing soldiers or collecting flags in some inane rooftop race); or saving some citizen who's being pushed around by a small group of guards.
 
That last one is the most repetitive by far, as it always involves breaking up the fight and then getting into one yourself, although the rewards it offers - releasing a group of monks to hide among or vigilantes to waylay your pursuers - make it completely optional. In fact, unless you're a completist, most of the side missions can be ignored altogether; you'll only really need to accomplish two or three of them before you'll have enough intel to go after your intended victim
 
 
 
Assassin's Creed offers a lot of options for tackling your objectives; if some soldiers are guarding a gate, for example, you can climb over the wall next to them, blend in with a group of monks and walk right past them, create a distraction to lure them away or just pick a fight with them. Whatever you decide to do, however, the crowd is often your greatest tool. The game is really incredible in this respect, rendering dozens of highly detailed, unique citizens at once, and they can either be a huge asset or a huge hindrance. If you're playing it slow and cool, they're your cover, and you can gently push your way through them unnoticed, or try to blend in with them when suspicious guards give you the stink eye.
 Big Screen, Main Screen    
 
On the other hand, they act more or less like real people, and they'll draw attention to you the second you do anything out of the ordinary. Start climbing the side of a building, for example, and they'll get upset and start shouting that you're going to fall and hurt yourself. If you're trying to run from guards, they'll unwittingly get in your way, forcing you to shove them aside instead of just sprinting like crazy. And then there are the beggars and crazies, whose job it is to irritate you, get in your way and bring attention to you by whining loudly or shoving you around.
 
Despite all the annoyances and the game's strange resemblance to a medieval Grand Theft Auto IV, however, you can't just randomly kill people, at least not unless you want your life bar to take a hit. A silent stab and a falling body can create a diversion that draws everyone's attention away from you, but since Altair is nominally a good guy, it's best to save that stuff for use on guards, Knights Templar and other bullies.
 
 
 
 
Assassin's Creed offers a lot of options for tackling your objectives; if some soldiers are guarding a gate, for example, you can climb over the wall next to them, blend in with a group of monks and walk right past them, create a distraction to lure them away or just pick a fight with them. Whatever you decide to do, however, the crowd is often your greatest tool. The game is really incredible in this respect, rendering dozens of highly detailed, unique citizens at once, and they can either be a huge asset or a huge hindrance. If you're playing it slow and cool, they're your cover, and you can gently push your way through them unnoticed, or try to blend in with them when suspicious guards give you the stink eye.
 Big Screen, Main Screen    
 
On the other hand, they act more or less like real people, and they'll draw attention to you the second you do anything out of the ordinary. Start climbing the side of a building, for example, and they'll get upset and start shouting that you're going to fall and hurt yourself. If you're trying to run from guards, they'll unwittingly get in your way, forcing you to shove them aside instead of just sprinting like crazy. And then there are the beggars and crazies, whose job it is to irritate you, get in your way and bring attention to you by whining loudly or shoving you around.
 
Despite all the annoyances and the game's strange resemblance to a medieval Grand Theft Auto IV, however, you can't just randomly kill people, at least not unless you want your life bar to take a hit. A silent stab and a falling body can create a diversion that draws everyone's attention away from you, but since Altair is nominally a good guy, it's best to save that stuff for use on guards, Knights Templar and other bullies.
 
 
 
 
With its riveting story, beautiful visuals and surprisingly lifelike world, Assassin's Creed is an incredibly deep, enjoyable game that kept us addicted from beginning to bizarre end. It's bogged down by a lot of monotonous repetition and a fighting system that's sure to frustrate hack-and-slash fans, but neither of those things really diminished our enjoyment of the game, and both were far outweighed by the thrill of tearing around its enormous cities and carefully planning spectacular assassinations. It might not be for everyone, but playing through Assassin's Creed still stands as one of the most outstanding gaming experiences of 2007.
 
 
 
    * Huge, immersive world
    * Absolutely stunning visuals
    * Addictively twisty storyline
 
 
 
 
    * Repetitive side missions
    * Revisiting Masyaf over and over gets old
    * Guards are almost as agile as Altair
 
 
10

Review: Assassin's Creed: As Good As We Imagined
Review by Todd Melick | 11/08/2007 | 15:21:32 PM PST

    * PROS: It features life-like A.I., which really helps flesh out the expansive world.
    * Fluid play mechanics and a compelling narrative come together to form an outstanding gaming experience.
    * Altair is as interesting and memorable a character as Ubisoft's other stars, Sam Fisher and The Prince of Persia.

   * CONS: The world can feel a little too expansive at times. The gigantic environments can be overwhelming.
    * Fighting mechanics take practice to master.

After a weak showing at the past E3, many people were left to wonder if Assassin's Creed could live up to the developers' ambition and the media hype. The demo put on by producer Jade Raymond felt stilted and awkward and the game's premise didn't translate well. Many outlets proclaimed the game to be the biggest disappointment of the show and we were all left to wonder if the game's large, expansive world and complex control scheme, which both sounded great in theory, would actually translate into a cohesive and compelling gaming experience.
Assassin's Creed At A Glance

Well, it's amazing what can happen in a few months time. When the review builds of Assassin's Creed finally landed in our hands, we were skeptical and wary. But after spending some quality time with the game, we can safely say that Assassin's Creed lives up to the developers' lofty ambitions. So put your fears aside, gamers: Assassin's Creed is an extraordinary gaming experience that will definitely leave a lasting impression.

Reviewer Todd Melick did backflips over the game's heady mix of action and stealth. Click through to the next page to see why the game still haunts his thoughts.

And be sure to continue to the very end where you'll find some amazing screenshots and video clips from the game!

There is no denying the quality and depth inherent in Assassin's Creed. It is a stellar addition to Ubisoft's already impressive portfolio and gives gamers yet another reason to be excited for the upcoming holidays!

Assassin's Creed is a fluid experience in which every individual element seamlessly works in harmony with the others. But the foundation of the entire gameplay experience lies in the fluid and intuitive control scheme. From walking around on the street to free running on the roof tops, the controls make it easy to manipulate Altair during his quests and that's a good thing as the game would have suffered dramatically had the developers not gotten such a firm handle on the controls.

The game's story is also a strong point and while I won't ruin any of the surprises, I will say that Assassin's Creed does a great job of weaving a deep and enjoyable narrative.
Needle in a haystack

The size of the game world is also immense but thankfully, it rarely feels overwhelming. After completing the tutorial level, which will take you a couple of hours, you are given a horse and sent out to the Kingdom; this area serves as the central hub that connects the three main cities of Jerusalem, Acre, and Damascus. As you cross the land in pursuit of your assassination targets, you quickly get a sense of just how big the game world is.

Luckily there are tall towers placed around the world that you can scale, and when you reach the top, you can hit the Y button to swing the camera out; this gives you a sweeping view of the vista which reveals more of the map and helps make things feel manageable. You will also find the locations of informants who help lead you to your targets.

Speaking of which, the main assassinations quests themselves are repetitive in that you have to follow the same sequence of actions over and over again but what keeps these elements from getting stale is the life-like A.I.
It's Alive!

For the most part, non-playable characters that populate game worlds act and behave in a very artificial way but every onscreen person in Assassin's Creed has a presence and gives off a sense that they are unique individuals; this in turn helps flesh out the game's expansive world. As you move through the city streets you will be approached by beggars who will grovel and plead for money, merchants who proudly display their wares, menacing guards, and every other kind of citizen you would expect in the game's (mostly) ancient setting.

But you'll really notice the intelligent A.I. when you're out on the hunt for your next assassination target. Say you're roaming around on the rooftops, tailing your mark. You run into a guard who engages you in a scuffle. You dispatch him but his body falls to the crowded street below. As you'd expect, the citizenry will break out in a commotion and begin screaming, causing any nearby guard to come running.

The upside is that this then clears up different avenues of approach and allows you to get closer to your mark without fear of reprisal. The downside, of course, is that puts the city on high alert with every arm of the law looking for you. Get the guards riled up enough and you will be greeted with a swarm of blades if you so much as sneeze in the wrong person's direction.

But if you do happen to find yourself in a scuffle, know that the fighting mechanics in the game are based on timing, meaning you can't just hack 'n slash. While you can repeatedly swing your sword by hitting the X button, learning the nuances of battle, like dodging, countering, and using your combo attacks, are the key to making it out of the fray alive. Just as there is no set path to completing you assassination objectives, there is no set way to finish a battle. If you so choose you can simply run away, you can, provided your free-running skills are good enough.

Of course, the minor skirmishes in the game don't compare to the rush of hunting down and slaughtering your assassination targets. Like everything else in the game, there's no set path to doing this. You have a lot of freedom to set up your kills and the end results are satisfying; also thrilling are the post-kill escapes that you have to pull off, outwitting and outrunning guards who are anxious to bring you down.
So much to do, so little time

It's hard to put the sheer size and brilliance of Assassin's Creed into words. It is an epic game that you have to experience for yourself. I will caution that the game is not for the impatient or the faint of heart. While you can plow through the main storyline in under 20 hours, to truly get every single last shred of gaming goodness, you will probably have to put in twice that number. The enormity of the game will probably turn off gamers expecting a fast-paced action title but remember that an assassin's greatest tool is patience. Approach this game with that frame of mind and you will be rewarded with one of the best gaming experiences around.--Todd Melick