Ubisoft Montreal has set the bar high for new games in the action platforming genre. As Altaïr you will scale buildings, interact with citizens, assassinate targets, and gradually unravel the mystery laid before you. What's amazing though is just how convincing Ubisoft's interpretations of 12th century Damascus, Acre, and Jerusalem are.

On a technical level, Assassin's Creed is simply amazing. Altaïr's animations, all look natural and appropriate. In order to get the lay of the land Altaïr must scale towers and take a look around. Climbing from ground level to the highest perch, although acrobatic and beyond normal people's ability, looks natural and appropriate for a character like Altaïr. Animations are fluid and blend together seamlessly. Altaïr will change his footing and handholds when transitioning from climbing a barred window to hanging from a ledge. And although buildings must be scaled no set piece just screams out "I am here for you to jump on;" everything looks like it belongs where it is, and that makes the platforming all the more satisfying. You didn't necessarily scale that fortress as the developer would have, but thanks to superb level design you were able to find another way, and it worked because it looked like it ought to. Little details of this nature abound in Assassin's Creed, and the game is all the better for them.

Assassin's Creed, despite featuring a linear story, feels very sandboxy. Although assassinations must happen in a predetermined sequence the path to each target is up to the player. You can work your way from one end of the map to the other completing objectives as you go, you can decide to take on all of the view points then the citizen rescues and finally the investigations, or you can just wander around the city picking up collectible flags and taking on missions only when the mood strikes you. There is no punishment for taking your time, and there is no invisible force pushing you to play the game a certain way. If you want to act as much like a real assassin as possible then blending into groups of scholars just because they're there and slicing offending guards with a hidden blade is just as valid a play style as running into every fray with your sword held high.

Assassin's Creed - like any game - is not without its flaws. First, just like Metroid, the game doesn't really take off until you're through the first couple areas. There are things to do, but your health is so limited and your move set so small that you'll be striving to stay alive instead of running around like the arrogant, carefree assassin that you are. As the game progresses Altaïr will gain new weapons and abilities. Some of these, like the throwing knives and counter-attack, will become invaluable and leave you wondering how you survived so long without them. Others, like the ledge grab, will have you wondering why you couldn't do this before when you weren't as good at scaling buildings. Combat gets more and more satisfying as the game progresses; Altaïr transforms for a rank 1 assassin that is near useless in a fight to a master swordsman capable of taking on a dozen soldiers simultaneously by using combo kills, counter-attacks, and grapple breaks. Assassins may tend to stick to the shadows, but combat is just too fun to stay hidden for long.

What really sets Assassin's Creed apart, though, is how universal it is. It takes a lot to craft a single-player game that can captivate a room, but Ubisoft Montreal has done that here. Watching another person control Altaïr is like watching a movie. Everything is cinematic and alive. Citizens beg for money, guards harass random townspeople, political activists preach from a box set up in the town square, and you're there to witness it all. It's only when a mission respawns after failure that you're yanked back from experience to game, and that's the worst remark I can give Assassin's Creed: it occasionally feels like a game instead of an interactive novel.

Jan 16, 2008 | 3 comments
Justin Last