2008 was a strange year for me. Though I enjoyed moments of its entertainment field, I was hoping for an entirely new experience with our family upgrade to an XBOX 360. Halo 3 and The Force Unleashed were the only two things that I was excited to play. To be honest, I was a neophyte in the gaming world to this point. I knew of Halo, World of Warcraft, and the XBOX games of the past. Beyond that, I knew none of the fantastic games that had been, or were being created. I have to credit my brother Joe for two things that year. The first was Gears of War. I’ve spent so many mindless hours on co-op play and Horde mode that I’m actually frightened of what I would have become if I had access to XBOX Live. The other was a struggling IP known as Assassin’s Creed.
The concept sounded cool. A next-generation assassin focused game starring the Holy Land? I was hooked. The story was mature (as was some dialogue and violence) and the game had a striking look to it all. The thing that got me hooked most of all was the aftermath of my first assassination in Damascus. I had the entire City guard chasing me on the rooftop. The skills I possessed reminded of the amazing opening action sequence of Casino Royale. Running, jumping across the roof tops, leaping from the tops of buildings into haystacks, climbing the buildings, running over scaffoldings, dodging the crowd, going through alleyways, evading the crowded marketplaces, and finally ending the chase by blending in with some scholars. From the moment that chase ended, I had such a blast that I had to continue playing. Yes, the game suffered from some repetitive slower parts, but it more than made up for it by the intensity of the action scenes. Wow, just wow.
The plot is two-fold: The first is a modern-day setting with a kidnapped man (Desmond Miles) undergoing sessions in an Animus, a machine that renders genetic memories in three dimensions (Bit of Matrix here). The kidnapped is part of the Assassins, though he ran away from that life. The kidnappers are Templar Knights, (Warren Vidic and his lovely assistant, Lucy Stillman, played by Kristen Bell) though here they are depicted as the evil side of a “cold” war. They are searching his ancestor’s memories for an artifact that is capable of bending people’s free-will. The other storyline follows that of the 12th century assassin known as Altair, a disgraced protégé’ that has to regain his honor. Over the course of his mission, he figures out that his targets are all under the command of the Templars, and that their leader was the very man whom Altair saw as a father, Al Mualim. The leader of the assassins was the one who made this mission necessary. Altair defeats Al Mualim and takes his prized possession: the Apple of Eden. This was the artifact that the modern-day Templars are searching for, and Vidic decides that Desmond is no longer needed. However, Lucy pleads for him to save Desmond, which he gives into. Desmond uses his secret skill (Eagle vision, which his ancestor Altair shared with him) to identify Lucy as an undercover assassin and Vidic is the true enemy. Desmond also discovers hidden blood is his room, showing cryptic messages heralding a far greater disaster in the not-too-distant future. What could all this mean?……
As per title, the big selling point of this game was to deliver an experience of being an assassin, so thus the excitement of this game is being stealthy. Quietly walking around the streets, stalking people and stabbing them is a dark alleyway is morbid, but can be incredibly fun. Altair is given assignments throughout the Holy Land and that’s where the fun begins. Once you arrive at a city, you must reach the assassin’s bureau who gives you info about where you can find your target. You head to those areas, accomplish a few tasks, go back to the bureau to get permission for the assassination, and then you kill the person. The biggest criticism about this game is that it is repetitive. Maybe so, but I never minded. For me, it was a case of active gameplay being sacrificed for story. Not necessarily bad, but not typically recommended for most games. Since Assassin’s Creed is a highly cinematic experience, those slower bits (sitting on benches) added to the story and made it better paced. Games like Call of Duty’s campaigns really have no slower parts; it’s intense action almost all of the time and thus is exhausting. I appreciate the Assassin’s Creed games for placing the focus on the tension of silence before the chaos.
These games have a bit in common with the Matrix. Both deal with virtual reality, both deal heavily in futuristic apocalyptic scenarios, and both feature protagonists that have duty thrust upon them. (The protagonist in this case is Desmond Miles) Nero was running away from his hacker life, until caught by “government” agents and rescued by a rebel group and made out to be their savior. Desmond is running away from his life as an assassin until picked up by Abstergo agents and rescued by the Assassins (who are made out to be the underdogs). Desmond is special because of his heritage, which will be revealed later.
The first game in a series has a few tasks. It’s supposed to entice you in, and it’s supposed to promise more exciting things later on. The main question that comes up with people who play this game is, “Why should we give a crap about Desmond?” Desmond is the frame work around this entire series, and thus is the most important character. We’re supposed to care about this person and want to know what happens to him. The bad thing is that Desmond’s bits don’t offer any intrigue for newcomers and they can only make sense if you’ve played the other games, or play this one a lot. Basically, the one thing left for us to remember about the game is Altair. If you’ve played the other games, you know exactly what happened to him. The creators decided to bring in someone new and leave Altair behind. Each game afterwards came with a decent recap of the previous games, and so thus you could start with Assassin’s Creed II and not miss a thing. I guess my point is that Assassin’s Creed fails to make itself standout enough that you must play through it in order to understand the overarching plot.
I loved the historical aspect of it, I loved the feeling I got at the beginning that I was in the middle of a bigger story, and I even liked the twist with Al Mualim. However, this game has one major problem for me. Namely, the ending. Altair is left just staring at a hologram of the world, Vidic and Lucy just leave Desmond alone, and Desmond stares at a wall wondering why there is blood at the wall…WHAT? What is the tantalizing piece of left-over story to bring us into the next game? The ending of the game was just flaccid and abrupt. I also don’t like that there is really is no replayability in this. All the other games have 15 things to do after the story. This game just has flags for you to collect, and the most you get out of that is an achievement/ trophy.
The rest of the game is fine. A fine start to a memorable series and one of the most unique in the modern era.
RATING: 8 out of 10 – Great concept, good stealth based action, and really engaging assassin story. However, the repetition can be a problem, Desmond’s beginning isn’t that intriguing, and the ending is poor.
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