Here is a review for Assassin's Creed, available on XBOX 360 and PS3. I played the 360 version, however I have heard of very little difference between the two. Assassin's Creed is an overall quality game. I have nothing at all to complain about in the ideas of how it is structured and what it entails. This game excels at many points that make it stand out above the rest of the open world adventure type games out there.
First off we have control. Control is one of the most important aspects of gaming to me. If I cannot do what I want simply due to control issues, I get more and more frustrated. The controls are very specific, and yet, when you want to climb a wall it can be as simple at pushing the thumbstick forward. For the most part, Altair does exactly what you want him to do. There are some situations where he will struggle, but as I played I found that the overall control is positive. My only gripe here is that I do not have enough thumbs to sprint/tackle and to turn my camera at the same time, but I made due just fine.
The story is a bit weird and unexpected if you are hoping for a game that has nothing but stabbing people in it. However, it does not take away from the game at all, and I think it is a nice interesting story. I will just leave the story talk at that because this review is already longer than I planned.
I feel that, if anywhere, the area that Assassin's Creed falls short is in replay value. Once the game is done there is nothing to do but collect flags. Collecting items or other "collectibles" is always a tedious adventure in a game, or that is at least how I feel on this matter. Also, in order to get back into the game, upon beating it, can take about 5 minutes. This is because you have to sit through the chapter introduction talk again, then ride your horse to the next town again. So that tedious step only gives me another reason to play another game or make a sandwich/burrito while I ignore the introduction conversation.
The main thing that Assassin's Creed could do to counter this lack of replay value would be to add a co-operative multiplayer mode. I also do not doubt that Assassin's Creed 2 will have such a mode in it. Crackdown (another game I will review soon) had a nice co-op mode that really made that game fun to play over and over. I feel that a two player way to do each of the assassination events or even explore the city together could make for a very fun experience.
In closing, Assassin's Creed is a very good game for very specific reasons. If you are looking for a game that will entertain you for about twelve hours, then Assassin's Creed is the way to go. If you want a game with much replay value beyond that I would look somewhere else. All things considered though, I give Assassin's Creed a four out of five stars, simply due to the lack of replay value.
Pros: Controls, Story, Nothing else is quite like it.
Cons: No replay value or multiplayer.
Score: 4/5 stars.
Note: If replay value and multiplayer are not things that you need in a video game, then you might as well bump this one up to a 5/5 stars. I gave it a four simply because those additions would have made Assassin's Creed a game that I would still find tremendously fun today.
