Looks like another Prince of Persia – will it be another Prince of Persia? Apparently not, I was simply awed by how the game was – it’s probably the best title for the year! (Note : the PS3 and Xbox360 versions were released last year. PC version was released this year).
The Story
Desmond Miles – a bartender in the new millennium was kidnapped by an unknown group of people who are working on a project involving a machine called the Animus, a machine that extracts memories from DNA – even memories from ancestors. Desmond was chosen for this project as he is the descendant of Altaïr Ibn La-Ahad – a member of the Assassin’s Order during the Third Crusade of the Holy Land.
Assassin’s Creed is a third-person stealth game in which the player assumes the role of Altaïr ibn La-Ahad (الطائر ابن لا Ø£Øد , Arabic, “The Flying One, Son of None”), a member of the Hashshashin (The Assassin Brotherhood) which is not allied to either the Templars or Saracens during the third crusade. Altaïr’s objective in the game is to assassinate nine historical figures propagating the Crusades in the year 1191.
Gameplay
UBISOFT? Prince of Persia? YES – This game works almost like the Prince of Persia (in reference to the new versions, released by Ubisoft).
In Assassin’s Creed, you play the role of Desmond Miles / Altaïr Ibn La-Ahad. You spend most of your time playing Altaïr Ibn La-Ahad’s role but occassional role as Desmond Miles as part of the storyline.
The game has a very interesting introduction, giving you a moment of being totally unclear of whatever is going on and slowly ushering you into a better picture of what’s to come.
While Desmond is just doing his role in accomplishing the research and resume his normal life, Altair’s role in this game is to regain respect and regard from the Assassin’s Order for his misdeeds.
Unlike Prince of Persia (POP) series where you have acrobatic stunts during the game, Assassin’s Creed (AC) is unlike POP as you don’t run around walls and all over the place like a mad man. The focus of AC is being stealthy and also drawing as little attention as possible when it comes to getting things done.
The controls are more complex than POP too, it took me a while just to get used to all the cool ways of controlling the character during the game.
For example, in POP it’s just a matter of running around here and there (finding a path). Press R to rewinding time if necessary, a few buttons to executed the other time related features. AC on the other hand is complicated. You now have HIGH PROFILE and LOW PROFILE modes of control where holding of the right mouse-button is needed when executing HIGH PROFILE actions. High profile actions will draw more attention to you.
So yes, it is basically the game is about how to move around without arousing suspicion and how to escape. 🙂 Being an ASSASSIN!
What astonished me is the environment in the game and how real it feels to be walking around city streets, whether the city is just one with plenty of open areas or one that’s filled with concreted structures.
I really loved the way they designed the game, unlike in POP where our monkey-like prince who seems agile like spider-man yet unable to climb walls when you need him to, Altair in AC on the other hand could practically climb anywhere as long as there’s a ledge, a window, a plank or whatever else that he could hold on to. This also meant roof-top running is part of this game, like those seen in movies. And you know what? I really enjoyed the roof-top running because it saves me a lot of time getting from one part to another part of town.
It’s amazing how much detail was put into the game, even on the rooftops.
Overall – it was a really fun game as you criss-cross the nation of that age to achieve missions assigned to you by your boss.
The only drawback is that the game kinda gets repetitive, like killing a few people here and there, saving a few people here and there, keep finding ways to climb a nearby tower to gain better view.
Fortunately the great part of the game is that the story unfolds as you progress. 🙂 It’s actually quite fun travelling around new places just to appreciate breath-taking scenery.
One thing I must say is that being a gamer for such a long time and having past experience in games like POP series among many other FPS mean that I have no problem at all grasping the game and running around and about on a 3rd person perspective but the task might be a little daunting to the newbies, let along learning how to use the keys / moves properly.
Oh by the way – no fancy combo-break-dancin’ moves like in POP series. In my journey so far, I’ve yet to vault myself over any of my attackers. Speaking of attackers (a.k.a hostiles), they’re a bit on the dumb side as they only take turn to attack you even when there’s like 6 of them against you alone. And then there are those guards who just stand there without flinching a muscle, watching you killed 5 of their mates.
Seems like I’m nit-picking. 😛 Too easy – complain, too hard – complain. 🙂
Will you die? Actually you don’t, since this is a MEMORY thing – every time you get hit or injured or do something wrong, it just drops in the memory synchronization bar, if it drops to nothing then you’ll just start where your last stable synchronization was. And if it was losing synchronization, just by resting a while would restore it. 🙂
Graphics and Sound
STUNNING! Absolutely STUNNING!
I’ve seen Crysis, STALKER, Lost Planet, Frontlines and many others – AC to me is the best when it comes to graphics over the environment. Probably the closest I come by so far would be Crysis, remember how the background fades when you change weapon settings and such?
I like how the graphic changes and there’s the BOKEH effect on the background when you’re focusing on target, and here am I just using a sub-RM 700 graphic card – the HD4850 and running it with maximum graphic detail at 1680×1050 resolution.
The thing I didn’t like about the graphic setting options was that they just used FIGURES, eg 3/4 – so basically you have no idea what level of Anti-Aliasing you just did on the setting. Do note that the game also has blood and gore but you can disable it. I choose not to, I wanted the full essence of the game.
As to the sound department, the effects and music were all great. However there was one point where I felt that the moaning of the slain soldiers were annoying as it drowned the voice of the pheasant I just saved. Later, I found out that the pheasants all over the town say the same thing when you save them. (If there be any other variations, then I apologize for missing them out. 😛 )
Conclusion
Great game! I love the story, I love the action. I’ve not enjoyed any game this much for a long time!
I get tired once in a while for having to do the 101 other objectives that appear but it’s the journey through the story that keeps me going. 🙂
Ratings
PC Specifications Used
The computer setup used for this review.
| Processor | Intel E2140 Overclocked @ 3.2ghz |
| Graphic Card | Gainward Radeon HD4850 512MB DDR3 |
| Motherboard | Albatron PXP35 |
| RAM | 2x 2GB OCZ DDR2 PC2-8500 Reaper HPC Edition |
| Cooler | Sunbeamtech Core-Contact Freezer Heatsink |
| Monitor | 20″ Dell Ultra-sharp Wide-screen LCD |
| Operating System | Windows XP (SP2) |
| Driver Version | ATI Catalyst 8.6 |
I’ve played all the prince of persia before and they are one hell of a game. Then comes assassin’s creed. Played it, enjoyed it. Its a real eye candy! The graphic are top notch! The way you climb buildings are so real and not to mention the killings!!! Counter move is the best!
I would like to complain two things though. It does get a little boring after a few missions cuz what you’re doing is actually repeating all the same thing. But you know what, the killings make it up.
XD
I thought you said 2 things. 🙂
Anyway – looks like we think the same about the repetitive part. As to the counter-move, well sometimes it doesn’t work right. LOL. well at least for me, then there’s the simple slash slash slash which is good enough.
Haha yeah i accidentally press the send key before i wanna correct it.
Its a minor thing though, it just that it leave the story hanging in the real world. And what’s up with the graffiti…
And what is the different with the Ps3 version..? Its a good one in ps3 and like fatty said, i also feel the same.. quite boring sometimes.. i like the part where we can jump from the tower straight to the bottom..
Haha, i loved to play hide and seek in this game with guards :D.
speaking of the tower – it’s odd that every tower has a hay stack perfectly aligned with the beam. 😀
not only that, the guards around the tower doesn’t care that you went around and go missing.
played.. took me 10 minutes to get used to combat. and another 10 to get bored of running around. |:
is it just me, or do you have to walk around perpetually with the walk button held down? cause i always seem to attract guards if i walk in front of them without holding the walk button..
4GB of ram? Argh…
Oh yeah i wanna ask something. Each time i wanna replay a mission i’ll have to reload the whole thing and you’ll need to wait for your master to finnish the long lecture. Is there anyway to go straight into the game halfway in the mission?
oh ya.. below is about AC’s ‘Multisampling’ setting :-
level1 (1/3) : no AA
level2 (2/3) : x2 AA
level3 (3/3) : x4 AA
Note: ‘Multisampling’ will auto disable if the resolution set to [1600x XXXX]
the graphics card you used, is it the Gainward 8600GT you reviewed?
wk – thanks!
Sorry, missed out that part – was using HD4850! 🙂
wk: Ya, the main they did this is because the game would require a lot of Video RAM 🙂
How come you were using a ForceWare Release 175 driver on a HD4850, that’s an nVidia driver, yes?
Yeah got careless with the copy & paste. 🙂
@goldfries
can do some review on ‘Race Driver : Grid’??
wanna see how well HD4850 perform
@kyoshiro
i THINK still got way to turn on the ‘Multisampling’ on 1600xXXXX resolution by edit AC’s setting file (Assassin.ini) under the following directory:
Windows XP: \Documents and Settings\XXX\Application Data\Ubisoft\Assassin’s Creed
Windows Vista: \Users\XXX\AppData\Roaming\Ubisoft\Assassin’s Creed
by changing ‘Multisampling’ value (0=no AA, 1=x2 AA, 2=x4 AA)
i not so sure it work or not coz i haven try it
How about the AI? AI is smart enough? How about if you get catch and a lot of AI is chasing you, is fighting 1 on 1 or 1 on many AI ?
is it possible to test the game in Dx10.1?
i heard that nvidia forced the developer to remove Dx10.1 functionality…
sigh for a “the way it meant to be played” game…
@meyon
u can 1on1 or u can lure many as u like
@DAAMIT
yes. u can test the game in dx10.1 but pls dun patch to v1.02
@wk, i wish i can test the game….
too bad, my graphics card is Dx9 only…
if i have a Dx10.1 card, for sure i won’t patch it to v1.02 😀
So it means the patch v1.02 is just for the Direct X patch. Most of the game is designed for nVidia card..
@wk,
I saw the gameplay video, i saw the player lure many AI but he is still fighting with 1 AI while the other is standing around only.
@meyon,
Yes the enemy will take turns to hit you. Each countering need precise timing or it won’t work.
@meyon
it not dx patch. it is a game fix patch & it also remove dx10.1 in this game
patch v1.02 changelog
* Fixed a rare crash while riding the horse in Kingdom
* Fixed a corruption of Altair’s robe on certain graphics hardware
* Cursor is now centered when accessing the Map
* Fixed a few problems with Alt-Tab
* Fixed a graphical bug in the final fight
* Fixed a few graphical problems with dead bodies
* Fixed pixellation with post-FX enabled on certain graphics hardware
* Fixed a small bug in the DNA Menu that would cause the image to disappear if the arrow was clicked rapidly
* Fixed some graphical corruption in Present Room with low Level Of Detail
* Character input is now cancelled if the controller is unplugged while moving
* Added support for x64 versions of Windows
* Fixed broken post-effects on DirectX 10.1 enabled cards <== remove dx10.1 from the game
i wish i can see what are the “Fixed broken post-effects”…
maybe this is just an excuse after all…
yeap.. their ‘FIXED broken post-effects…’ the FIXED mean remove
Nvidia tot tat Dx10.1 gave it a big problem, that why it had to fix it by removing Dx10.1 features…
sound logics, huh?
the problem was ATi had the lead…
for now Nvidia dont hv dx10.1 card & another thing is dx10.1 got performance boost compare to dx10
hmm… the storyline and gameplay is good… but collecting the other items are not neccessary… but still its great… with its ending.. i am expecting another episode of it 🙂
Trust me it’ll have another episode of it. They even had another Prince of Persia coming out when i tought the story had end. (thank god it haven’t) XD
This is the first game I’m gonna buy after I fix my new at the end of this month!
The game reminds me of Uncharted and Tomb Raider (PC & PS2 version).
There’s lot more to explore throughout the game. Have fun mate
Cool review, even if I do disagree with a lot of its points. I think the game’s engine is amazing but somewhat lacking in gameplay. Still, it’s refreshing to read game reviews by fellow Malaysians. Plenty of Malaysians write gaming blogs, but relatively few write actual full reviews of games.
Opinions will vary, after all we’re humans. 😀
hi,
mind tell me wat is your fps during playing the game with your rig and its game graphic setting… =D