Assassin's Creed

[Mr Light]

I just started playing this game, about two years after it came out The graphics are amazing they're practically photo-realistic! I thought Halo 3 looked amazing, but I guess the real-world non-sci-fi setting makes it look even more incredible and "real". The best part is definitely running around on rooftops, lots of fun. I also enjoy sneak-killing a single soldier than just walking away, heh.

So far I've done the first assassination only. I'm having a real problem with the combat. I feel like I'm doing it wrong. If I have to fight more than two people I'm basically dead meat. I thought it was because I didn't have the counter-attack move, but after killing the first target I got it back and somehow did even worse. What is the secret to the combat? How do you prevent someone from stabbing you in the back when you're busy fighting the guy in front of you? And why are you almost constantly under alert when traveling on the overworld map?

So while the story is cool and the graphics are amazing, I'm finding the gameplay to be a little awkward. Even the parkour stuff feels a little slow and awkward, cool though it is.

Also, does random fighting level you up at all? I don't really understand how the leveling system works. I think every time you do 15 things (like finding a vantage point) you get a new life bar? Do finding the flags count towards that? Or killing the Templars?

When I killed the first target I got back my counter-attack and a short sword or something... do I get a similar upgrade everytime I kill a target?

And why is it sometimes I can't sneak-kill a guard? He just shoves me back and sounds the alarm. Is it because he's looking at me and I need to be behind him? Or because he's on alert?

Do the soldiers respawn? For example if I go around the city sneak-killing every lone soldier I see, am I actually accomplishing anything?

 

[Rii]

I'm having a real problem with the combat. I feel like I'm doing it wrong. If I have to fight more than two people I'm basically dead meat.

Sounds realistic to me. I thought you were meant to be an assassin, not a terminator.

 

[firehawk12]

Honestly, once you learn the counter attack move, you can take out 50 guys at once without a problem. You can get a lot of instant kills if you can time your blocks correctly.

 

[Rii]

Honestly, once you learn the counter attack move, you can take out 50 guys at once without a problem. You can get a lot of instant kills if you can time your blocks correctly.

That's lame. Then again, we are talking about the publisher that turned Rainbow Six into Halo.

 

[Thrall]

Fun, fun game. Combat is so basic anyone could blow through about 50 guys without breaking a sweat. Just press the counter button constantly and you're a God. Hacking off limbs was never so much fun.

It does suffer from Spider-Man 2 syndrome in that there's only 3 side quests and they're all the same. So one just ignores them after awhile.

The ending is bizarre as well.

 

[Mr Light]

I haven't hacked off any limbs...! So the counter is just hitting X as they swing at you?

 

[Thrall]

I haven't hacked off any limbs...! So the counter is just hitting X as they swing at you?

As far as I recall yes.

 

[Lonemagpie]

Fun game, beautiful to look at, but does get repetitive as it's essentially a testbed for the "blending" crowd interaction thing intended for Splinter Cell Conviction

 

[Jax]

Needs more variation but I adored the game, got last christmas and completed it in a decent amount of time, I still play now and again working on achievements. Looked great played well though needs some fixes and better ideas here and there. The free running of the game was nearly as fun as the rest of it just wonderful (joined my 9.0 club).

 

[unimatrix7]

Loved this game, especially the combat. I never got tired of seeing the various counter-attack animations

 

[firehawk12]

I haven't hacked off any limbs...! So the counter is just hitting X as they swing at you?

As far as I recall yes.

It basically becomes a guitar hero game at that point. You counter right when you see that the enemy is about to hit you. Although, the window is fairly generous as far as I recall.

 

[Mr Light]

Ah, ok. I've been practicing and I see what I was doing wrong. I'm now able to take on 5 guys at once and kick their ass. Pretty bad ass to look at! I actually have guards running AWAY from me!

 

[Arrqh]

Honestly, once you learn the counter attack move, you can take out 50 guys at once without a problem. You can get a lot of instant kills if you can time your blocks correctly.

That's lame. Then again, we are talking about the publisher that turned Rainbow Six into Halo.

Pretty much. The game is rather shallow in terms of actual gameplay. The stealth, for the most part, consists of holding down the A button. The game does work really well with a little imagination on the player's part.... turning off the HUD and then trying to make an actual stealth kill on your target and using landmarks (which are unfortunately not particularly accurate or unique with a few exceptions). But that isn't what the game tries to be.

I'm not saying it's bad, because I did enjoy it... but I felt like the game was fighting me. It wanted me to play it in a boring, unimaginative way. Making it fun took a healthy dollop of cognitive dissonance.

 

[clint g]

I think the big problem with the game was that it was the first stab at a new concept. Im sure the sequel will be far more enjoyable and some of the rumors about the upcoming game sound interesting

 

[TheBrew]

I haven't hacked off any limbs...! So the counter is just hitting X as they swing at you?

As far as I recall yes.

It basically becomes a guitar hero game at that point. You counter right when you see that the enemy is about to hit you. Although, the window is fairly generous as far as I recall.

So it's just like one of the recent Guitar Hero games.

Wait until you get to Jerusalem... so beautiful. I just ran around the city for hours.

 

[PKerr]

IMO the game did get a bit repetitive and I personally didn't like the sci-fi element of the game. It should have been in the era of the assassin only.

 

[MyCylon]

^
I agree on both accounts. I love sci-fi like the next board member around here. But in this case I felt it severely weakened the story and the degree of immersion.

You were also once removed from what was going on. And, more importantly, you had no way of influencing critical decisions. I found it frustrating having to literally stand by and watch Altair make yet another bad choice and being able to do nothing about it.

I'm also a little troubled by that fact that at times, I felt like I wasn't really in control at all. So much of how Altari's movement is controlled by the system rather than yourself. He pulls off all these amazing stunts, but I never really felt I had much of a hand in it.

And I have to say that I was really disappointed with the ending. Leaving things open for a sequel is one thing, providing just about no closure or explanation at all is quite another. Plus I was really annoyed by the fact that there were certain bits of information (not that they were very important) that you wouldn't get if you hadn't done certain things - and there was no way of going back and doing them.

Speaking of no way back: I found it incredibly frustrating that I couldn't go back into the actual game (i.e. back to being Altair) once I'd completed everything. Major irony: I was trying to show the game to a friend and ended up having to create a new game which left me no option but to overwrite the previous game.

Having said all of that, the cities were beautiful. I think they did a tremendous job of re-creating the atmosphere of each location. And it was great fun just walking or running around or sitting atop the roofs, taking in the beautiful views.

I hope that for part two, they will be able to marry the great look and feel with better and more varied gameplay. I'm not a big fan of Ubisoft, however, so I'm not sure they'll actually be able to pull it off. But we'll just have to wait and see.

 

[Lonemagpie]

^ all too true

A few months ago, I actually had a dream where I was playing the perfect Batman game, which blended the combat system, stealth and dropping-on-people-from-above from Assassin's Creed with the first-person view from that other tech-demo-masquerading-as-a-full-game, Mirror's Edge.

I remember being really impressed by the ability to use batarangs both as thrown weapons (like the throwing knives in AC) and as a tethered melee weapon. And then I was really annoyed when I woke up in the morning and realised that I hadn't been playing a real game overnight...

 

[CaptJimboJones]

I really enjoyed this game, but wasn't ever able to beat the mission where you have to get across the docks by jumping on those poles. I'd fall in the water every single time. I finally put it down out of frustration, so never finished.

Thinking about it, though, maybe it's time to give it another try ... other than that, it's a nice piece of work.

 

[John Clark]

Got the pc version the other week

Haven't played it much yet, but I guess I'm a little too pushy on it. The slightest nudge seems to send people flying a few feet