Assassin's Creed
O.K. I've postponed this review long enough,
because it is painful. I really did want to write a favourable
piece on Assassin's
Creed, but I can't. Yes Altair is eye candy and yes
surroundings and movement are stunning. And exploring Jerusalem,
Damascus and Acre could be great fun if the speeches you hear on
the streets weren't so repetitive. And although IRL I suffer
from vertigo, I loved climbing high turrets
and plunging into the deep. But why can't assassins swim? Is it
all the metal I'm carrying that drags me down?
No, what seriously bugs me is the repetitiveness of the
assignments, the assassinations themselves and the final fights.
I can appreciate that game play has to become more and more
difficult as you go along but why do the tasks have to be more
or less the same? There is (less subtle) interrogation,
eavesdropping, pick pocketing (the three easy ones), doing
a flag-retrieve run (still comparatively easy), and stealth
assassinating without a time limit (also fairly easy) and with a
time limit (the last ones are impossible). I know I only have to
complete two or three to go onto the real assassination, but I
really like to complete all the mini-tasks.
More or less the same goes for rescuing citizens. I like to be a
good guy. But in the last Jerusalem assassination (with the surprise at
the end) I couldn't be bothered any more. I kept getting killed
because I had to fight more and more guards to save one citizen.
Yes, you can practice your fighting techniques, but I did not
buy the game for it's hack-and-slash elements. And about those
fighting techniques, I'm getting better and better on all the
moves, but you should work on the controls. It takes too long
after a cinematic move before I can act. And, as we are on the
subject, how do I keep the actions focussed on the guy I was
just dealing with? Why does focus automatically skip to someone
else after a cinematic move? When faced with multiple opponents
this becomes extremely tedious (and explains why I get killed a
lot).
Furthermore as an assassin I would really like to be a stealth
assassin. The promotional videos and the help videos (on the
Assassin's Creed site
) suggest that you can kill your targets
"fairly discreetly". Well probably I'm a failure as an assassin,
because I only managed to kill one guy fairly discreetly. The
rest died after rather lengthy pursuits (even when I attacked
them using my assassin's blade) or massive fights (with a lot of
other guys involved). And even the one time I did manage to do
it neatly, trying to get away unscathed and without a fight is
nigh on impossible. Again I did not buy the game to have to have
endless fights.
And then the final part, or getting to it. This is where all
subtlety is thrown overboard and you have to face numerous
enemies before you finally get to Robert the Sable. Or not, as
is the case. Because after having slaughtered everyone that has
crossed my path (several times) you get to fight the coward's
knights before you can get to Robert himself (and get on with
the rest of the game). I did manage to get to him once, but I
was so exhausted that I could barely stand, so even getting out
the hidden blade did not help. And then you have to start all
over again with his knights and if in RL time runs out and you
have to turn of your system you have to start again at the
beginning of Asruf. Why? What is the fun? An intelligent program
should at least give me some slack and not register how few
throwing knifes I have left after the last attempt. And an even
more intelligent system should cut me some slack after killing
the lot five times over (and more). And why can't I skip the cut
scenes? I've seen the first Robert de Sable scene at least seven
times now. I want to get on with the game. Or do I? I do not
know if I can still be bothered. And that bugs me the most. You
do not get any alternatives. There is no way you can avoid these
fights (without cheating) and I know that this isn't even the
final boss fight.
Sorry guys at Ubisoft. This could have been a great game,
this could have been my all time favourite. But you just showed
us again that a stunningly beautiful game to look at does not
necessarily mean that the game is fun to play as well. Yes up to
a point, in the beginning when repetition and endless
hack-and-slash has not set in yet. And I do appreciate the
advances you have made in fluid motion high res game play, but
next time, please think about the average player as well. Give
me some options, it is not for the lack of trying, I've tried
again and again. And now I just can't be bothered.
PS After playing fable II It seemed I gathered new joystick
skills as defeating Robert the Sable and his knights now seemed
easy. The rest was easy and I could focus on the narrative
again. Which became increasingly intriguing so that I can't wait
for the second game.
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