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Prince of Assassins: The Sands of Repetition

After much hype, Assassins Creed was released to the world this November. I actually held off a purchase of it until mid-December, when I finally reclaimed the ownership of an xbox.

I completed the game a week or so ago, and while verbally giving everyone I know a run down of exactly how I felt about this delightfully addictive game. It's time for me to TELL THE WORLD.

I can actually track my progress with the power of JAIKU.

(I'm getting more and more amused by how my entire life is indexed on Jaiku and so easily searchable through Google now (Jaiku SEO ftw!)

/end sidetrack

So, back to the game. The enitial feelings are of: WHOA. I know nothing about this game, total excitement, butterflies, the unknown. You heard about the 'twist' the secret catch, the hints, but you don't really know. Or at least I don't. Or didn't when I first started (the surprise/anticipation is everything).

A very clean UI at the start. Select start, you're in. Hints of digital noise (can't really just be the year 1191 then can it?)

For those who know the interesting catch (which I'm assuming is anyone who was interested in the game or has played) read on, otherwise If you want to experience the thrill of the surprise, go play, then come back and finish reading ;)

Wikipedia calls it a third-person stealth game, I would call it third-person action-adventure, more akin to it's parent the Prince of Persia series. I was a huge fan of Sands of Time. Massively. I would go so far to say that I have never experienced a game that had a better storyline, and kept me interested and engaged the entire time. News of the production and eventual release of Assassins Creed, as a new Ubisoft game, that looked to be in the same general style of PoP... well that just sent shivers up my spine. My entire experience of this game was compared to my experience with Sands of Time (for better or for worse) It's a high standard to meet, but I had high hopes. Hense the title of the this blog post.

I found the storyline of the game as engaging as Sands, with one flaw, there was too much of a gap between the character development in the 'real' world and that of the actual main gameplay. In Sands, you got little tid bits of character thrown in the gameplay mix, the prince muttering to himself about the princess, dialog etc. It seems so seperated in Assassins creed, and doesn't even seem to have much character development in the gameworld as you would expect either, But then again, how much can you really hope to have when you're a stealth assassin? Some personal character development would have been nice however like the did with the Prince.

I was really excited to see what happened next in the real world, after each assassination, and was very excited when Desmond pickpockets the pen from the Doc and unlocked the achievement for Synchronizing Altaïr and Desmond. I was hoping the next time I finished a quest that I could start to use my skills in the real world and breakout or something, but that was a disappointment, as that was the last of the assassin traits to show up for the rest of the game.

The actual gameplay is amazing. It's smooth and has a very low learning curve. The fighting style is very similar to that of Prince of Persia, equipped with throwing knives, swords, and an awesome assassins blade, you can block and counter attacks, slap, kick, throw and push enemies, break arms and legs, and slash and hack. (Blood of soldiers can be turned off in settings) Otherwise let it SPLAT. A very satisfying choice of sound effects to go with it. CRUNCH-SLASH-SPLAT!

However, the best part of the game, is casually walking up to guards and sticking a knife in their neck, covering their mouths as they try to scream, dropping them, and then just walking off into the crowd. Or better yet, doing it to the oblivious guard standing next to him.

You also climb and jump around a lot, VERY prince of persia like, the climbing is smoother however, less effort taken, which is good, as in prince of persia, you're not trying to sneak away or run away from 15 guards you've just managed to alert to your presence.

Climbing to high points and surveying the area increases what you can see on your map for quests, but also provides you with an absolutely breathtaking view of the city you're in.

What is so innovative about Assassins Creed, is how the entire city seems alive at the same time, all the people are doing separate things, and every action you take directly effects the people around you, walking in a crowd, people move to avoid you, if you are walking too quickly you run into people, they back away, they curse at you, they point and ask why you're doing what you're doing when you climb buildings, if you murder someone in the street, everyone runs around in a panic.

The point of the game is to relive the genetic memories of your ancestor Altaïr, to get to a specific memory.. and to get to that point you have to assassinate several targets. In each city you visit you have to investigate the city before you assassinate your chosen target. You also have to climb to 'highpoints' to scout the area. But that is the bare minimum you have to do, you can also choose to save citizens from the soldiers, and collect flags (which isn't particularly fun).

For the first half of the game, I did everything I got a full 'DNA' bar of completed tasks, and everything was fabulous. But then after the 5th or so time I had to do the EXACTLY SAME THING ONCE AGAIN, I actually had to force myself to keep playing. I had played my fill of this amazing game. The only thing that kept me playing was the achievements (100 just for beating game + 50 for watching credits)

I was just really upset that this game didn't have the complexity in the actual gameplay to keep me interested. I'm not sure what the developers could have done instead of this repetitive style of gameplay, but they need to make a change if they make a sequel. And I'm assuming they are after leaving me hanging at that end. (That was cruel! I was all ready to go fight my way out of that lab and save the world.)

*Sighs* I recommend this game to everyone, it's a must play, lots of fun slaughtering and assassinating soldiers and climbing and jumping buildings- Parkour of the 1190's! Just can't promise you'll want to finish it.