Assassins Creed

At least a 4/5 for me. I can see what you mean about the repetition - seems to be the most common complaint about the game - but the sense of awe at the environment and fludity of movement completely makes up for that for me. It could be better, but I guess I'm the sorta player who doesn't mind spending hours just running around looking for hidden flags The first time you come across that view of Damascus, and the realisation kicks in that you aren't gonna have another loading screen before you're running around on all those hundreds of rooftops you can see over the city walls? There's really not many games that can give you that sense of OMFG.

I really like it, still haven't gotten over just how crazy good all their animation stuff is. They definitely raised the bar on that, plus the environments are just insanely good looking. So much atmosphere, even better than what Bioshock did in my opinion.

Not too bothered by the information gathering missions, although there should have been a few more for some variation.

It looks mighty impressive, like a mix of Tomb Raider and Hitman during the time of the Crusades. I don't know whether it would be my thing though, but the footage I've seen of it is nice and I always like developer diaries.

The combat system where you can just wait for an enemy attack and counter attack him every time (while all his friends are standing around you, waiting to be next) and the blending in mode (that makes enemy AI look quite retarded) are two things that make me hesitate to purchase it.

On the other hand the graphics, setting, free roaming and climbing does look very appealing.

Is it long or relatively short? I mean it doesn't have multiplayer and spending 60 € on a few hours of virtual climbing is quite a lot :\

Tough one!

This is a game I was hugely hyped for at first, then started to get less and less interested in as time went on and I learned more and was reading a couple of the early reviews. Went ahead and picked it up, though, since I could get it for $40.

I'm pleased to say I was totally wrong. I doubt it'll be considered the best game this year, but it's much closer to what I was originally expecting. It starts out slow, but as the game goes on it fits the style perfectly. After the first segments once you get let out into the open world and you start finding things like the assassin's flags, suddenly it starts to feel great.

I thought the recon missions I've done so far are some of the coolest things I've done in a game. They're definitely among the more interesting non-combat objectives I've seen in a game.

Controls feel great; I was worried about this at first but it's spot-on for what the game is. Also, I've never felt like such a badass as I did during the "Go to God!" bit near the beginning

I actually like the combat. Ok, yeah, sure, guys are just hanging around while you focus on one guy... but the game wouldn't be any fun at all if you couldn't focus on one at a time, and it's not a unique mechanic to this game. The full combat is also, with at least one exception, not the usual case we're familiar with of "fight guys until they die, move on, repeat" - think of it more like GTA's stars. Yeah, you can fight and fight, but the real measure of your success is if you escape or not. Sometimes you'll have to finish an engagement, but a big thing they showed in the tutorial was how to entirely escape a provoked guard. This isn't the focus of the game

Story's a little tough to follow since they DON'T HAVE SUBTITLES GRR and I have to play with a lot of background noise going on (and have difficulty separating sounds sometimes thanks to a history of ear problems), so I'm a bit annoyed with that... but otherwise it's pretty cool. I can see picking other games over it for the time being with the current holiday schedule (I'd have been set with Mario this month and Mass Effect next month if there wasn't a deal on it), but I definitely recommend checking it out.

By the way, the first of two Interview clips with Jade Raymond has been posted on GT today:

http://www.gametrailers.com/bonusround.php

This Patrice guy has to be pretty pissed, he must have worked a lot to be Creative Director on a triple A title at Ubisoft and then they get this hot Producer chick on board and she gets to do all the interviews, presentations and along with that the recognition. It's starting to be really awkward that there has been so much hype building up around her, but I guess Ubisoft doesn't mind the extra attention.

Also- on Raymond's background (from the facts running next to the video on GT):

Quote

Jade began work at EA as a producer and went on to be the Producer behind one of EA's most popular online games to date, The Sims Online.

The editor who wrote this deserves the gold star of the week - EA has ignored the popularity of MMOs for the longest time and had to buy themselves in by acquiring Origin and later on Mythic. The Sims Online was a miserable attempt to join in on the succes of online gaming under the hood of the sims franchise. The game didn't even make it to consumers outside the US.

I don't know how much Mrs Raymond is to blame for that, but to portray her as the uber succesful game producer with "all these games" under her belt, is a bit of an overstatement.

-snip-

I'm really enjoying it. I haven't had a lot of time (a couple of hours here and there) to play because work is crazy right now, but I'm defiantely enjoying it so far. The story is dull and predictable, but I wasn't playing for story. I was playing for the free running on rooftops, and I'm loving that part. They do a good job of making you feel like a badass but still making it pretty easy to get wiped if you get in over your head. Stabbing one person can turn into a 1-on-8 fight really quick.

Plus it has flag collections and side questing for all your ADD needs.

I really enjoyed the game, story was very interesting and deep, can't wait for the next.

It also would have been nice to drop the sci-fi and just be middle ages and more in depth game play such as a money, buying,trading system and more sub objectives. For what it was, its very unique and innovative with an original story. I enjoyed it over all.

Just finished it, good stuff. I too got kinda hooked off the story since there weren't any subtitles and its just so hard to follow when they're talking about all these names and trying to have some deeper philosophical theme going on.

Its not that it detracts from the game though. Gonna be interesting to see what they do with the next game, could be pretty exciting with what they're hinting at with the ending stuff

Quote from Mazy

I really like it, still haven't gotten over just how crazy good all their animation stuff is. They definitely raised the bar on that, plus the environments are just insanely good looking. So much atmosphere, even better than what Bioshock did in my opinion.Not too bothered by the information gathering missions, although there should have been a few more for some variation.

I love the cities, they are so damn huge!! And their streaming has to be something crazy as well. When you do the Synchronization way up in the towers and see the whole entire city is just ... :explode:

I wish they had way better civilian dialog. That is what repeats the most in the game "Have you ever seen someone do that? I haven't?"

Quote from FrieChamp

The combat system where you can just wait for an enemy attack and counter attack him every time (while all his friends are standing around you, waiting to be next) and the blending in mode (that makes enemy AI look quite retarded) are two things that make me hesitate to purchase it.

Combat system can get repetitive, if you do the same thing, since countering is the easiest way to end a fight. I try other methods of killing the guards (they teach you a lot of different moves, but countering is the easiest to master / pull off)

Quote from FrieChamp

Is it long or relatively short? I mean it doesn't have multiplayer and spending 60 € on a few hours of virtual climbing is quite a lot :\

There are nine or so main missions and I find myself taking an hour or so to complete them (have to do all the mini quests since I am an achievement/completionist whore. Getting into huge fights is awesome as well.

I found it really bland and repetitive, turned it off after a couple hours playing and haven't played it since. Luckily I didn't buy it and I'm just borrowing it from my cousin.

nevertheless, one gotta admit Assassins Creed levels are one true piece of art!

damn right they are, I still have fun running around killing the AI,fighting is awesome, and just because you only fight one or 2 at a time they still can be tough at time if you don't counter attack them properly. Hate the replay value though. Every time I want to just go back into the game I have to listen to the Master speak his BS over and over. Wish they set it up to go back to just the world or just the assassinations, but nooooo, Ubisoft is stupid

The bad has, I think, been covered enough, so I'll talk about what I enjoyed instead.

Combat is awesome, the locking mechanic is a necessary evil. It makes you feel like such a badass mofo, pressure them to get an opening, counter their hits, throw them off of the rooftops. It's great fun, well though out and executed.

Freerunning is sublime. Some people moan that it's not hard, that it requires you to hold two buttons and a control stick and you're away. These people are miserable cunts. It give the player freedom, bring a smile to your face and allows you to make creative use of your environment and think about where you're going instead of how you get there. It's a very appropriate solution that works well within the context of the rest of the game.

Agreed on repetition and most other faults, but those two things along with story win it for me. Oh, non skippable cutscenes are hyper shite though.

I've been playing it so much and I love it.

Some of the "flaws" help the game play better I think.

Yes it would be more logical to have all the guards attacking you at once. But I already get stabbed in the back frequently during fights. It also gives you more of a chance to focus on your counter attacks and whatnot. Which are badass.

Combat is still pretty tricky sometimes against certain guards, and I tend to keep it fresh by switching from weapons a lot. I just received my throwing blades as well, good fun.

I don't mind the repetitive missions, I like getting the feeling of accomplishment when you cleared a part of the city of all objectives before going after your target. Builds up the fun for me.

The free running is awesome, like said by Schmung, only using two buttons gives you more time to think where your going rather than what your trying to do. It still amazes me sometimes, even after hours of gameplay, how Altaïr places his hands and feet sometimes while climbing onto things. The technology behind it is marvelous. I've been showing Assassins Creed HD clips off at work, they're not gamers on the most part, but they love the climbing.

Getting the flags is +- for me. I've already gotten up to 94 flags in the Kingdom area, so far its been easy. But I have no freaking clue where to look for the last few. I've took glimpses at game guide maps for locations on the last flags I need... but out of the hundred located on those, I still don't know which ones I should be going for. Aaargh!

Anyhoo, so much for my impressions.