BalekFekete
Shared on Thu, 11/15/2007 - 10:43As anyone can tell from the flavor of my recent blogging activity, I was one person who was seriously amped up for the release of Assassin's Creed. I've, for all intent purposes, enjoyed titles coming out of Ubisoft, most notably those mixing action and stealth (e.g. the Splinter Cell series). During it's 4 years construction and production, Assassin's Creed came and fell off my radar in fairly regular intervals, but in the final year made it stick allowing the anticipation to slowly grow and crest at flood-stage levels. Now, the release has come and gone, and I have spent some honest, personal time (about 5 or so hours) with the title and will quickly give some initial impressions for the masses.
Now, skipping the whole “twist” so as not to spoil anything, I’ll talk about the graphics. They are simply jawdroppingly (if that’s a word) good. The first time I started walking around the streets, or even more so the first time I saw Damascus from afar, I was floored. The level of detail is outrageous, and the view distances extreme. However, that doesn’t come without a price. There are instances of clipping or slow loading textures from time to time, but far and away infrequently enough to barely be even a distraction, let alone a full fledged gripe.
With the graphics comes the sound. The 5.1 is very well done, and makes the cities and countryside come alive. The voice acting, which was a bone of contention for some reviewers, was more than adequate for my tastes or needs. Is it Oscar-worthy? Well, no. But given what it is, and what it needs to be, it makes you feel that you are right where the scene is taking place, from an audio perspective.
Speaking of setting…the towns and cities are extraordinary, both in design and appearance. I actually felt like I was in the middle of a major metropolis of the times, with a living, breathing city around me. The crowd presence and AI is like nothing I have ever seen in a game. I couldn’t pick out any repetitive or blatant “paths” that the AI was walking. It seemed all very organic – which is a HUGE step forward and one of those things I think this game will go down for truly innovating for the industry.
A quick note on the story, which will be the hardest thing to give a real ‘rating’ on until I’m much farther into it. So far, it’s been acceptable. Is it BioShock-good? No. But it does have me interested in what is happening with the main character and the plotline, so that’s good enough for me. I’m not intimately caring about the characters yet…but I stress yet. I’m hoping it continues to work itself out, throws some twists and unexpected turns in at some point, and makes it more than just a “go to X, kill Y” rinse and repeat activity (even tho’, as I’ll talk about next, that wouldn’t be 100% bad).
Finally, mechanics and controls. The control scheme that the game uses, in the form of a pseudo-puppeteer layout, is brilliant. One button manages functions your feet would do, in a contextual manner. Another button, your off-hand. Another, your weapon. But each of these buttons do something different dependant on where you are and what you are doing. It is both intuitive and still extremely powerful. It allows for the free-moving roof antics that we have all see in the preview videos, and it feels as good as it looked when we saw it. Running and climbing over all the cities, at least for me, may never get old. I won’t even mention the Leaps of Faith (high dives into the hay bales/wagons) … those WILL never get old.
So in (not so) short, so far so very, VERY good. Will this be Game of the Year – I doubt it … there’s too much competition out there already, let alone what else is due in a few short days or weeks. However, I can say without hesitation that I’m looking forward to the next chance I get to play in a huge way, and that anticipation – for me – is a mark of a good game.
B.
- BalekFekete's blog
- Log in or register to post comments
Comments
Submitted by BalekFekete on Thu, 11/15/2007 - 12:08
Submitted by BalekFekete on Fri, 11/16/2007 - 10:47
Submitted by ImaginaryEngr76 on Thu, 11/15/2007 - 14:22
Submitted by BrodysDad46 on Fri, 11/16/2007 - 08:32
Submitted by Devonsangel on Thu, 11/15/2007 - 10:46
Submitted by JeepChick on Thu, 11/15/2007 - 10:49
Submitted by TANK on Thu, 11/15/2007 - 10:53
Submitted by pendragon on Thu, 11/15/2007 - 11:01
Submitted by MikeTheKnife on Thu, 11/15/2007 - 11:07