Assassin's Creed...
...or, "I'm about a year behind on gaming."
I'm finally getting caught up on the big games of 2007. Last week, I finished up the single-player campaign on Call of Duty 4, which, I should add, was fucking amazing. (Multi-player was excellent too, so I'm looking forward to this weekend's CoD4 Double XP). This week, I started on Assassin's Creed, something I finally bought with a gift card after it dropped to $30 at Best Buy.
Now, I have very, very few regrets in my life. I would be exaggerating only slightly, though, to say that one of them is not playing this game earlier. The story is intriguing, the gameplay is simple enough to not feel frustrating while flexible enough to not feel constrictive, and the graphics have made my jaw drop more than once. There's nothing quite like climbing to the top of a nearby minaret to get a bird's-eye view of the city and surrounding countryside, all while my inner geek is amazed that all of this is being rendered real-time. This has to be one of the first games where I free-run and climb to the highest points, not because of the game objectives (although those don't hurt), but just because I can. I've also developed a better understanding of how medieval cities were constructed, which gives me some new perspectives into how all the cities from the various D&D games I've played in would have been like. I love how the peasants and merchants react to everything around them, including their commentary about crazy me hanging off of walls like a madman.
Yes, bits of the game are a bit repetitive, but this hasn't bothered me - or no worse than I was bothered by the repetitive ground missions from Mass Effect, which was "barely to not at all". Instead, I'm busy looking for the next citizen to save, the next archer to pick off with a throwing knife, or the next Templar to take down in melee combat. I've been so wrapped up that I haven't done any of my mini painting for the month (although I'm back on that tonight).
So please, please, please, if third-person action games are at all your thing (I'm looking at you, Mom, you Prince-of-Persia addict), do yourself a favor and play this game.
I'm finally getting caught up on the big games of 2007. Last week, I finished up the single-player campaign on Call of Duty 4, which, I should add, was fucking amazing. (Multi-player was excellent too, so I'm looking forward to this weekend's CoD4 Double XP). This week, I started on Assassin's Creed, something I finally bought with a gift card after it dropped to $30 at Best Buy.
Now, I have very, very few regrets in my life. I would be exaggerating only slightly, though, to say that one of them is not playing this game earlier. The story is intriguing, the gameplay is simple enough to not feel frustrating while flexible enough to not feel constrictive, and the graphics have made my jaw drop more than once. There's nothing quite like climbing to the top of a nearby minaret to get a bird's-eye view of the city and surrounding countryside, all while my inner geek is amazed that all of this is being rendered real-time. This has to be one of the first games where I free-run and climb to the highest points, not because of the game objectives (although those don't hurt), but just because I can. I've also developed a better understanding of how medieval cities were constructed, which gives me some new perspectives into how all the cities from the various D&D games I've played in would have been like. I love how the peasants and merchants react to everything around them, including their commentary about crazy me hanging off of walls like a madman.
Yes, bits of the game are a bit repetitive, but this hasn't bothered me - or no worse than I was bothered by the repetitive ground missions from Mass Effect, which was "barely to not at all". Instead, I'm busy looking for the next citizen to save, the next archer to pick off with a throwing knife, or the next Templar to take down in melee combat. I've been so wrapped up that I haven't done any of my mini painting for the month (although I'm back on that tonight).
So please, please, please, if third-person action games are at all your thing (I'm looking at you, Mom, you Prince-of-Persia addict), do yourself a favor and play this game.