Difference in Opinion

Ubisoft does an amazing job of taking the great aspects of Prince of Persia game play, and making it a massive free-roam game. The environments, characters and mechanics give a realistic [or as realistic as could be imagined] feeling of being an assassin in the Third Crusade. The game has a compelling story that mixes technology, ancient civilization and morality into an interesting tale. [Caution: Some slight spoilers ahead]

With the focus of this game on the crusades and an ancient assassin’s guild, it shocks people when they find out the game actually takes place in modern time. You are an assassin drop-out named Desmond who has been captured by a company for them to perform studies on you. Apparently they found that memories are passed down from generation to generation. By putting you in a machine, called the Animus, they can gather up repressed memories and align your mind with your ancestor’s to have you walk in their shoes.

Desmond learns of his ancestor, Altair, who is a highly trained assassin during the Third Crusade. Altair is tasked with assassinating nine men which pose a thread to humanity. As you travel the kingdom, you will find your way to cities like Masyaf, Damascus, Acre and Jerusalem. By gathering intelligence from informants, pickpocketing clues and eavesdropping on conversations, you will learn more about your intended target to make your assassination easier.

Throughout your assassinations, Altair is faced with a conflicted morality, wondering if the people he is sent to kill really deserve their fate. This provides the story with some depth. When outside the Animus, you learn of secret plans to “change the world” that the pharmaceutical company holding you hostage has in the works. Loose ends make knots as the story progresses adding some interesting plot twists and surprises.

The game play is what speak volumes in Assassin’s Creed. Ubisoft seemed to capture all the great exploratory and fighting elements from their Prince of Persia games, and expand on the idea. I always wished Prince of Persia was more free-roam and less linear. Presto, wish granted! It is so fun running around rooftops, scaling large buildings, and leaping from beam to beam to escape pursuing guards. The fighting mechanics is great in this game as well. You have a number of different weapons at your disposal that you use to counter, combo attack, or stealth assassinate anything that gets in your way. Another thing that will keep the attention of achievement junkies is a variety of “Addition Memories” like flag collecting, view point synchronization and killing all the Knights Templar that add some great replay to the game.

There are few complaints I have about this game. Some of the missions are a tad repetitive, but since it was a new section of a city each time, and all new areas to explore, I didn’t find myself getting bored very quickly. I highly recommend getting a copy of this game. It has an amazing story and some great side-quests that keep you coming back for more.

Final Score
Gameplay: 10 out of 10
Graphics: 10 out of 10