Assassin's Creed - A Glorious Mess

After last week's early reviews of Assassin's Creed hit the web, I wasn't sure what to make of them. Game Informer gave it a 9.5 and then IGN called it "one of the top five most disappointing games of all time." How do you balance those disparate opinions? These are two media outlets I usually respect, yet clearly they both saw this hugely anticipated title completely differently. Who was right and who was wrong?

Well, now that I've had a few days to play Assassin's Creed myself, I've formed my own opinion of it, and I also have a clearer understanding of where my esteemed colleagues were coming from with their polar opposite views.

Right away I will let you know, I like Assassin's Creed, and yet I am very disappointed by it. The parts of Creed that work well, work very well; like the amazing climbing and free-running. When you scale the heights of cathedrals and various other towers or free-run across rooftops while escaping pursuers, the feeling you get is one of immense power, both the power of lead character Altair (pronounced al-tie-ear), and the power of the Xbox 360. (I have not played the PS3 version of the game, so I will not be commenting on the negativity surrounding it here.) Regarding Altair, Game Informer noted in their review, "Rarely has a character without superpowers or magic been quite so powerful and exciting to vicariously inhabit, whether he’s perching on a high tower of the Acre Cathedral or countering the blows of a Templar knight." As for the Xbox 360, it handles the vistas, combat, hundreds of characters and huge, seamless cities beautifully with hardly a stutter.

I found the game's combat to be very enjoyable. It is definitely not going to be liked by hardcore hack 'n slash fans, but anyone who enjoys a bit more thinking in their swordplay will be very pleased. The combat is also very cinematic, keeping it fresh over time. I never got bored thrashing four or five foes at a time, even the hundredth time I did it.

The vistas you see from those previously-mentioned high perches, as well as Altair's movements and pretty much all the other graphics in the game, fully demonstrate Ubisoft's ability to develop a great game from the code up. For the most part, Assassin's Creed looks really good! Consequently, the parts where the game falls flat are even more baffling to me.

The voice work in Assassin's Creed, at least that of the actor playing Altair, is absolutely abysmal. Very surprising considering this is almost universally a strong point in Ubisoft games. Just look at the Splinter Cell or Ghost Recon franchises. Making Altair's voice even more grating is the fact that most of the other voice work in the game is actually quite enjoyable. While virtually all the ancillary characters have mostly-accurate accents of various middle-eastern origins, Altair sounds like he was born and bred in Indiana. Topping off this vocal crap sandwich is the fact that his lines are delivered with all the flair and emotion of a narcoleptic spelling bee judge reading the dictionary. Therefore the blame falls squarely on the shoulders of the person responsible for casting the game's actors.

The gameplay is far from perfect. As great as the combat and climbing are, the investigative aspects of the game are tedious and overly repetitive. When you save various citizens from a beating or kidnapping at the hands of ruthless town cops, you're thanked by having to hear the same three lines of canned dialogue over and over again. Boring with a capital WTF!?! Same for the "eavesdropping" and "pickpocketing" mini games...they are overly simplistic and occur far too often.

As far as the writing in the game is concerned, I found it largely forgettable. Without spoiling it for those who've yet to play it, Creed's "hook" is cliched at best and just plain lazy at worst. The story is further gimped by the fact that the story's one major plot twist is revealed before you even actually play the game. Someone needs to take a "Fiction 101" class.

As bad as all that sounds, it didn't stop me from playing Assassin's Creed. I would take a break from it only to find myself thinking about the swordplay or climbing another tower. It also helps that the Xbox 360 version has achievements tied to it. I seriously doubt I would've finished this game if not for the opportunity to fatten my gamerscore. Even though I dreaded playing parts of the game later, my achievements addiction brought me back for more.

As you can see, Assassin's Creed is a somewhat frustrating game to review. It's an enigma, wrapped in a riddle, sprinkled with some wonderfulness and nearly ruined with some craptastic design choices. If I have to give it a numeric score (which I loathe), I'll give it an overall score of 7 out of 10. I actually enjoyed the climbing and fighting aspects the more I played it, but the other stumbles in game design and casting really hurt the overall experience. On the bright side, I see the potential for an absolutely fantastic sequel.