Assassin's Creed Review

By Tom Bramwell Published 13 November, 2007

Getting away with murder.

Version tested: Xbox 360

Obviously we're not going to tell you anything. Ubisoft has worked hard to make sure that you're not only excited about playing Assassin's Creed, but that you're also dying to find out what's going on. What are all those glitchy graphical effects in aid of? Are you really in the Third Crusade at all? You want to find out for yourself, so go ahead.

What goes on in the Third Crusade is fair game though - and a fairly good game. Taking on the role of Altair, a quickly disgraced mega-assassin who doesn't respect his elders, you're given the chance to restore your name and rank by killing a sequence of increasingly naughty men scattered across the Holy Land in Damascus, Jerusalem and Acre - the three sprawling cities that host most of the game's running, jumping and assassering.

The two most arresting things about this are the astonishing graphics - more dazzling even than BioShock's, largely thanks to brilliant use of light and shadow - and the Canadian developer's unmatched interpretation of parkour, the art of "free running". As you approach a building, you can run up the wall and grab a small ledge, and then feel around for additional hand-holds, using the analogue stick to crawl up the side like Spider-Man. You can also bound across rafters, swing from beams and combine these actions, and while it's not quite limitless - there are plenty of times you'll wonder why you can't scale something - it puts even the silky platforming of Tomb Raider: Anniversary to shame as you dance beautiful, flowing escape routes across the tops of buildings.

'Assassin's Creed' Screenshot 1

The first hour of free running is one of the most entertaining all year.

With nine main targets to kill across the span of the game, a lot of the time you spend in the Third Crusade is given over to information-gathering - eavesdropping on conversations, pick-pocketing messengers, interrogating, and tracking down informers - but despite Altair's fancy smock and bossy tone, he has to go and find them first, and to do this he climbs tall buildings. The "viewpoints" he reaches are a bit like Crackdown's Agency Supply Points - elevated positions that give you an overview of the surrounding area, and sometimes require a bit of skill to get to. Even when they're not, though, you find yourself drawn to them anyway, if only for the view.

Staring out across any of the game's cities, the largely optional Kingdom hub area that divides them, or from the peak of your Order's home city of Masyaf, crowned by a castle on a mountain, it's hard to catch your breath. The game drops barely a frame as Altair crouches - his gown dangling from his hooded head to give the impression of an eagle perched on a beam - and stares out over a sea of flat-roofed shanties, town houses, mosques and forts. And later the actual sea with boats in it. When you've "synchronised" to acquire mission data, you can leap headfirst into a hay-cart far below - something you can also do wherever you find pigeons congregating on the edge of a rooftop.

'Assassin's Creed' Screenshot 2

Those leaps of faith seldom get old, and the beautiful graphics and soundtrack give it all an air of quiet intelligence. Shame Altair's an arrogant git.

As a spectacle, Assassin's Creed remains convincing whether you're atop the highest building or sprinting down the narrowest street. Much has been made of the crowd technology (producer Jade Raymond called it "one of the promises of the next generation"), which treats non-player characters as proper, physical people with their own routines and attitudes to your behaviour. This manifests itself most obviously when you do something high profile, like climbing a building, and a chorus of quirky onlookers questions your sanity, but it's equally true that barging into them sows discontent and eventually puts the city guards on your case.

The controls are peculiar, but work very well in general. Altair is set up as a sort of marionette (cue additional intrigue) with feet, hands and head mapped across the face buttons, while left trigger locks on and off of targets and holding the right trigger modifies the function of the face buttons to "high profile" actions. This allows for a degree of adaptability in your attempts to remain unseen in crowds or evade angry city guards. Holding A on its own reduces Altair's visibility by having him pretend to be a monk as he walks at a very slow pace, but holding A with the right trigger down makes him sprint. The fact that holding the right trigger locks Altair to movement across low walls and other parkour elements as he moves can be disruptive, but you learn to work around it.

The crowd stops short of being an obstacle, too. After a few minutes you're happily weaving through and around the people at surprising pace, using your "gentle push" button to brush through without causing a ruckus, or dodging them completely by climbing, jumping or just, you know, not running directly into them. Much as you would navigate a crowd in real life.

Occasionally you do alert the guards though - whether by knocking people over or doing something suspicious within their line of sight, or by attacking them, for that matter - and so they give chase. And fight. And here the game looks even better, as Altair stands poised with his sword waiting to strike.

It's a perfect blend of combat mechanics and animation. Swords clash and clang against one another, and guards grab you and try to throw you to the ground, but you twist their arm and boot them away. Physical contact is near perfect. Your hand wraps around their wrist, they buckle in pain as you rotate them away from you, and your foot makes solid contact with their backside as you boot them into a wall. And when they attempt to tackle you, one by one, you counter devastatingly. The execution of these counters - unlocked early in the game - is similar to the good old Mark of Kri. Remember that? Probably not, but I like to reference it.

'Assassin's Creed' Screenshot 3

The first screen of the game insists that it was made by a multicultural team of different faiths and beliefs.

Locked on to any opponent in a crowd, you hold the block button and wait for them to strike one by one, and as someone advances you hit the counter button and Altair deftly avoids their blow and savagely brutalises them in response. Whether it's driving his sword upward through their chest, striking at their calf and then spinning into a downward stab through the heart, or breaking their sword arm with the flat of the blade and then slicing them nearly in half, it's amazingly brutal (especially for a 15 certificate - watch out, Mum).

There is a system of parries and attacks to master for those of you with a passion for fighting (although it's hardly Ninja Gaiden), but being able to shortcut the entire combat system with satisfying counters demonstrates a tacit understanding of the division between gamers who enjoy third-person combat and those who just want to get it out of the way.

Within a couple of hours, then, a structure emerges: receive your target, gather intelligence and then strike. Again, a bit like Crackdown. In fact, the parallels are increasingly uncanny. Granted, Real Time Worlds' Xbox 360 game had guns rather than swords, and it preferred speed, height and regular platforming limitations to the subtlety of Altair's urban mountaineering, but the comparison certainly stands up for the most part. Except, while you could lessen the strength of your enemy's force by taking down his lieutenants in Crackdown, Assassin's Creed is more regimented: you must complete a number of investigations before striking at the target.

'Assassin's Creed' Screenshot 4

After each assassination, Altair gets a bit more kit back and another ability. Sadly these have little impact on gameplay after the first few.

And these, frankly, become a bit dull. Eavesdropping involves sitting on a bench, locating the source of the gossip, targeting them and pressing Y. That's it. Pick-pocketing involves much the same, except you have to follow someone for a bit and press B when your hand's within grabbing distance of their back pocket. It's sleuthy, but also a bit one-dimensional. If you get spotted, you hide until the heat's off, then go back and try again. The same's true of interrogations - listen to some chatter, follow them for a few seconds, then punch them until you get a cut-scene. That's not simplification on our part; that's literally what you do.

Each section of each city is also home to around a dozen innocent strangers - scholars, monks, damsels - who are being slapped around by the guards and need to be liberated. These encounters are identical to one another: start a fight, kill all the guards and then target the rescued civilian to receive praise and - as reward - the loyalty of some nearby vigilantes, who will block the path of guards if they ever pursue you through the same area.

The informer missions are no more varied, but are more fun to do. Generally they involve stealth-assassinating a few targets (later in the game, time limits are imposed), which is a careful task of finding them on your mini-map, walking up to them, quietly stabbing them with your concealed blade, and then beating an inconspicuous path to the next target. Doing these without alerting the guards is the closest the game comes to making you feel like a proper assassin.

Which is to say that the actual assassinations are a bit ropey. You might imagine that you stalk carefully through heavily guarded hallways, keeping to the shadows, climbing across ceilings, and eventually steal into your target's presence and hold a dagger to their throat like a sort of medieval Leon. But the truth is, again, closer to Crackdown. You do indeed stalk a bit, but only by virtue of the guards being too thick to spot you at more than about 40 feet. There's no clever hiding or skulking. There are no interesting approach tactics. You just get close, watch a cut-scene, and then strike. You seldom do this without alerting the target and his guards - instead you either give chase before planting a dagger in his throat, or you get into the usual sort of block-and-counter fight and go at it until you've stabbed him enough to get the final cut-scene.

Then you run away until nobody can see you and you can duck into a bale of hay or a rooftop shack until the alert indicator's run down.

If this all sounds familiar and slightly disappointing, then I've picked the right words. It is. It would be lovely to wax flowery like Jim did about Crysis. But there simply isn't any variety to wax about. Enemies spot you and then surround you and you either kill them or leg it and hide. That's it. There's almost no fun to be had just playing with the world. The castle at Masyaf looks like Lara Croft's mansion, but dreams of climbing around exploring it are just that, as you struggle and fail to gain any purchase or hop between ledges and lips that ought to support you.

'Assassin's Creed' Screenshot 5

You ride the horse around the Kingdom bit. It's a nice horse.

By contrast, Crackdown is a much better and more imaginative free-roaming action game, and its very existence dulls the impact of a lot of Assassin's Creed's inventions. Creed's collectibles - flags hidden around each city - are less visible but also less exciting than Agility Orbs. Having to reach the peak of viewpoint towers is less satisfying than getting to Agency Supply Points because, despite articulating one of the best and most interesting platform game schemes in memory, Ubisoft doesn't really challenge you with it. In fact, there are only one or two viewpoints you'll have trouble reaching in the whole game.

It might seem a bit unfair to make such a song and dance of a comparison with a game that - on one platform at least - Creed isn't even up against, but by the end the glove fits so completely that it's impossible to ignore your fingers poking out of the holes, feeling around for missing comforts. For two such similar games to succeed in the same year, the second one has to be up to the quality of the first, or distinguish itself enough to evade comparison. Assassin's Creed sadly doesn't.

It even trips and stumbles on all the old quirks and flaws we're tired of: NPCs who say the same thing over and over again (worse: different voice actors saying the same thing for each city - get used to "You dirty thief, I'll have your hand for that"), guards who get stuck glitching up against walls, failing missions for arbitrary reasons, a third-person camera with which you're often forced to wrestle. After about hour four, the most amusing thing is checking the Achievements screen to discover there's one for beating up female beggars. Er?

'Assassin's Creed' Screenshot 6

Apart from climbing things, you spend most of your time fighting like this. Hold the right trigger and press X when someone advances. Repeat 500 times.

Even more damning is that the game's big reveal falls almost completely flat. You see it coming a mile off, and then it stands there going "Ta-da!" And - perhaps with a view to filling out the inevitable sequels - there's little in the way of resolution anyway. One storyline concludes, in similarly predictable fashion, and the other just winks at you and then buggers off. I don't think I've ever stared at a credits screen in as much disbelief and disappointment. Not helped all that much by the preceding hour of gameplay, which consists entirely of fighting. Fighting fighting fighting. Had enough of fighting? Good, because there's some fighting to do.

It's a fitting end to a game that starts off brightly, wriggling elusively as you try and grasp what's going on, delighting in the mechanics and beautiful visuals, before sinking into a pattern that, while fairly gratifying, never evolves and ultimately becomes a bit boring, and quite amazingly repetitive. After each briefing, you travel the same route to the Masyaf border with no way to skip the journey, and it takes five minutes. You will play to the end anyway, I imagine, because it's not very frustrating, it looks nice and the low-level mechanics are engagingly fluid and spectacular to watch. And you certainly want to know what's going on. Or will do, until it stops dazzling to deceive and goes a bit Dan Brown. But while there's no end of potential to the foundations Ubisoft Montreal has set, the game built upon them is ultimately disappointing, and leaves you unfulfilled.

7 / 10

Read the Eurogamer.net scoring policy
Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (389) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • decibel #1 4 years ago

    ooooouch!

  • KingOfSpain #2 4 years ago

    Thats gotta hurt!!

  • Aretak #3 4 years ago

    Score seems about right judging by the video review I witnessed.

  • Cuke #4 4 years ago

    well thats a bit of a surprise...

  • bicky316 #5 4 years ago

    My prediction was right!

    Damn...

  • the_sas_man #6 4 years ago

    do i cancel pre-order or not?

  • KingOfSpain #7 4 years ago

    It least we can save a few pennies for Mass Effect and Mario now eh?

  • the_sas_man #8 4 years ago

    yay just cancelled it! I was too unsure about this but im no graphics whore. Mass Effect is a dead cert tho. But this - think its best to rent.

  • Danbojones Verified Senior Staff Writer, GamesIndustry.biz #9 4 years ago

    I can hear weeping...

  • el_pollo_diablo #10 4 years ago

    So then, it was rolled out as fast as possible to make the biggest possible impact during the annual Christian festival?

    Not unlike like the crusades themselves.

    /awards medal to self for services to comedy.

  • Killerbee #11 4 years ago

    Surprised by the 7/10, but reading through the review, it seems fair based on the comments. I am disappointed though, as I had high hopes for this and most of the previews seemed to indicate it was going to be a solid title.

  • peteb #12 4 years ago

    a little part of me just died inside :(

  • Agent_Llama #13 4 years ago

    The video review earlier sullied my taste for this game and this review further adds to that. I suspect it's better to spend the £££ on the plethora of other gaming delights being hurled at us from all directions in the coming weeks and wait until this is in the second-hand section.

  • bicky316 #14 4 years ago

    Remember 7 still makes it a good game, it just doesn't seem so good because it was so hyped up!

  • Eighthours #15 4 years ago

    Bit of a shame, this. The big question is whether Ubi simply ran out of time, or whether some of the design decisions weren't as good as they could be, right from the start. My money's on the latter.

    While some parts sound unpolished, others just sound like bad design choices.

    I've still got this ordered, though. Worth a playthrough, methinks.

  • tesodosbichos #16 4 years ago

    The reviewer comes across as a petulant toddler who wants everything and now. The fact remains that Assassin's Creed more than holds its own against the current titles available but also introduces the framework of what next generation games and true open-ended gameplay should be about. It was never going to live up to the unrealistic expectations put upon it but it still delivers a very good gaming experience and one that all other developers will need to take note of. To have it rated as low as it was and below that of the same old Halo is frankly laughable.
    Edited by 1 at 13/11/07 @ 17:15

  • espy #17 4 years ago

    Ouch. What a pity!

    But admittedly the combat did appear to be terribly wonky in the videos. No, correction, the combat looked amazing, but the sensationally daft enemies spoiled it completely.

    "I'll just stand here while you murder my colleagues. No really, go ahead, it would be impolite to interrupt."

  • Brianstorm #18 4 years ago

    oh well Mazza is here on Friday!

  • funkyd #19 4 years ago

    Oh. My. God.

    /faints

  • captainrentboy #20 4 years ago

    Aww bloody hell, I was kind of hoping for solid 8s and 9s all round, nevermind, I'll still give it a bash though, anything to get away from the constant stream of FPS titles, and I get my lil discount at Game anyway.
    Oh and I'm one oif the few freaks that is in no way excited about Mass Effect, so it's not like I've gotta save moolah for that.

  • Aretak #21 4 years ago

    "The reviewer comes across as a petulant toddler who wants everything and now."

    You sound like either an Ubisoft employee or a bitter fanboy. Which is it?

  • fightman #22 4 years ago

    ive had this game since saturday from usenet, and it is indeed shit.

  • the_sas_man #23 4 years ago

    well at least it brought us Jade Raymond...bless her little thong

  • Dynamize #24 4 years ago

    Wow, it takes some skill to make assassination, sword fighting and parkour repetitive and boring.

  • drumbaby #25 4 years ago

    This always looked a bit pooh. No real surprises then.

  • Lionheart #26 4 years ago

    :( NO WAY!!!!

  • Disco_Stu360 #27 4 years ago

    Its a shame...

  • rhinoxious #28 4 years ago

    Silver lining - at least this can wait till next year now.

  • BiscuitBase #29 4 years ago

    Would have been 5/10 if it wasn't for Jade Raymond

  • Madder-Max #30 4 years ago

    Hmmmm...imposed time limits. thats this game off my list then.

  • thedaveeyres #31 4 years ago

    Hate to say I saw this coming a mile off....

  • the_sas_man #32 4 years ago

    what destroyed this for e was the video review on Gametrailers showing the poor ai.

    You assassinate somebody, then simply hold down the A button and u effectively become invisible?! whats the point.

    Shame because it has to be one of (if not THE) best looking game on the 360 right now.

  • SleepyMagpie #33 4 years ago

    Just what I thought. Must be developing clairvoyance.

    Roll on Mass Effect.

  • SeesThroughAll #34 4 years ago

    What are people so disappointed about?

    It doesn't look like a bad game, it's just not as awesome as expected.

    It looks lovely and has interesting gameplay, it just becomes repetitive, with boring combat, and...




    ...




    :(

  • JDub #35 4 years ago

    'After each briefing, you travel the same route to the Masyaf border with no way to skip the journey'

    The 1up review mentioned something about being able to warp to already found destinations - Not sure how, but still...

    /considers switching pre-order to uncharted

  • jaxon58 #36 4 years ago

    This score doesn't surprise me, it's looked very much like Prince of Persia to me all the way. No idea where the hype came from.

  • SeesThroughAll #37 4 years ago

    No idea where the hype came from.

    Jade Raymond.

  • afghan_jones #38 4 years ago

    awwwww, dammit!

    was really looking forward to this. Wanted it to be just like being Robin Hood (Note to Ubi, make a Robin Hood game) Dont get me wrong, I love a good FPS as much as the next fellow but really wanted some 3rd person action adventure goodness (without guns) for a change.

    Oh well, back to COD4....


    (although ill probably buy this anyway as one of my now all-too-frequent friday evening blockbusters impluse buys.)

  • Physically_Insane #39 4 years ago

    so stuntman's better than assassin's creed, hmm

  • sweetcheeks #40 4 years ago

    jade you got me all excited for nothing

  • SeesThroughAll #41 4 years ago

    There's a portuguese expression that describes what happened to this game perfectly.

  • el_pollo_diablo #42 4 years ago

    To be fair, 7/10 is still a very good score.

    Well, it should be.

  • Ignatius_Cheese #43 4 years ago

    /slaps tesodosbichos

    Don't you EVER suggest that Tom comes across as a "petulant toddler "! He's only expressing his opinion, which is as valid if not more valid than any comment here otherwise.

    /ruffles Tom's hair...

  • Syrok #44 4 years ago

    I'm still going to buy it after Ratchet&Clank as I'ver never played Crackdown and I like le parkour.

  • the_sas_man #45 4 years ago

    "I don't think I've ever stared at a credits screen in as much disbelief and disappointment."

    Worse than Halo 2's ending? If so then its REALLY bad.

  • beastmaster #46 4 years ago

    Wow. I was once considering buying a PS3 to play this way back when it was announced as an 'exclusive'. Decided to get 360 instead and never looked back. Still may be okay though but I'll wait a wee while before I purchase. Interesting to see what Games TM and Edge say about this (my other trusted sources after Eurogamer).

  • GamerAddict #47 4 years ago

    Christ, everyone's very down about ONE review! You look around the net and its averaging 8-9 in most reviews, this being the first one less than that that I've seen.

    I'd look around a bit, get a few more people's views before making any rash decisions.

    I for one will still be getting it (free with my FHM subscription) and like every other game I've played, making my own decisions! Lets face it, everyone will have their own opinion anyway, no point in cancelling pre-orders based on one person's review!

    AND as some have said, 7 doesn't make it a terrible game. I think I'd be reacting like you lot if it had been given 6 or lower!!!

  • smoothpete #48 4 years ago

    Ubisoft need a kick in the fucking arse about their endings

    GRAW - no ending sequence

    R6:Vegas - no ending sequence

  • Skurmedel #49 4 years ago

    A bit sad, but I kind of expected it, they talked so much about skipping around houses, but the stealthy bit was never mentioned.

  • deaner #50 4 years ago

    Why does the review read exactly like the one on 1UP.com, almost paragraph for paragraph?

  • Machetazo #51 4 years ago

    "There's no clever hiding or skulking. There are no interesting approach tactics. You just get close, watch a cut-scene, and then strike. You seldom do this without alerting the target and his guards - instead you either give chase before planting a dagger in his throat, or you get into the usual sort of block-and-counter fight and go at it until you've stabbed him enough to get the final cut-scene."

    Dear god, NOOOOOO*pauses for breath*oooooooo! /o\
    /hopes dashed
    /cries
    Edited by 1 at 13/11/07 @ 17:34

  • hulahoops #52 4 years ago

    Oops, sounds like someone forgot to hire a decent design team.

    :(

  • Tonka #53 4 years ago

    This review made me want to play Crackdown

  • the_sas_man #54 4 years ago

    "Christ, everyone's very down about ONE review! You look around the net and its averaging 8-9 in most reviews, this being the first one less than that that I've seen."

    You may be right. But personally, I like MANY others on this site only use a select few trusted game sites for reviews. Me personally that is Eurogamer, Games TM (the mag) and gametrailers.

    The tyhing with gametrailers is that they actually give a good review, but never give the right score to match it. So ignore their score and your fine. EWurogamer seems to get the balance just right.

  • JDub #55 4 years ago

    Wow - 57 comments in 33 mins. This is gonna be good...

    /popcorn

  • OrangeGoblin #56 4 years ago

    Sounds like this is one to pass on in the mad Christmas rush, only to return to in the inevitable spring lull.

  • SuperBas #57 4 years ago

    What a surprise! Guess everyone was too busy staring at Jade Raymond to bother seeing if the game was good.

  • the_sas_man #58 4 years ago

    Jade Raymond may redeem herself with a webcam, a shower head and 2 bottles of wine.

  • Eighthours #59 4 years ago

    I for one will still be getting it (free with my FHM subscription)

    *Guffaws*

  • beastmaster #60 4 years ago

    I think what's happened is that there's been quite a few cracking games on all platforms coming out this Xmas, all of which have had excellent reviews. I, for one, was hoping this would be another one.

  • FabricatedLunatic #61 4 years ago

    Score aside, some of the issues raised in the text concern me. Now I'm wondering whether I should send my copy back to GAME, seal intact, as soon as it arrives.

  • the_sas_man #62 4 years ago

    Well my order is cancelled now anyway. Just need to track down a wii with mario and ill be happy again.

  • Dizzy #63 4 years ago

    K.. looks like a budget pickup for me then. I have too many things to play right now.

  • myiagros #64 4 years ago

    still a purchase for me, but i may not start it untill i'm done with a few of the other high profile xmas titles.

    I am fully expecting to agree with this review from what i've seen so far, but some of the mechanics sound interesting and worth checking out.

  • SBfistfun #65 4 years ago

    After months of bs there it is......

  • NickyJD #66 4 years ago

    All you Jade loving hippies have been owned, glad to see that big fake smile slapped off her dumb face. Her game is a bigger flop than LAIR.

    HAHA take that you skanky whore.

  • rudedudejude #67 4 years ago

    Garret wins agains! Woopeee!

  • Hughes. #68 4 years ago

    Hmm, this may have just freed up my game budget for Silent Hill Origins, and with a few quid to spare too. I have CoD4 and Ratchet to keep me entertained, so no great loss. I may buy it later, cheaper though, for the prettiness.

  • rhinoxious #69 4 years ago

    My only worry about this not selling well is that it'll be another interesting setting that hasn't done well at retail.

    I so wanted this to be good because it wasn't the usual fantasy, or sci-fi, or modern warfare settings.

  • Machetazo #70 4 years ago

    "CHRIST everyone's down about one review"

    Tom, who's actually played the full game, mentioned in his review deal-breaking shortcomings. He clearly supported the opinion he offered on the game, and the score given holds up to what he wrote. I've read through several less well-detailed reviews before this (this one focusses helpfully on what the game's actually like to play, a piece of info that you'd think might be handy before deciding whether to purchase) and whilst other reviews also point out niggles, here its illustrated on how they effect gameplay.
    Sorry, Altair; but I'm out.
    Edited by 1 at 13/11/07 @ 17:52

  • Apostle #71 4 years ago

    "No idea where the hype came from.

    Jade Raymond."

    Yeah, right. Was getting pretty tired of that to be honest, was seeing more of her face that the game. Which was, erm, bad? Well, if you're a developer, you want the focus on your game, right?

  • Eighthours #72 4 years ago

    Her game is a bigger flop than LAIR.

    Hasn't our immigrant quota for this year from Planet Moron been exhausted yet?

  • Sid-Nice #73 4 years ago

    I think Jade Raymond is a dog.

  • the_sas_man #74 4 years ago

    If this game scores consistent 5 out of 10's it will still sell by the bucketload. The hype is too great for it not to succeed. Hopefully the sequel will sort out the shorcomings then we will all be happy.

  • shido #75 4 years ago

    "If this game scores consistent 5 out of 10's it will still sell by the bucketload. The hype is too great for it not to succeed. Hopefully the sequel will sort out the shorcomings then we will all be happy."

    You are a silly little man.

  • alimokrane #76 4 years ago

    / Goes to a corner and Weeps! :(

    My god. a part of me honestly has just died!

  • PearOfAnguish #77 4 years ago

    "Well, if you're a developer, you want the focus on your game, right?"

    Indeed, but then Jade Raymond is just a PR plant.
    Sort out a less transparent gimmick next time, Ubi.

    "this being the first one less than that that I've seen."

    Wait 'til the mag reviews are published...


  • Feanor #78 4 years ago

    I knew it!

  • ASHBERY76 #79 4 years ago

    Eurogamer only loves EA/MICROSOFT FPS games it seems.After the Witcher score this sites reviews mean shit.
    Edited by 1 at 13/11/07 @ 18:03

  • Azazel #80 4 years ago

    Hasn't our immigrant quota for this year from Planet Moron been exhausted yet?

    glol!

  • JediMasterMalik #81 4 years ago

    Sounds like a pretty average game in a frankly gorgeous coat. Quite thankfull really. I still don't have time to play all my games.

  • Jade_Raymond #82 4 years ago

    I think Jade Raymond is a dog.

    What makes you think that?
    Edited by 1 at 13/11/07 @ 18:08

  • neuroniky #83 4 years ago

    So, it's one for the bargain bin.

    At least it's one less to buy before XMas...

    /sigh of relief

  • Kryon #84 4 years ago

    @f3rrari

    Oh do STFU please, just because it looks great doesn't mean it's teh R3AL N3XT G3N and is teh AAA 150/10....

    I'm actually saddened by this, I had really high hopes...Shame. :(

  • Azazel #85 4 years ago

    Oh and:

    Some people here still think the marking system begins at 7?

    If you think it's going to be good and want to buy it then THAT'S OK. If you don't want to buy it then FUCKING DON'T. Jesus Christ.

    /realises every comments thread is like this, calms self

  • PearOfAnguish #86 4 years ago

    "Visually Assassin's Creed looks breath taking. Next gen has arrived, finally, and about time too."


    Hahaha

  • Tyronne #87 4 years ago

    You know what would not a miss now and again , at the end of the review another reviewer is given the chance to air their views.

  • Kryon #88 4 years ago

    Hey, Jade Raymond, I don't think you're a dog, your game is not as impressive as I'd hoped but you still have nice bewbs, which is at least a small consolation to me!

  • spekkeh #89 4 years ago

    Ah, so the first few reviews were rushed then. Thought it would boil down to this, style over substance.

    "Bit of a shame, this. The big question is whether Ubi simply ran out of time, or whether some of the design decisions weren't as good as they could be, right from the start. My money's on the latter. "

    My guess is it suffered a bit from feature creep "Oi wouldn't it be nice if you could sort of like bump into people without knocking them over, and then your cape would billow like so..". And all the while forgetting that they should be making an entertaining game.

    Jade, if you need a comforting shoulder...

  • Kryon #90 4 years ago

    Let this be a lesson to us all, teh gurlz iz good for teh bewbs but not for teh making games.

  • Chris Gardiner #91 4 years ago

    /reads review

    Oh dear.

    Oh dear, oh dear.

    Oh well. Saves me £30.

  • gaselite #92 4 years ago

    Sounds like an ambitious and worthwhile experiment with a few disappointing shortcomings. Seems like the foundations have very much been laid for an excellent franchise in the future though, and I'm quite looking forward to playing it, despite the valid criticisms levelled at it in this review. Curse the one week delay down here in Aus.

  • chronom4n #93 4 years ago

    imagine the level of detail in the sound if you can eavesdrop on the conversations of folks around you and the sound of gripping on different surfaces. This game will really immerse you in the world of assassins creed. The sound of the blade as it digs into the flesh of the victim, the horses running around and allsorts of commotion being created. Just itiching to hear the sound.

  • BremXJones #94 4 years ago

    Idly, I'm going to be watching this thread carefully, and anyone who goes on about the games' producer in it will be added to my list of people to carefully ignore in future for being misogynistic gits.

    Because, really, you should consider growing up.

    KG

  • markypants #95 4 years ago

    I knew it! I just knew it. I could feel it in my bones that this game wasn't going to live up to the hype. Everything felt wrong about the run up to its release. never mind a 7 is a pretty reasonable score. Just a shame when it had so much promise.

  • Splush #96 4 years ago

    I did always wonder where all the rabid excitement was coming from with this game, the mechanics have always looked kind of dodgy in gameplay videos. I really hoped they would pull it together at the last minute because an intelligent assassination game in that world and game engine could be so great.

    Ugh, I want to play this but I dunno if I can put up with the flaws mentioned in the review. I'm torn.

  • wobbly_Bob #97 4 years ago

    So far on Metacritic http://ww w.metacritic.com/games/platform... the game is getting 92 percent from reviews in so far and 92 percent from users.

    This is only one review,
    Edited by 1 at 13/11/07 @ 18:32

  • NickyJD #98 4 years ago

    Good add me to your ignore list, delusions of fucking grandeur , like Jade skank Redmond.

    You two would be great together.

  • gaselite #99 4 years ago

    So, does anybody here like forming opinions for themselves?

    Anyone?

    Oh.

  • BremXJones #100 4 years ago

    You know - I've never actually ignored someone before. I now discover it literally removes them from existence. Other places where I've ignored people have a little "Post Missing" bar.

    I can solipistically annihilate people from existence. It's quite a thrill.

    KG

  • Scimarad #101 4 years ago

    Didn't see that coming to be honest. I also expected the score to be lower than seven after reading that review...

  • BadBoyBonner #102 4 years ago

    "A game that starts off brightly, wriggling elusively as you try and grasp what's going on, delighting in the mechanics and beautiful visuals, before sinking into a pattern that, while fairly gratifying, never evolves and ultimately becomes a bit boring, and quite amazingly repetitive."

    ANYONE else think the above comments should have been slapped on the Bioshock review?

  • Emth #103 4 years ago

    You only have to watch the gamebreaking AI problems in the gametrailers.com review to see that the ending score is at least a little inaccurate. They also gave 9.7 for the story which I'm guessing reviewers like Edge and EG completely disagree with.

  • BremXJones #104 4 years ago

    Awesome. The count on the front page says it's higher than the actual one - so presumably there's a post from geezer saying "I hate girl's because of what's between their legs and you are also what's between their legs, BremXJones" or whatever nearby.

    And I don't know! Aces. Is he funny, anyone? Or is he just being a nasty little sexist git?

    KG

  • PearOfAnguish #105 4 years ago

    "Idly, I'm going to be watching this thread carefully, and anyone who goes on about the games' producer in it will be added to my list of people to carefully ignore in future for being misogynistic gits."

    It's not the fact that Ms Raymond is a lady and *SHOCK* working on a video game, but that she was quite blatantly nothing more than an attractive mouthpiece put there to appeal to horny teenagers. She probably knows as much about game design and programming as I do about flying a space shuttle.

  • MrWonderstuff #106 4 years ago

    Be interesting if KG has had a chance to play it. Opinions if this is the case?

  • Phattso #107 4 years ago

    Given that it's a three page review, and how negative the last two pages were, I was honestly expecting a "BUT! None of that matters because here's the thing that makes it the best game ever..." Pisser. 7/10 is still a decent score, but I had started to believe that the game was going to be something truly special.

    The premise is interesting enough to pick up as a rental, I think, but almost certainly not a purchase for me now unless it gets relegated to bargain bins in the new year.

  • bonker #108 4 years ago

    I said a week or two ago that this had 7-8/10 plus 1 or 2 for the hype factor written all over it ...

    Respect for EG for not falling for the hype.

    It's a great concept and unfortunately, Ubi are selling it on the hype alone without the necessary effort and polish required to thrust it well and truly into new AAA IP territory - sadly predictable really ...

  • t8yman #109 4 years ago

    I'm amazed gametrailers came to that conclusion on the score, the video review basically said

    great looking, little substance.

    bit like jade raymond then?

  • Triggerhappytel #110 4 years ago

    Nice review EG, and it's good to see you were not influenced by this game's enormous hype.

  • Jade_Raymond #111 4 years ago

    Why so much hateship against a person you barely know?

  • BremXJones #112 4 years ago

    Pear: There's the thing - how much do you know about Raymond's background?(Clue: You don't) Or did you presume it because - y'know - she's more attractive than Gabe Newell?

    Frankly, the wanky SHIT! A GURL! response around Assassin's Creed has been embarassing for everyone - both the people lusting after her and the people who dismiss her because they /could/ lust after her. Since it's only going to get worse because the game seems to be not what everyone was hoping for*, I thought it worth saying something publicly about it.

    For God's sake, grow up the lot of you. It's possible to hate a game without being sexist bastards.

    KG

    *Of course, if it was the world's best game ever, people wouldn't credit her with anything to do with it.

  • MrWonderstuff #113 4 years ago

    Team Xbox have a review up...

    OOer

  • Darren #114 4 years ago

    Oooooo good but not amazing score; not exactly unexpected really from the numerous "repetitive" comments I've been hearing elsewhere. Still my game has been sent from Gameplay now and I am looking forward to discovering just how good it is for myself.

  • Inquisitor #115 4 years ago

    Read all about it:

    Eurogamer rocked by sexism and racism scandal.

    -On monday 12th Novemember racial equality champion Razz Razzington highlighted the growing problem of the use of the term 'orientals' on supposed 'gaming' site eurogamer
    -Just one day later acclaimed journalist Kieran Gillen spoke out against the tide of sexism washing the notoriously rabid comments section of the site.

  • urban #116 4 years ago

    so they've made a brilliant engine but not a good game with it.

    i can live with that.

  • BremXJones #117 4 years ago

    Inquisitor: I missed that entirely. Where was that?

    KG

  • keith123 #118 4 years ago

    EG built this up like it was gonna be a blockbuster, looks like next time they shouldn't believe the hype.
    I was believing it too until I seen a combat video on youtube a few weeks back and it was very poor.

  • Jac #119 4 years ago

    This game was always going to disappoint from the moment they showed that video with the terrible combat, you could see it wasn't going to be up to it. It had the much potential to be one of the greatest games ever and even though 7 is a decent score, for a game with a concept like this it's catastrophic.

    They blew it.

    (The graphics are amazing however so pat on the back)

  • UncleLou #120 4 years ago

    Sounds good to me - I personally had more fun this year with EG's 7s and 8s than with the 9s and 10s - not that I necessarily disagreed with the scores, often the games had some flaws, but all in all they were simply more my cup of tea.

  • Inquisitor #121 4 years ago

    It really is quite a read KG

    [link url=http://www.eurogamer.net/forum_thr ead_posts.php?thread_id=99175&category_id=32
    ]http://ww w.eurogamer.net/forum_thread_po...[/link]

  • Calgon #122 4 years ago

    Shame its not AAA but I doubt it will be a bad game.

    /thinks about sticking up for Jade in the hopes of a shag... nah lol
    Edited by 2 at 13/11/07 @ 19:08

  • PearOfAnguish #123 4 years ago

    "Pear: There's the thing - how much do you know about Raymond's background?(Clue: You don't) Or did you presume it because - y'know - she's more attractive than Gabe Newell? "

    Untwist your panties, Gillen. It's bugger all to do with her gender, I'm questioning what skills and experience she has to qualify her to lead a team working on a major game. Granted, I don't know much about the details of game development, but I'd have thought you need to have done more than some art and production on a couple of MMOs to be considered for a role like that. With the way she's been promoted almost as much as the game and her odd behaviour during live demos, it's not a major leap to assume that she has been put in place simply because of her pretty face. It's not like Ubisoft are strangers to that kind of thing.

    And you shouting down anybody who dares voice a negative comment about her because she's a girl is just as sexist as the hairy-palm crew salivating over her pictures. Would you be doing that if it was just some guy?

  • BremXJones #124 4 years ago

    Pear: Put it like this - why on earth are we even talking about it?

    KG

  • BremXJones #125 4 years ago

    Inquisitor: Christ. I can't deal with that.

    KG

  • Slim #126 4 years ago

    I so had this down as a Thief/GTA cross, feh.

  • Calgon #127 4 years ago

    BremXJones same reason we talk about any producer(difference being a male producer has to put a lot of hours in before he gets mentioned alot), its expected it will go off topic a bit she's an attractive Female... why do we care so much, I'm sure like any other producer she doesnt give a shit. If this is her first producing role for a game then you have to cut her some slack though, didnt do half bad but a bad choice from the publishers point of view thats a big project to start off on.
    Edited by 3 at 13/11/07 @ 19:13

  • dr_swin #128 4 years ago

    yeh, i guessed at 7. just disappointed they didnt use my 'kingdom of seven' tagline.

  • PearOfAnguish #129 4 years ago

    We are talking about it because this is a major release that's been hyped for years, and Ubisoft insisted on carting out their trophy staff member at every opportunity. If you want to wail on somebody for being sexist, go have a word with Ubisoft. I'm not questioning this obvious marketing ploy because the game is bad and there's a woman supposedly in charge, but because it's misleading, embarrassing and backwards.
    Edited by 1 at 13/11/07 @ 19:10

  • elrasho #130 4 years ago

    I knew this was overhyped, just by looking at the videos from the last view months.

  • SeesThroughAll #131 4 years ago

    Just to change the subject, does anyone know WTF happened to the enemy AI? Was this limitation imposed by the PS3 version, as some people say?

    What you can see in the gametrailers video review (enemies passively waiting for their turn to die) completely breaks the immersion in any game.

    @PearOfAnguish: Nowhere do I find anyone judging the game to be bad. It just didn't live up to the exaggerated hype.
    Edited by 2 at 13/11/07 @ 19:13

  • oldergamer #132 4 years ago

    This has to be one of the worst threads on EG... pathetic. Great review though.

  • gaselite #133 4 years ago

    For what it's worth, wikipedia, that most reliable of sources, says that Ms Raymond has a degree in comp sci, so maybe she knows a bit about this computer lark after all.

  • PearOfAnguish #134 4 years ago

    "Just to change the subject, does anyone know WTF happened to the enemy AI?"

    Focus on the visuals at the expense of the AI, probably. Could also explain the shoddy plot.

  • Tonka #135 4 years ago

    Some of my best friends are 7/10s

  • MrWonderstuff #136 4 years ago

    "trophy staff member"

    That's harsh mate. She's the producer, why shouldnt she be talking about the game to punters. There were also others who were interviewed (the lead tech guy for instance I saw many a time). To be honest this is the reason the industry is so male dominated and I don't blame women for not being part of it. Also forums show the best and worst sides of the human species this thread being a good example of it.

    Some chill pills need to taken.

  • Inquisitor #137 4 years ago

    There's a brief summary in this thread,

    [link url=http://www.eurogamer.net/forum_thr ead_posts.php?thread_id=99199&category_id=75
    ]http://ww w.eurogamer.net/forum_thread_po...[/link]

    Only a few posts long as well.

  • rudedudejude #138 4 years ago

    lol @ NickyJD & http://i1 2.tinypic.com/4mmwg8k.jpg%3Cbr%...

    ... Oh so many captions....oh so little time...

  • BremXJones #139 4 years ago

    Calgon: Point - but what I was really talking about was the assumption she's a corporate mouthpiece. Her credits are questioned in a way which no other fronts-persons get (And - Pear - Mobygames isn't really a complete source of information in any way. She's programmed at Sony. And even if you're assuming that's a lie, she's got a Comp Sci degree. She knows how to bloody program).

    Yes, Frontspeople from games get slagged. But they don't get gender-centric sexist insults which are really saddening and what I wanted to say about.

    Does she give a toss? Who knows. I hope she has hard skin, but - y'know - people are people and to see a thread full of people like that isn't a nice thing (Especially attached to a relatively downbeat review). I mean, people have been insulting me forever and stuff occasionally throws me.

    Human empathy and decency are the least we can expect. It's not so hard.

    And, I suspect, that's my last words on the topic. Be nice, people.

    KG

  • espy #140 4 years ago

    Amazing amount of sexist idiots in this comment thread.

  • Nemesis2K #141 4 years ago

    Wow .. never expected all that last page. Not as spectacular as the hype machine made it out to be... dang!

  • Mugwum Verified Operations Director, Eurogamer Network #142 4 years ago

    A few responses:

    Killerbee:

    "most of the previews seemed to indicate it was going to be a solid title"

    That's understandable - it definitely makes a strong first impression, but over the 15-20 hours it takes to finish it the flash wears away. A shame, but as someone else in the thread points out, 7/10 is still "good". It's just not what it might have been.


    JDub:

    "'After each briefing, you travel the same route to the Masyaf border with no way to skip the journey' ... The 1up review mentioned something about being able to warp to already found destinations - Not sure how, but still..."

    You can warp from the edge the Masyaf border to any of the cities you've already visited (dodging the Kingdom area travel) and you can launch yourself back to Masyaf once you've finished a mission in one of the cities. But there's still a lot of unnecessary plodding around on foot. I assume this was meant to encourage playing around with the world, but there's surprisingly little to do, which is why it grates.

    I'm inclined to agree with the idea that a bit of extra time and polish could have given it a real bump. The platforming in particular is just dying to be put to better use. Scaling the cathedral in Acre is the sort of challenge the game should have made a bigger deal of emphasising, but instead it's an isolated moment of decency in that area.


    the_sas_man:

    "Worse than Halo 2's ending? If so then its REALLY bad."

    It at least concludes (partially), but I think there's going to be a fair bit of gawping unhappily at what occurs. As I said at the outset, I've deliberately avoided talking about the "other" elements of the game - that's partly because it's fun to have that to look forward to, but also partly because it doesn't make enough of an impact to really deserve considered dissection, which says a lot too.

    Not to say that you shouldn't read around to inform your purchase decisions (I would), but upon skimming a few places this afternoon there's definitely a lot of chatter about what else goes on, and if you're tangled up in the desire to find out about that then you will want to tread carefully.


    deaner:

    "Why does the review read exactly like the one on 1UP.com, almost paragraph for paragraph?"

    I suspect we played the same game! But to set your mind at rest, I wrote this on Monday morning. I haven't read the 1UP review yet but I'm aware of the score and I've heard it's quite savage. It's worth bearing in mind that I'm not sure how they use the 1-10 scale elsewhere, but it's always possible that they're harsher on 7s or whatever. As someone else rightly pointed out, 7/10 here is a positive response with reservations rather than a slagging.


    Emth:

    "They also gave 9.7 for the story which I'm guessing reviewers like Edge and EG completely disagree with."

    No, I'm not particularly enamoured with it, but it's worth pointing out that while it has a bearing on the impression the game leaves, it doesn't ruin what's good about it - and as the review says, there is a fair amount. I also think that once it hits on Friday a lot of people will play it for a couple of hours and then get cross with me, play it for 10 more and then go "oh".


    PearOfAnguish:

    "It's not the fact that Ms Raymond is a lady and *SHOCK* working on a video game, but that she was quite blatantly nothing more than an attractive mouthpiece put there to appeal to horny teenagers."

    I don't think that's fair. I've met Jade and talked to her about the game and that's not the impression she left me with.


    keith123:

    "EG built this up like it was gonna be a blockbuster, looks like next time they shouldn't believe the hype."

    As I said above (and in the review), it demos really, really well. It's genuinely very exciting up to the point when it becomes clear how it works, what it's doing, and that it's not going anywhere else with it.

    By the way, I'll be checking the thread tonight if anyone has any queries about stuff not mentioned in the review.

  • chrisola #143 4 years ago

    7/10 ain't a bad score, and its just one persons opinion.

    Halo 3 was massively over hyped and the biggest let down for games this year...boring game, crap ending etc etc.... this at least looks like a fairly decent attempt at bringing something new and different to gaming (with the Parkour and crowd interaction stuff).

    I'll buy it, complete it, then trade it back + £14.99 at Blockbuster for Mass Effect, and probably be happy!

  • rudedudejude #144 4 years ago

    I'm sure their pressure to get it out for Xmas was crazy.

  • bdc #145 4 years ago

    OOOOH BURN

  • old_skool #146 4 years ago

    I really don't understand what the issue is here...

  • Kryon #147 4 years ago

    BremXJones, get a girlfriend, then you can drop the phony knight in white armour act. It's an EG comments section and you are not Jades personal minder so give it a rest, you just look desperate and silly.

  • Kostabi #148 4 years ago

    I cancelled my Assassin's Creed pre-order the other day as I wouldn't have time to play it and Mass Effect and one needed to go. Even so I'm disappointed that it only got 7/10 after all the promise it was showing earlier in the year.

    From reading the review my biggest let down is what sounds like a really repetitive experience once the novelty wears off.

    It does leave me confuzzled though as I'm enjoying Resistance immensely and that only got 6/10, I think it's just a case of anything less than an 8 isn't an instant purchase, for me at least.

  • Escape #149 4 years ago

    Suddenly, it feels like many of us pitched into Deadly Shadows unfairly. Despite the lack of rope arrows, and the dull city, and the multiple boring levels, it had the fundamentals nailed.

  • Kos-Mos #150 4 years ago

    O_O Real REVIEW

    http://ww w.gametrailers.com/player/27754...

  • gaselite #151 4 years ago

    Tom, don't suppose you or anyone else at EG has spent time with the PS3 version? I haven't really been properly torn with a multiplatform choice between the two yet and I don't want to find myself significantly shortchanged somehow with the PS3 version, which they seem to have been a bit hesitant to demo with.

    Also, do you perhaps think the fact that you're worked to a deadline to complete and review the game by a certain time means that the repetition weighs a bit more heavily on you than it might to the average punter who could pace the game a bit more at their own leisure (a concern I sometimes have with some reviews, not necessarily on EG, where repetition is cited as a major criticism)?
    Edited by 1 at 13/11/07 @ 19:31

  • SeesThroughAll #152 4 years ago

    Tom, don't suppose you or anyone else at EG has spent time with the PS3 version?

    You already know the answer to that question, though, don't you?
    Edited by 1 at 13/11/07 @ 19:35

  • zoidberg #153 4 years ago

    Nice review.

  • gaselite #154 4 years ago

    "You know already know the answer to that question, though, don't you?"

    haha, yeah, at least the one week delay in Aus is handy in that respect, I expect some people that have played it will weigh in on that aspect in the next week or so.

  • Mugwum Verified Operations Director, Eurogamer Network #155 4 years ago

    gaselite:

    "Tom, don't suppose you or anyone else at EG has spent time with the PS3 version? I haven't really been properly torn with a multiplatform choice between the two yet and I don't want to find myself significantly shortchanged somehow with the PS3 version, which they seem to have been a bit hesitant to demo with. "

    I've got both versions, yep. I reviewed on the 360, then poked around with the PS3 build. I haven't played it significantly on PS3, but I would say that performance in the early sections is certainly comparable. It isn't a SKATE scenario, anyway. If you're nervous, hang on for Rich Leadbetter's next Face-Off - he has a much better eye for the platform variations than I do.

    "Also, do you perhaps think the fact that you're worked to a deadline to complete and review the game by a certain time means that the repetition weighs a bit more heavily on you than it might to the average punter who could pace the game a bit more at their own leisure (a concern I have with some reviews, not necessarily on EG, where repetition is cited as a criticism)?"

    Actually for Assassin's Creed the situation was unusually relaxed. I got the game on Wednesday and was able to play through it across Thursday, Friday and Saturday in fairly equal chunks. I then took a day to think about it and poke around the world, wrote the text on Monday, and played around with it on Monday afternoon again to make sure. So no, I'd say the repetition will weigh equally heavily, particularly since in AC's case, it's not just doing similar things but doing exactly the same things over and over again except the bad guys have different accents.

  • Eighthours #156 4 years ago

    ...and Ubisoft insisted on carting out their trophy staff member at every opportunity.

    Trophy staff member? Or someone who built up anticipation about the title by being good at PR?

    BremXJones, get a girlfriend, then you can drop the phony knight in white armour act. It's an EG comments section and you are not Jades personal minder so give it a rest, you just look desperate and silly.

    Or he's been well brought up and isn't a complete twat. I know where my vote goes, Mr Caveman.

  • bonker #157 4 years ago

    "For what it's worth, wikipedia, that most reliable of sources, says that Ms Raymond has a degree in comp sci, so maybe she knows a bit about this computer lark after all. "

    I sincerely hope that you're just being ultra-dry with that must-be-a-piss-take comment :)

  • MORZTAN #158 4 years ago

    Come on... Seriously! The word "ass" is represented two times in the title. Did you really think it would be any good?

  • dom6918 #159 4 years ago

    heck metacritic.com other reviewers are being a little more generous! some even giving it a 10!

  • krudster #160 4 years ago

    I've met Jade too, and can honestly say she's possibly one of the most coherant, clued up people I've ever interviewed. The fact that she's easy on the eye is a nice bonus, nothing more.

  • Brianstorm #161 4 years ago

    My post from 26/10

    'got a feeling this will be a 6 ot 7 out of 10.... '

    There you go....

  • Mugwum Verified Operations Director, Eurogamer Network #162 4 years ago

    "The fact that she's easy on the eye is a nice bonus, nothing more."

    You're pretty easy on the eye, Kristan. I don't know if I've ever told you that. Rrrr.

  • UncleLou #163 4 years ago

    you just look desperate and silly.

    He's not going to dethrone you in that particular area of expertise anytime soon, don't you worry.

  • gaselite #164 4 years ago

    Cheers, Tom, good to know (re: the first question, at least).
    Edited by 1 at 13/11/07 @ 19:56

  • ostrasized #165 4 years ago

    Ewww! You two, get a room!

  • patchbox360 #166 4 years ago


    pre review what real reason did anyone have for believing this game would be good?? idiots

    'well at least it brought us Jade Raymond...bless her little thong '

    true indeed

  • Weezer #167 4 years ago

    "I can solipistically annihilate people from existence. It's quite a thrill. "

    Poster Ignored

    EDIT: Wordy tosser spelt solipsistically wrong. Ha!
    Edited by 1 at 13/11/07 @ 20:09

  • konniehuqfan #168 4 years ago

    last time i trust a pretty laydee.

  • MrFlintBlackman #169 4 years ago

    You know your all going to buy this regardless of the comments you all make ; )

  • Red-Moose #170 4 years ago

    Obviously because it was also on PS3 it gets a 7. If it was 360 only it would be 8 or even 9.

  • Calgon #171 4 years ago

    BremXJones yeah like I say mustnt forget this is her first producing role, but that brings us back to the question was she the right choice for such a big project for Ubi? If it sells, then yes it was a good decision, for the wrong reasons but sales are sales. Of course we dont know if whoever else they had in mind would have done any better at all or worse too but its the principles of it.

    She will probably end up being pretty damn good at it when you think about it, my point is would a guy of the same skill level/experience have been given such a great opportunity with a big project like this on his debut though? Well no matter the reasons its probably good that people can see now that a female(an atttractive one is just the Icing on the cake lol) can make it in the games industry, thats a first and about time(someone will probably find another female producer on google just to be clever now ;) ), perhaps it will do the industry good.
    Edited by 3 at 13/11/07 @ 20:15

  • Feanor #172 4 years ago

    "Idly, I'm going to be watching this thread carefully, and anyone who goes on about the games' producer in it will be added to my list of people to carefully ignore in future for being misogynistic gits."

    You should check the forum thread for what PESFanboy has said, hehe.
    Edited by 1 at 13/11/07 @ 20:14

  • BremXJones #173 4 years ago

    Calgon: There's lots of female producers. Some of them seem reticent about actually taking as public a role as Jade has. Could have many reasons, but I can speculate about one of them...

    KG

  • Les #174 4 years ago

    Never expected much of this game. Glad for once EG didn't participate in the hype...

  • ParanoidZombie #175 4 years ago

    Too ambitious for its own good, I guess... Like thief: dark project three years ago, maybe. I was hoping that assassin's creed would do nothing but "fix" all the little annoying problems that prevented thief 3 from being the best game ever, but I guess next-gen stealth has not arrived yet. The Ai looks so bad in gametrailers review... I mean Tenchu-bad.

  • Calgon #176 4 years ago

    BremXJones well there cant be lots of them hidden away surely... actually I never read the credits to games I must admit, well I'll change that to games that Im interested in then. :)
    Edited by 1 at 13/11/07 @ 20:17

  • Restart #177 4 years ago

    After pairing up the Gametrailers Video Review (best to watch it muted, as the reviewer doesn't half talk some shit, plus the end rating really doesn't match up with the problems that the video shows) and the EG review, I'd reckon a 7/10 is accurate.

    The combat looks terrible, only surpassed by the awfulness of the AI, where you can murder a guard infront of another in "monk mode", & the other guard will then walk up to the corpse and say "What happened here? Who did this?" even though you're the only person stood within 100m of the corpse.

  • Les #178 4 years ago

    "But while there's no end of potential to the foundations Ubisoft Montreal has set, the game built upon them is ultimately disappointing, and leaves you unfulfilled."

    And still give it a 7... Man, if this was a review of a serious form of entertainment, it would have struggled to get a 5...

  • captainrentboy #179 4 years ago

    I have a question about the game. From what I understand you go to some dodgy chap, get your mission details from him and off you go to kill Mr Bad Guy. But how do you actually fail your assassination attempt? (Excluding the obvious, your target doesn't get killed) I mean is there a time limit? Does your target always walk around on a set, on rails, path throughout his particular area? So that if you cock up you can learn from your mistakes, and get ready to ambush him on your next attempt. And if your target realises you're trying to kill him does he run off, get a certain distance away from you and then it's a mission failure? And then if you fail, what happens? Where do you start from there?
    If anyone knows, some answers would be appreciated.

  • DUFFMAN5 #180 4 years ago

    ...rucksacks!.....

  • Mugwum Verified Operations Director, Eurogamer Network #181 4 years ago

    "Obviously because it was also on PS3 it gets a 7. If it was 360 only it would be 8 or even 9."

    Ah the selective memory! MotorStorm - one of my favourite games of this year. LocoRoco Cocoreccho - virtually the only person who gave it more than the time of day. Etc. If I'm flippant about PS3's troubles in my news it's because I'm flippant about everything. I've really no interest in how any of these platforms do - I own all of them anyway, and the more there are the more games there are. I played AC through on the 360 primarily because that code arrived first and I prefer the pad.

    Oh, and I'd keep an eye out for Kristan's Uncharted review in the near future.

  • Mugwum Verified Operations Director, Eurogamer Network #182 4 years ago

    "But how do you actually fail your assassination attempt?"

    You don't exactly fail them. If you die, you respawn at the city's Assasin's bureau and go back and try again. If you alert them, you just try and kill them anyway. Most of the failure outside the main assassinations is in death or in getting spotted and having to do things the hard way.

  • Les #183 4 years ago

    To think of all the people that laughed at Sony when it passed on having this game as a system exclusive... Guess they're not that stupid after all...

    (but of course still pretty stupid)
    Edited by 1 at 13/11/07 @ 20:31

  • Mugwum Verified Operations Director, Eurogamer Network #184 4 years ago

    "I dont like games with something like the "climb ledges to get to roof tops" mechanic, which lets you climb one building but then another with the same ledges is unscalable. Ruins the freedom you feel (said in reference to the passage about not being able to climb your home/castle)."

    AC actually gives you far more platforming freedom in the main cities than anything else I've played, but there are limits. The home castle bit is a real disappointment, but needs to be taken in the context of how much there is to climb in Jerusalem/Acre/Damascus, albeit in a fairly repetitive manner.

  • NickyJD #185 4 years ago

    Well they are stupid because no matter how shit this game may be it's still better than most PS3 games.

  • SeesThroughAll #186 4 years ago

    To think of all the people that laughed at Sony when it passed on having this game as a system exclusive... Guess they're not that stupid after all...

    Actually, it was originally to be an XBox exclusive. Only while MS prepared to launch the 360 did it "become a PS3 exclusive". Of course we all know what happened from then on. BTW, notice how the PS3 version is getting more publicity nowadays? Coincidence?

    It's not about being smart or stupid, they chose not to up Microsoft's ante at that time.

    Seriously, the game has been a "up the moneyhats" contest from day one.

    Why bother who's exclusive should it be?

  • hula hoops #187 4 years ago

    I found it quite amusing how some people so quickly dismiss the game based on a review.

    This game is no different than what Splinter Cell was 5 years ago. Beautiful graphics but repetitive. But that didn't stop me from enjoying it immensely, and neither will it stop me from enjoying this game.

    And the fact that I hardly ever agreed to most of EG review scores adds some weight to my decision.

  • SeesThroughAll #188 4 years ago

    The comparison with SC actually is especially interesting. Isn't the next Splinter Cell going to use this engine?

  • NickyJD #189 4 years ago

    I shouldn't say that about PS3 games sorry :( on a side note I was actually going to buy this game this next week, I guess I'm angry because it's turned out so average. They should have put Jade in isolation for the whole time this was in development, she's hurt this game by hyping it so much and trying to get her face on the front page of every lads mag and gaming site.

    Plus she has fuck all to with with the game really, she didn't make it.
    Edited by 1 at 13/11/07 @ 20:38

  • Les #190 4 years ago

    "Why bother who's exclusive should it be?"

    I couldn't care less because I couldn't care less for the game. Never understood why this was hyped as it was quite clear from the early footage that it would take a miracle to make something half decent out of this. The ridiculous sci-fi twist to the story didn't help either (seeing the crazy highlighting of the target made me lol and cry at the same time).

  • Kuma #191 4 years ago

    She does have a nice face though NickyJD

    My suspicions about AC are confirmed then, looks like a rental to me and then I can get back to COD4 ;-)

  • Les #192 4 years ago

    "And the fact that I hardly ever agreed to most of EG review scores adds some weight to my decision."

    I don't either. But the text of this review, as well as that of most of the others doesn't really make me want this game. Rather the contrary.

  • PameBoy #193 4 years ago

    What I want to know is why so many of the reviews seem to treat the whole "the game is actually a present - day retrospective from one of Altair's descendants" thing as some kind of surprise? I knew that months ago, it was all over the previews. Apparently it's made clear right from the beginning.

    Well I'm not cancelling my preorder, but the game's going to have to sit on my shelf for a while during my inevitable Mario - aided hibernation.

  • SeesThroughAll #194 4 years ago

    @ Les, I'll agree with you though, the moment I first heard that the game might have a Matrix-esque twist to it, I immediately lost a lot of my interest. Does not go without saying, though, I still had high hopes because of the promised realism and freedom, regardless of any messed up setting.

    So, I am with those who are disappointed - and my disappointment comes from more reviews than this one.

  • bonker #195 4 years ago

    "Wow, it takes some skill to make assassination, sword fighting and parkour repetitive and boring. "

    Actually, no it doesn't.

    Too much of anything over and over again gets dull (yes, even the old in-out).

    As I say, I kinda expected Ubi to be lazy with this because the concept is undoubtedly very exciting and will sell itself easily but you still gotta polish it up and do the hard detailed stuff if you want true AAA status - that'll be the difficult & skilled bit then ...

    Maybe someone else can pick up the gauntlet and do a proper treatment of the medieval assassin concept - i'll always be listening to dev's that give it a crack.

    Doubt I'll be passing on my cash to Ubi for this though, another misjudgement of their's will be the competition they face in the run-up to Xmas - this isn't going to make the cut though it's probably a decent shout for January's bargain bucket ...

    Big shame as it looks great but it's obviously fairly hollow inside.

    Sometimes (not often enough unfortunately) decent looks aren't enough to get you by in life.

    Eh Jade?
    Edited by 1 at 13/11/07 @ 20:58

  • Bumhug360 #196 4 years ago

    Will be getting this and Mario this week, and will put silly amounts of money on me spending more time playing this than Mario
    Edited by 1 at 13/11/07 @ 20:58

  • Killerbee #197 4 years ago

    I found it quite amusing how some people so quickly dismiss the game based on a review.

    Well, the review is there to aid purchasing decisions and whilst 7/10 is by no means a bad score, you do have to set that in the context of a very rich release schedule across all platforms right now. As you're probably aware, many regulars on this site value the opinions expressed in Eurogamer's reviews highly (I know I do), so whilst "dismiss" is maybe a little harsh, yes, this review is enough to make me think twice about this title.

    Life's too short (or rather, gaming time is too scarce) to play everything, so it pays to be selective. Personally I don't have enough time to play every 9-10/10 game that gets released, and whilst I'd never say never to a 7/10 rated game, it's not going to be at the top of my priority playlist.

  • silke #198 4 years ago

    "I found it quite amusing how some people so quickly dismiss the game based on a review."

    Well, it's no longer just a review in singular, more like quite a bunch of them. Even sites like IGN and Gamespy dosen't have much to think of Assassin's Creed as a whole.

    And when even they start to criticize, in a homogenous way that goes hand in hand with a "reliable" site like Eurogamer, then you definitely start to get the picture that there is just something not quite right with the game in question....
    Edited by 2 at 13/11/07 @ 21:15

  • kevbur #199 4 years ago

    @BadBoyBonner

    Indeed! This review would have done Bioshock to a tee. Pretty graphics, dull, dull, repetitive gameplay

    And just to make sure I keep off topic completely... go play Portal instead, it's pure genius.

  • FreakyZoid #200 4 years ago

    > Would you like her to parade around proclaiming that the game is shit?

    I would like game producers to be sat in the office producing games, not publicising them. That's what marketting people are for.

  • Dr.Mott #201 4 years ago

    @ Tom

    How exactly do the climbing mechanics work? It's just, in the First Impressions the other day, it seemed to suggest that you press a button, then it does it automatically, which kinda worried me. Like, immensely.

  • Mugwum Verified Operations Director, Eurogamer Network #202 4 years ago

    "How exactly do the climbing mechanics work? It's just, in the First Impressions the other day, it seemed to suggest that you press a button, then it does it automatically, which kinda worried me. Like, immensely."

    That's true to some extent, but not entirely. When you hold down the right trigger, Altair goes into "high profile" mode, and running at a wall and pressing the "feet" button (A on 360, X on PS3) makes him climb and grab a ledge if he can. You can then release all the buttons and use the analogue stick to direct him over the surface, using B (360)/circle (PS3) to release and drop. It's controlled, but without having to clamp hold of as many buttons as other games. I don't think the fact that having Altair leap from one hand-hold to one higher up using the analogue stick rather than holding up on the analogue stick and pressing A or X devalues its platform mechanics. In fact, the controls on the whole are very fluid and effective. The game's problems lie elsewhere.

  • Dr.Mott #203 4 years ago

    @ Tom

    Oh, OK, that's much better. Just one more thing: how big is the game world, exactly? And is the horse available from the start?
    Edited by 2 at 13/11/07 @ 21:31

  • jlaakso #204 4 years ago

    When did 7/10 become a bad score? I've played and liked lots of games below that. Of course we've been spoiled with great games lately, but I still expect to get a kick out of this. Repetition is often a problem with games; I became numb to the action near the end of Half-Life 2, and that's a very well paced game. Sometimes it may be a better idea to not play a game in as few sittings possible (I did HL2 in two sessions).

    Then again, Hitman's set the assassionation game bar pretty high already. With variation.

  • old_skool #205 4 years ago

    I would like game producers to be sat in the office producing games, not publicising them. That's what marketting people are for.

    Next time I'll tell Mr Miyamoto not to talk about Mario or Zelda. While we're at it lets stop programmers like Carmack talking about game engines. This is really getting ridiculous ...

  • Mugwum Verified Operations Director, Eurogamer Network #206 4 years ago

    Dr. Mott:

    "Just one more thing: how big is the game world, exactly?"

    The game world consists of Masyaf, the Kingdom, Jerusalem, Acre, Damascus and another smaller area later on. J/A/D are the main cities and they form the bulk of the gameplay. Masyaf is used in a few places but is smaller and more compact, used more for narrative, tutorial and spectacle. The other area serves a purpose but isn't comparable to J/A/D. Comparing the size to something else is difficult, but the density of gameplay is probably closest to Crackdown I guess. It's a very fudged comparison though. There is enough to occupy you for between 15 and 20 hours, I'd say.

    "And is the horse available from the start?"

    You use the horse for the Kingdom area, but not in the cities. It's not a particularly big element of the game or I'd have made more mention of it. You can just grab any horse that's sitting around in the Kingdom bit and they all behave the same.

  • Mugwum Verified Operations Director, Eurogamer Network #207 4 years ago

    " 'I would like game producers to be sat in the office producing games, not publicising them. That's what marketting people are for.' "

    "Next time I'll tell Mr Miyamoto not to talk about Mario or Zelda. While we're at it lets stop programmers like Carmack talking about game engines. This is really getting ridiculous ... "

    I'm with you on this. I like people involved with the game directly to promote them. The games industry would be a lot more boring without people like Harvey Smith, Ken Levine, John Carmack, Jade Raymond, etc, giving us an informed response to our questions and presenting the game with intimate understanding of how it works. Look beyond the fact she's a girl (and it's depressing that it is an 'if'), and Jade does a much better job than the vast majority of producers you see interviewed about games. I hope she continues to do so and that the juvenile response and however AC's ultimately received doesn't discourage her from doing so.

  • tinners #208 4 years ago

    "what destroyed this for e was the video review on Gametrailers showing the poor ai"

    yeah who gave it 9.1 i believe and said the game is still a big leap in terms of innovation and next gen-ness.

    seriously is 7 a fair score for something ive read 8's for mostly or 9's?

  • marilena #209 4 years ago

    I think this is the first game in the past few months where reviewers didn't break under the hype. In a way I'd say it is being treated unfairly, because so many other games have been grossly overrated lately that this reasonable review is making the game look worse than it is.

    Anyway, I think many people who are giving it up in the light of the reviews would actually enjoy it. It's possibly the best looking game I have ever seen, and some of the stuff that you witness is simply breathtaking. Too bad that the action starts to lose momentum after a while. It could have been a classic.

  • Kill_Crazy #210 4 years ago

    This sci-fi twist really reminds me of Timeline by Michael Criten (think that's spelt right - the Jurrasic Park guy). They time travelled back to medieval France. If there's a bit about coming back through time disjointed then it's a defo rip ;)

  • Waldo #211 4 years ago

    The people who are canceling pre-orders and contemplating sending the game back because it scored "only" a 7 on Eurogamer are funny.

    Send the game to me; I'll play it.
    Edited by 1 at 13/11/07 @ 22:01

  • Scimarad #212 4 years ago

    "Did school just get out in Europe...? the comments are reading like a bunch of fucking cry baby wankers looking for someone to target for abuse."

    i.e. business as usual in the comment thread:-(

  • bonker #213 4 years ago

    "Look beyond the fact she's a girl"

    She's fairly attractive with a fairly obviously great rack.

    Look beyond that I cannot do and they know it ...

  • Ryze #214 4 years ago

    Gutted. First GTA IV delayed, now this being less than amazing with its flaws.

    I'll try it anyway, I guess - but not in a rush, as I bought Crackdown last week(!)

    Now to choose which game(s) I'll get bundled with the Elite...

    /rethinks game purchase priorities

  • Mugwum Verified Operations Director, Eurogamer Network #215 4 years ago

    "This sci-fi twist really reminds me of Timeline by Michael Criten (think that's spelt right - the Jurrasic Park guy). They time travelled back to medieval France. If there's a bit about coming back through time disjointed then it's a defo rip ;)"

    I've read that book twice. It's so hilariously typical of Crichton, but it's good fodder when you're not particularly paying attention. And yes, it's very applicable. I would have mentioned it in the review, but I think I probably lose points if I cite Michael Crichton as a literary reference. :)

  • polaris70 #216 4 years ago

    Looks like I'll pick this up next xmas in the under £15 bin. Most reviews have said the game has a solid engine and solid foundations so lets hope assassins creed2 is a better and more fun game.

  • foamy #217 4 years ago

    Despite getting a bit sad about the not-so-great score in the review, I'm still picking the game. Crackdown alike in the Third Crusade seems good. Despite all the problems that Tom spoke of, still sounds like a great game. And 7/10 is still a great score.

    I've been turning into some kind of good-score-is-just-9-and-above kind of person :|


    Bring on Mass Effect, but please, this has to prove to be a 10/10 game, to not get another hyped game ruined. I don't mind hype, as long as the game deserves it in the end.

  • FreakyZoid #218 4 years ago

    > Jade does a much better job than the vast majority of producers you see interviewed about games

    You asked her about scheduling, overtime, how happy her team is, etc.? I think me and you have different expectations of what a "good" producer is, since we have totally different relationships with them.

  • Mugwum Verified Operations Director, Eurogamer Network #219 4 years ago

    "You asked her about scheduling, overtime, how happy her team is, etc.?"

    In the limited time we get with people connected with the games, we focus on the games. I'm not commenting on her abilities as a producer, but I'm defending her ability to discuss her game, which she does well. You're right that there's more to being a producer - of course you are - but that's not what I'm taking issue with here.

  • AZA #220 4 years ago

    so ubis relentless hyping of this game has blown up in their faces by sounds of things, whoops

  • Agent_Llama #221 4 years ago

    Gah, the Team Xbox review gives away the (fairly obvious but doesn't need to be spoilt) plot twist in the opening paragraphs. Fuckers.

  • BBIAJ #222 4 years ago

    My Dad gave me a copy of Timeline to read during downtime when I was ill, and I found it to be a real page turner and great fun!

    Still yet to see the film with Billy Connolly and Paul Walker though...

  • Mugwum Verified Operations Director, Eurogamer Network #223 4 years ago

    "Still yet to see the film with Billy Connolly and Paul Walker though..."

    Me either. Although in the context of Crichton adaptations it can surely only be a poor man's Congo. Bruce Campbell! A talking gorilla! Parachutes! Racism! Oh.

  • corzair #224 4 years ago

    terrorist training game isnt a super hit
    I for one am glad the hashashin didt take over the world err virtual world
    Have to ask Jade tho why not just make a prince of persia game instead of getting all carried away with yourselves and pretentios like
    please no attacks from so called history student taa
    i'm off... to outaspace with effect instead

  • bdgr #225 4 years ago

    meh.

    I think I'll wait for some teenager to buy and finish this first, and then grab it on the cheap as pre-owned.

  • [maven] #226 4 years ago

    +1 to KG & Eighthours

    Thanks for sticking arounds for questions, Mugwum.

    Looks like they have the engine in place for AC2, so they can concentrate on the game next time around... ;)

  • hula hoops #227 4 years ago

    Do people still buy 'recent' pre-owned games? AFAIK, recently released preowned only differ in price by just £1-2 with new ones. And I usually only find value-for-money preowned games when they are so old but popular the preowned market is flooded by them.

    Some people here even think this game will hit the bin bargain in next January! Amusing ...

  • kaosridder #228 4 years ago

    Well, they gave crackdown 9/10 and that is the most repetitive sandbox-game I ever played. 0 sidemissions ftw apparantly. I doubt creed is worse. I really do.

  • Kill_Crazy #229 4 years ago

    Not seen the film either (Timeline that is). Don't expect it to be that good though. Didn't know Billy Connoly was in it! Was there a Scotsman in the book? As for losing points for citing MC as reference; i think he's a great writer. Liked the Jurassic films but the books are even better. Especially Lost World, really shows the film up IMO but then isn't that always the case :)

    Back to the game: Still looking forwards to it though, no cancellation here. How long a game is it? Anywhere near the 20 hours cited by devs?

  • Mugwum Verified Operations Director, Eurogamer Network #230 4 years ago

    "I got the game today and have played it for 3.5 hours and I love it. The controls are ace, the graphics lush, the story is intriguing."

    Well, I've played it for 20 hours, and finished it, and as observers of this thread will note - as I did before I decided to extend this comment - you're rather proving my point.
    Edited by 1 at 13/11/07 @ 23:56

  • hula hoops #231 4 years ago

    I bet he has not even read your review Tom ;)

  • Mugwum Verified Operations Director, Eurogamer Network #232 4 years ago

    "I bet he has not even read your review Tom ;)"

    Who would? "Assassering"? IDIAT!!!

  • Mugwum Verified Operations Director, Eurogamer Network #233 4 years ago

    Anyway, I'm going to bed now. As I've said, any questions about the game I'll answer. I'll take another look in the morning.

  • hula hoops #234 4 years ago

    Have a good "Assassering"!

  • Mugwum Verified Operations Director, Eurogamer Network #235 4 years ago

    It's too cold.

  • FaceOmeter #236 4 years ago

    I've no idea why, but I just spent some time reading all of this. Classic stuff! My personal favourites:

    * Those sexists falling over themselves to make sure the unfairly judged gaming community is as well-represented as possible
    * The guy who thinks Microsoft would bribe a European website to give a game released on its own system a low score
    * The guy who blocked KG for using words to communicate in the English Language

    Brilliant stuff! I'm feeling especially proud to be a gamer this evening

  • Katsumoto #237 4 years ago

    stfu fag

    (p.s. this is irony *camp gesture*)
    Edited by 1 at 14/11/07 @ 00:25

  • Kiigan #238 4 years ago

    Nice review Tom, I particularly enjoyed "assassering" although I would also have accepted "assassinatoring".

    I think we can all agree that Assassin's Creed remains an interesting title worth checking out when it pops up discounted during the months of drought in 2008. It's disheartening though, to see a game which gets so many things so right in terms of visual flair and the underlying technology then falter so summarily when it comes to actual fun. Watching some of the videos, the character animation is so breathtakingly fluid and a joy to behold... how do you get so many things so right and yet fail at the most important basics, the game design, and providing interesting and varied entertainment? Leaving aside the likelihood that the game was doubtlessly rushed out for the Christmas push, surely someone at Ubisoft must have noticed how thin their game was before now? Given the amount of money involved, the amount of effort and resources required to get a new IP off the ground and market it properly in this most competitive season, this is hardly the most auspicious start Ubi could wish for. The game should have been proven and fun before a single bloody texture or effect was allowed anywhere near it.

    The general wisdom among most who have played the game seems to be "the sequel could be brilliant". That is, of course, if it isn't rushed out in time for Christmas 2008 (following the worrying recent trends with Ubisoft) accompanied by a heavy metal soundtrack and a new, meaner "dark Altair"...
    Edited by 1 at 14/11/07 @ 00:31

  • SeesThroughAll #239 4 years ago

    That is, of course, if it isn't rushed out in time for Christmas 2008 (following the worrying recent trends with Ubisoft) accompanied by a heavy metal soundtrack and a new, meaner "dark Altair"...

    I see what you did there... :o)

  • PearOfAnguish #240 4 years ago

    "This review is total bullshit. "

    You're right, how dare his opinion be contrary to yours! Disgraceful! The only thing left to do is confiscate Mr Bramwell's game journalism badge, cut up his membership card and expel him from the clubhouse. BURN THE HERETIC.

  • The-Bodybuilder #241 4 years ago

    Honestly, I'm still getting this.

    I'm sure all that tom said is true, but I need an action-adventure with swords. There's only so much guns I can take, and I love FPSs.

    Besides, doesn't hurt that I'll be getting it without spending a pound.

  • Darkbeat #242 4 years ago

    So which version is better? The PS3 or the 360?

  • RazorObsession #243 4 years ago

    after reading a mixed bag of reviews, the lowest of which was Eurogamers with a 7/10, and with the fact that Eurogamer gave Halo 3 a 10 out of 10, thusly i am no longer giving 100% faith to their opinions, i think i'm gonna pick this one up after all.

  • ruckus #244 4 years ago

    Pity - if they just played it straight and none of the sci-fi crap I would still be interested but after looking at some of the videos I see that it intrudes all the time. When your fighting someone, there is all this graphical mess surrounding them. Everything just breaks any immersion I might have had :'(

    I just hope someone rips it off but leaves out all the crap stuff - that would be ace ^_^

  • Miths #245 4 years ago

    I almost never finish games anyway (with the exception of assorted story heavy RPGs, bring on Mass Effect :)), so I'm sure I'll feel I've gotten my money's worth if I just get 6-8 hours of solid entertainment out of AC - and it sounds like that should be possible before repetition really starts to get to you.

    Despite the seemingly very valid points of criticism, this looks like a game where I expect to thoroughly enjoy the exploration/free running parts as well as the combat for at least a while.
    Guards waiting nicely in line for their turn to attack might not be realistic, but the combat system looks like a nice change from the usual hack and slash approach, and that probably wouldn't have been possible if you've got four or five guys swinging or stabbing their swords at you at the same time. Then you would have ended up with something closer to Conan or God of War - entertaining, but perhaps not quite suitable for this game.

  • foamy #246 4 years ago

    Now for the sequel. Go Jade :D

  • 3william56 #247 4 years ago

    /wonders whether the subtle reference to "wait till you read the Uncharted review" means that (a) it's a ripsnorting 10/10 and intended to dispell any thoughts of an anti PS3 bias, or (b) it's even harsher on another big hyped game...

    Edit: After IGN's glowing review (yeah, even though it's IGN), option (a) is looking good. I reckon a 9.
    Edited by 1 at 14/11/07 @ 03:45

  • icelt #248 4 years ago

    Yeah Uncharted is starting to get that "sleeper" feel to it idn't?

  • Telepathic.Geometry #249 4 years ago

    :( I was hoping this'd be a good'un... :(

  • Dizzy #250 4 years ago

    "The people who are canceling pre-orders and contemplating sending the game back because it scored "only" a 7 on Eurogamer are funny. "

    I think what most people are saying is that, with the megazilions games available now, that they will play AC early or late 2008 when it is cheaper. I never been bothered by the EG score (except for Halo 1 :) and I think they write the best reviews on the planet. The text of this review makes it clear how the game is and plays and it describes precisely what I don't like about sandbox games. As a games dev myself I really want to see the game in action and experience it... hence it will get it cheaper in a few months.

    BTW all you people trying to draw Halo 3 and Bioshock into this... just drop it. EG gave those scores and they are well deserved and have gotten universal praise by the rest of the world reviewers. AC however seems to be a 7-8 game if you look at other reviews.

    >So which version is better? The PS3 or the 360?

    Very similar according to Jeux France with the graphical edge going, yeah you guessed it, to the 360 with better textures and some extra effects.
    Edited by 1 at 14/11/07 @ 05:44

  • Scimarad #251 4 years ago

    I would just like to say the film of Timeline was absolutely awful. Quite liked the book and I'm not usually an MC fan.

  • Tonka #252 4 years ago

    This thread is surprisingly civilised compared to some 10/10 threads I've read. But some of you need to lighten up a little. 7/10 means the game is good. In 7/10 games you can find some real diamonds. 7/10 means "Not for everyone".

    AssC has gotten some really hugh scores on other sites which would indicate that in the hands of the right person it's a gem. (Or that other reviewers are idiots)

  • GM #253 4 years ago

    "AssC has gotten some really hugh scores on other sites which would indicate that in the hands of the right person it's a gem. (Or that other reviewers are idiots)"

    More often than not it's the later one...

  • Steroyd #254 4 years ago

    No wonder this game fell off my radar completely.

    I liked the idea's of this game to godamnit. >:|

  • Drpwnage #255 4 years ago

    Seems a perceptive review from Tom, my copy arrives shortly and I think I will play it in small chunks to alleviate some the repitition, mind you it won't get a look in when Mass Effect arrives.

    If only we could have another Thief game using the AC engine, that would be heaven!

  • Steroyd #256 4 years ago

    @Tonka

    AC has been getting the "lower" score from sites like IGN, 1up etc basically saying the same thing it's practically unanimous to all the more popular sites.

  • Tonka #257 4 years ago

    AC = Animal Crossing
    AssC = Assassins Creed

    Anyhow. I'm just saying that 7/10 aint bad. And that for a lot of people it will be the second coming. That said, a lot of reviews reads as 6/10.

  • hula hoops #258 4 years ago

    AC = Animal Crossing
    AssC = Assassins Creed

    Or Ass Crossing?

  • Kenshin001 #259 4 years ago

    I have a question Tom, don't know if it has been asked and couldn't be arsed searching through the whole thread especially with all the misogynists on board. Can you kill anyone? Say there is an old crone who I particularly don't like the look of, can I just shank her and then run off up a wall as passersby look on horrified. Could have novelty value as a sort of random senseless killing game.

  • UncleLou #260 4 years ago

    @Tonka

    AC has been getting the "lower" score from sites like IGN, 1up etc basically saying the same thing it's practically unanimous to all the more popular sites.

    Gamespot just gave it a 9, FWIW.

  • Crea #261 4 years ago

    This review seems to chime in with the others out there now on 1up, IGN and Team Xbox etc...Gamespot bucked the trend with a 9.0, but IGN were a 7 point something, as were 1UP and Team Xbox.

    I still think I'll get this - I loved Crackdown, and really enjoyed Just Cause even though the game is repetitive and flawed. Anything remotely half-decent and free-roaming is worth a look, if the basic mechanics aren't totally borked (e.g. Superman Returns).

    @Mugwum - does the game provide you with enough tools to provide your own fun, like Crackdown? I'm guessing it's slightly more limiting in that you don't have the endlessly amusing combination of rag-doll and explosives.

  • ccfb #262 4 years ago

    "Gamespot just gave it a 9, FWIW."

    Looks like a 9 isn't worth much in the face of a raft of 7s.

  • mkreku #263 4 years ago

    Oh no, I really wanted this to be good. And from the sound of Jade, it should have been good. Usually I don't trust Eurogamer's review score (after the Oblivion and Bioshock 10's, THEY should have had this review instead!) but Tom described the game so well (bravo!) that I vividly saw myself running around in a town with nothing to do and taking out bad guy after bad guy until the game ends.

    Why didn't they fill their wonderful looking game world with extra stuff to do?? Have shady merchants sell you the locations of particularly rich homes to rob and let there be stealth! Have an arena where you fight your way to the top! Add RPG-like features so you at least can evolve your assassin! Make two or three special buildings (per area) that you need skill to ascend, with a reward at the top! Heck, even collectibles hidden everywhere (even though cheesy) would have given us more to do.

    And I still like Jade. She's very articulate and eloquent. I have no idea why you rip her so bad.

  • hula hoops #264 4 years ago

    I just did a little investigation into some of these review sites especially the ones that breakdown their score into several categories. I found in some of them, they gave Assassin Creed a lower score in terms of graphics than Lego Starwars: The Complete Saga (released a week ago). Call me synical but that doesn't really compute.

  • FortysixterUK #265 4 years ago

    I would like to cancel my pre order...but shopto.net are just too damned effiicient, the posted it out YESTERDAY !



    DOH !

  • beastmaster #266 4 years ago

    Let's face it. This will sell shedloads. After that they'll probably 'go dark' like Warrior Within and this will sell shedloads more. Let's just hope they fix it second time around.

    I think I'm going to go for this though. Get together with a bunch of mates every Wednesday for some casual gaming, so this will do just fine for that. The rest of my gaming time can be taken up with COD4, Halo 3, Sega Rally, Mass Effect, Pro Evo...

    Just hope Kane and Lynch doesn't let everyone down.

  • symbiote #267 4 years ago

    Jade Redmond, fifteen minutes of fame. Fifteen minuteds of fame, Jade redmond.

  • symbiote #268 4 years ago

    "Did school just get out in Europe...? the comments are reading like a bunch of fucking cry baby wankers looking for someone to target for abuse."

    Well volunteered, Yank.

  • FortysixterUK #269 4 years ago

    Hang on I understand now...this sci fi theme that runs thru the game....Assassins Creed and Mass Effect are one in the same game....obvious really.


    Who the hell thought giving this game a sci fi counterpoint would make it a better game?

    When I want medieval immersion I expect medieval immersion with NO rayguns or dodgy on screen interference implying I'm watching myself.

    **sigh** remember how wonderful the Thief series was.....? now there was a medieval type immersive game, bring back Thief that's what I say ( and another Deus Ex please ).

    Still bought it though.....
    Edited by 1 at 14/11/07 @ 08:56

  • Hamflank #270 4 years ago

    Interesting and well written review. I rarely read every word of a three-page review, but this time I did.

    I suppose Mass Effect is the last chance for Microsoft to buy me an XBOX360.

  • RamblinSydRumpo #271 4 years ago

    Tom could you clear something up for me please. According to the Gamespot review "PS3 owners are blessed with a slightly more solid frame rate" but the IGN review says "??"...Hang on...their original review said that the PS3 version had major framerate issues but they've now re-jigged the review and taken that part out. Did you come across any major performance issues on the PS3?

  • threefortrouble #272 4 years ago

    Ouch!
    IGN doesn't like it neither.
    I guess I will save my money for buying another games.

  • UncleLou #273 4 years ago

    "Gamespot just gave it a 9, FWIW."

    Looks like a 9 isn't worth much in the face of a raft of 7s.

    They're not the only one. Gametrailers and Gameinformer gave good scores as well. My point being: as always, a review is one man's opinion, and it obviously grabbed some people more than it did grab Tom. No idea whom I agree with till I played it myself, just saying that it's not quite true that it gets 7s all across the board.

  • RickHard #274 4 years ago

    I am still getting this for sure : i like the mood of the game and ... the team behind Prince of Persia (Sands of Time) cannot be wrong

  • mkreku #275 4 years ago

    Hmm.. There is a PC version coming out for this, right? In 2008 or something.. Anyhow, I might wait for that one instead. Games like these play better on PC anyhow (according to me).

  • JackyB #276 4 years ago

    beastmaster. Kane and Lynch from the 2 reviews i have seen so far got an 8 and a 6

  • The-Bodybuilder #277 4 years ago

    I'll say one thing;
    This game has been compared to crackdown. But ironically, crackdown was one of the most repetitive games of the year, same mission over and over and over and over...

    Don't get me wrong, I loved CD, worth 9/10 all the way. But if crackdown could be so much fun, with all the repetition, then why not this?

    But it's probably still worth 7.

  • GingerNathan #278 4 years ago

    " whole thread especially with all the misogynists on board."

    You do know that Misogynists are people who have strong prejudice or hatred towards women!?


    Anywho, I'll still be picking this game up although after reading this review, 1up's, IGN's and others my expectations have seriously dipped. Not that seven is a bad score or anything, just not the kind of score you want from a game when you're creaming off the top AAA on multiple formats, and from a game that had soooo much potential :(

  • symbiote #279 4 years ago

    Gamespot: "PS3 owners are blessed with a slightly more solid frame rate"

    Sweet:)

  • UncleLou #280 4 years ago

    " whole thread especially with all the misogynists on board."

    You do know that Misogynists are people who have strong prejudice or hatred towards women!?


    Have you missed all the adolescents being irritated about the fact that a woman is involved, and you know what, IT'S ALL HER FAULT, TOO.

  • GingerNathan #281 4 years ago

    "Have you missed all the adolescents being irritated about the fact that a woman is involved, and you know what, IT'S ALL HER FAULT, TOO.
    "
    Whoops, may have missed that. I blame my special glasses which have built in idiot filters! ;)

  • Repsode #282 4 years ago

    You have no idea how much of a disappointment this is to me.

    As other people say 7 is a good score.

    However it is not good enough at this time of year.

    I have only the time and money for great games right now what with there being so many.

    Might pick it up next year...maybe.

  • reality_cheque #283 4 years ago

    I'll wait til it's pre-owned then I guess, I want to play it but with no MP there isn't really a rush.

  • Wendelius #284 4 years ago

    @Symbiote: "Gamespot: "PS3 owners are blessed with a slightly more solid frame rate"

    Sweet:)"

    Or not. I've seen an AC developer comment that Gamespot mixed up its platforms because, from everything he knows, the 360 version runs better.

    Wendelius

  • kangarootoo #285 4 years ago

    If Jade was a fat bloke instead of a cute girl, her competency as a producer would not even be getting discussed. FACT.

    I agree that sometimes she is pushed to the front by Ubi because of her looks, but that doesn't mean she isn't also able to do her job effectively.

    I see it for what it is, straight out jealousy, as plain as the nose on my face.

    People seem to assume that attractiveness and intelligence cannot co-exist. Perhaps by their own standards, it is hard to comprehend "but I'm ugly AND talentless, so surely nobody can be cute AND skilled, its just against physics or something".

    TBH Kieron, I think you are pissing into the wind to some extent (valiant an attempt as it is). This is the internet, AND its a games website. That unfortunately equates to a lot of immature and sexist posters. They are only bitter because they never get any.


    "get a girlfriend, then you can drop the phony knight in white armour act."

    That is like one step away from accusing someone of fancying someone else, just because they stick up for them. Jesus that is childish.

  • Masarin #286 4 years ago

    The general wisdom among most who have played the game seems to be "the sequel could be brilliant". That is, of course, if it isn't rushed out in time for Christmas 2008 (following the worrying recent trends with Ubisoft) accompanied by a heavy metal soundtrack and a new, meaner "dark Altair"...

    Ah, please don't Ubisoft. Don't go down that boring "Hey! I got black clothes. I listen to metal. I'm really am a tough guy, don't you see?"-road.

  • gnarl #287 4 years ago

    Isn't it unusual for the producer to do all the media talking? Normally designers/PR guys, I thought.

  • SomaticSense #288 4 years ago

    "The reviewer comes across as a petulant toddler who wants everything and now. The fact remains that Assassin's Creed more than holds its own against the current titles available but also introduces the framework of what next generation games and true open-ended gameplay should be about. It was never going to live up to the unrealistic expectations put upon it but it still delivers a very good gaming experience and one that all other developers will need to take note of. To have it rated as low as it was and below that of the same old Halo is frankly laughable. "

    Not played Crackdown then?

  • Stevas mkII #289 4 years ago

    Over 300 comments, numerous mentions of some woman who apparently has something to do with something or other, and not a single mention of tearing?

    Like, you guys are aware this is a Ubisoft game, right? I mean, I expect it to go unmentioned in reviews, but come on.

    Shit me, there is a distinct lack of geek around here. Sheesh. Women? You'll be on about cars and lager next.

  • kangarootoo #290 4 years ago

    @gnarl

    Its not unusual in the slightest. It depends entirely on the project, but the majority of the time the producer is one of the people doing the interviews.

  • SomaticSense #291 4 years ago

    @ F3rrari - "Visually Assassin's Creed looks breath taking. Next gen has arrived, finally, and about time too.

    7/10 how?
    it sounds like and 8 or 9 atleast. Looks better than Halo anyday.

    Again, not played Crackdown have you (obviously not seeing as you are a 360 hating Sony groomed rentboy)? If Assassin's Creed is the arrival of the next-gen, then a better version of the next-gen arrived last Feb.

    And how the hell does the review sound like an 8 or 9? A couple of paragraphs praising the controls and draw distance, and then the rest being 100% negative about flaws that affect the actual gameplay FAR more than the previously mentioned.

  • Steroyd #292 4 years ago

    Hey we talk about Football to. >:(

    Sorry that's sports freaks, not geeks.
    Edited by 1 at 14/11/07 @ 11:18

  • marilena #293 4 years ago

    Who handles the interviews and PR depends entirely on the project. If they have someone famous it's going to be that person, if they have someone who is thought of as more charismatic it's going to be that person, and so on. It's often the lead designer/creative director, but other times it's the company owner (Peter Molyneaux, Sid Meier) or the producer (Warren Spector).

  • Stevas mkII #294 4 years ago

    Yeah, Sony had me believing gaming was cool once.

    I'm not falling for that shit again.

  • RamblinSydRumpo #295 4 years ago

    Wendelius - can you provide a link to wherever that comment was made?

  • penhalion #296 4 years ago

    I TOLD YOU SO!

    Sorry I just had to get that in. I am one of the few who said the following

    1. No demo and only having developer walkthroughs means they know it's a flawed game.
    2. It looks utterly repetitive.

    No live or PSN demo was the real giveaway though.

  • Wendelius #297 4 years ago

    @ RamblinSydRumpo "Wendelius - can you provide a link to wherever that comment was made?"

    Sure. Although you'll have to take my word that Charles is one of the devs. He is though.

    [link url=http://www.quartertothree.com/game-talk/sh owthread.php?t=27891&page=13
    ]http://ww w.quartertothree.com/game-talk/...[/link]

    Also, I don't know where the I told you so's come from. Maybe people expected too much, but I agree with the comments which say a 7 is still a game worth checking out. I might not pick it up at launch because there are too many games right now but it will tempt me later...

    Wendelius
    Edited by 2 at 14/11/07 @ 12:05

  • polaris70 #298 4 years ago

    Add the combat of Dark Messiah and the fantastic game engine of ACreed and we might get an unbelievable full blown rpg from Ubi in the future, be a shame to waste the engine.

  • RamblinSydRumpo #299 4 years ago

    IGN's head-to-head clearly shows the 360 version outperforming the PS3. There's significantly more tearing on the PS3 and a visibly slower frame rate. Bit annoyed as I'll now have to play with the sound cranked right up to hide the lawnmower noise.

  • Eighthours #300 4 years ago

    Amusingly, I just got my copy from ShopTo and it has no BBFC rating, meaning that it can't be traded in. It even has "Not suitable for sale in the UK" on the back of the box! :)

  • Wendelius #301 4 years ago

    Some annoyed comments on the lack of story here: [link url=http: //www.quartertothree.com/inhouse/news/375/
    ]http://ww w.quartertothree.com/inhouse/ne...[/link]

    Wendelius

  • gaselite #302 4 years ago

    "This game has been compared to crackdown. But ironically, crackdown was one of the most repetitive games of the year, same mission over and over and over and over..."

    That's a bit disingenuous. Certainly the task is the same, kill the blokes, but the freedom you have in approaching this task and the flexibilty in the game's design to allow this freedom seem to give Crackdown the edge over Assassin's Creed in terms of variety and avoiding repetition. At least that's the impression I got anyway. I certainly don't think Crackdown is repetitive though, even if you're just killing a series of VIPs, there's a lot more to it than that, same as Mercenaries. AC seems to follow and be restricted by a very specific formula, though, which is a shame. If AC had as much freedom and scope for variety in its inherent design as it did in its movement and control, for example, I think it'd be a classic. As it is it seems like a disappointing first foray into a franchise with potential that I'm still looking forward to trying for myself anyway, for what it does do well.

  • kangarootoo #303 4 years ago

    "But ironically, crackdown was one of the most repetitive games of the year"

    The same critisism could be levelled at any or all of the great driving games of the last 10 years, but general it is not, because it would be a short sighted critisism.

  • NickyJD #304 4 years ago

    COD4 has you shooting the same two blokes for the whole game, yet it scored a 9/10, seems repetition is only a issue when the reviewer is having a bad hair day.

  • Crea #305 4 years ago

    Repetition is only an issue when the core gameplay mechanic or 'repeatable unit of play', to use a wanky phrase, is not up to scratch.

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #306 4 years ago

    I must admit I have always been suspicious of Jade Raymond's credentials, since she was publicly representing the company that brought us the 'Frag Dolls'. From various eurogamer staff members' words, it seems that was misplaced, but there was definitely something wrong with the excess of glamour photography that accompanied Assasin's Creed's publicity. That and the way the gaming press and community fawned (or played at fawning) over her (hang your head Johnny Minkley).

    Still, to abandon my po-faced examination of the issues of sexism surrounding Assasin's Creed, and revert to type...

    JADE RAYMOND CAN SUCK MY BAFTA!*

    [* That Phil is kindly holding for me]

  • mash the x button #307 4 years ago

    Don't worry, when it doesn't sell it'll become a cult classic.

  • BremXJones #308 4 years ago

    Kanga: "TBH Kieron, I think you are pissing into the wind to some extent (valiant an attempt as it is). This is the internet, AND its a games website. That unfortunately equates to a lot of immature and sexist posters. They are only bitter because they never get any. "

    Sometimes you got to try, y'know.

    KG

  • Apologie #309 4 years ago

    Under a microscope the PS3 version does look a bit sharper when the two versions are running side by side.

    The Xbox 360 version makes up for this two or three frames faster than the PS3 cousin, though no-one's going to notice that.

  • thewolfiv #310 4 years ago

    guess someones no longer on Jades christmas card list!...but really 7? either it's another "halo" moment at EG or yet another case of hype over substance, pity you have to spend 70 euros to find out.

    added*
    ah poor guy, the first Halo was hype? that speaks volumes about your tastes...
    Edited by 1 at 14/11/07 @ 14:19

  • gaselite #311 4 years ago

    "or yet another case of hype over substance"

    You mean... exactly like Halo?

    Oh.
    Edited by 1 at 14/11/07 @ 14:07

  • paulf #312 4 years ago

    got this from shopto today, first impressions - too many cut scenes descibing what you should be doing, not enough actual time spent doing stuff. And the plot just seems silly (i wont describe what it is for those who dont know) - not overly impressed at the moment by anything but the graphics :(

  • daveaka #313 4 years ago

    I like swords and climbing!

  • kangarootoo #314 4 years ago

    @BremXJones

    "Sometimes you got to try, y'know"

    For sure. I mean, I'm still here right :)

  • rob230 #315 4 years ago

    Got it this morning and it's good so far, only 2 hours in mind

  • Danjw #316 4 years ago

    How can they make a game about being an assassin without taking some lessons in mission design from HM: Blood Money? Oh well, I guess I'll try the game anyway, seeing as I've been looking forward to it all year.

  • CannonAnBall #317 4 years ago

    I've just reached Damascus and it seems a fair old size. Have enjoyed it so far.

  • monty2k #318 4 years ago

    When someone identifies themselves with a product they sometimes become synonymous with that product. For example, Alex Ferguson is synonymous with Man Utd and if Man Utd doesn't do well then it could be down to Alex Ferguson.
    When Daiktana was released people attacked John Romero because he was gonna make you his "bitch" with that game. When Assassin's Creed, a title with a large PR campaign over several years, was released with disappointing scores (to some) Jade Raymond was attacked as she was its producer.

    Jade Raymond identified herself with this game and when this game disappointed some people it was only natural for them to question her talent. The fact that she doesn't possess a Y chromosone is irrelevant. It's also naive to think that she didn't steel herself against the inevitable nerd backlash and sexist comments. Give her some credit, she's an adult and can defend herself.

    Back on topic though, I'll probably pick this up in January after finishing Mass Effect and CoD4.

  • MrWonderstuff #319 4 years ago

    "Give her some credit, she's an adult and can defend herself."

    She has made a couple of posts in this here thread. I don't think she should even need to do that but clearly she wanted to call into question peoples attitude towards her when they don't even know her.

    I remember issues when I was helping admin a forum for a game where sexist comments were rife. It can seem a losing battle.
    Edited by 1 at 14/11/07 @ 17:04

  • peteb #320 4 years ago

    @Apologie

    Nicely taken from CVG :)

  • Drone #321 4 years ago

    Metacritic.com is giving it a 84/100 from 15 reviews. Having played it for a few hours now I would say that's about right. Its not a brilliant game but its certainly not bad. It doesnt feel as fun as crackdown though but I suppose its not that sort of game (not being able to pick up cars and throw them off buildings and all).

    http://ww w.metacritic.com/games/platform...

  • Feanor #322 4 years ago

    "She has made a couple of posts in this here thread."

    Really? What's her user name?

  • patchbox360 #323 4 years ago




    changing my opinion about this game after the gamespot review (9) im starting to beilieve reviewers are also being influenced by this Jade malarky.

    hopefully the day will come when the majority will say 'FUCK the review score i'll judge for myself'

  • marilena #324 4 years ago

    Erm... Judging for yourself implies buying the game, which kind of misses the point.

  • patchbox360 #325 4 years ago


    rental fool

  • The-Bodybuilder #326 4 years ago

    @ gaselite

    You make a fair and strong point there.

    And to the rest, we don't have to wait too long for a game building on the AC framework to come round....

    Splinter Cell 5's not too far off.

  • TrickyTreeUK #327 4 years ago

    Famitsu: 9.3/10 :-O


    Apart from Edge and Games tm. That is the mark that matters to me. IGN? I don't think so :-)

  • MrWonderstuff #328 4 years ago

    "Really? What's her user name?"

    Jade_Redmond

  • tinners #329 4 years ago

    Wow!! maybe im blinded by the radiation from my pc monitor but i never seen a reviewer respond to so many comments before.

    Fair play i say, its actually refreshing to read, cheers Tom.

    And from this reaction quite a few peeps are still getting this i reckon, i for one need a break from so many fps games as good as they are.

    Plus i been waiting for something to look proper next gen in HD \o/

  • WJF #330 4 years ago

    If it has swords, jumping and motion blur then I'm in.

    /is sad POP isn't coming back again....again.

  • gnarl #331 4 years ago

    @kangarootoo + marilena
    Thanks, I just didn't remember ever noticing producer as an interviewee title. But then I think I only see 'famous name' or 'random bod', to be honest.

    and

    @kangarootoo + Mr Gillen
    Never give up, never surrender!

  • jonnyreb #332 4 years ago

    The only score I give a crap about nowadays is EG.....and after playing it for a few hours it is a fair one.

    /cracks the seal on another bottle of Swedish vodka :)

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #333 4 years ago

    Jade_Redmond

    Actually it's Jade_Raymond

    I never actually noticed her name in the comments as I was skim-reading this thread. Almost makes me wish I hadn't told her to suck my BAFTA.

    Naah, I've been waiting ages for a game to be criticised for being 'not as good as Crackdown', but I never expected that game to be muti-platform high publicity juggernaut Assasin's Creed. I reserve the right to gloat, and gloat hard.

    Mind you, this game will probably get a bloody sequel.
    Edited by 1 at 15/11/07 @ 10:56

  • tinners #334 4 years ago

    Penny Arcades take on AC is a very interesting one.

    they reckon a lot of reviewers have had to rush through it from the crushing demand of x mass games coming out.

    not the case here but i can see it being a factor.

  • gaselite #335 4 years ago

    "Penny Arcades take on AC is a very interesting one.

    they reckon a lot of reviewers have had to rush through it from the crushing demand of x mass games coming out.

    not the case here but i can see it being a factor."

    See, I just read that and it's something that I touched on a couple of pages ago and asked Tom about it because it's normally something I'm very conscious about when I read reviews and they complain about this sort of thing, games that have a 'grind' like this (MMOs not included). he gave a reasonably convincing explanation fo why he thought the fact he had to complete to deadline wasn't a reason for his (relatively) low rating and impressions of the game. Still, his idea of a relaxed amount of time with the game to complete and review it was a 5 day period, which, I think, is still far removed from the reality of the average punter because I can see it being a game that I'll chip away at over a few weeks - unless I'm really, really into it - given all the other games I'm playing at the moment. In that respect, I'm still really looking forward to playing the game and experiencing it for myself, but I don't doubt that is has a number of issues, and issues which I'll be disappointed by, but I like to think I can see the bright side and appreciate the positive efforts of even the most middling games/movies so I doubt I'll be truly crushed at playing what Assassin's Creed has to offer, and I really doubt that it is a middling sort of game anyway. I'm also somewhat lucky in that I haven't been following the hype over a period of 18 months, more closer to two, and even then with the gaming overload lately there's been so much to keep track of that it's hard for me to push any one game to the fore and burden it with unrealistic expectations.

    It's just that all this talk is making me wish the game wasn't delayed down here so I could actually play the bloody thing and see what all the fuss is about.

  • BremXJones #336 4 years ago

    Gnarl: Always worth remembering that people like - say - Warren Spector are producers.

    KG

  • gaselite #337 4 years ago

    Isn't Miyamoto also credited as a producer? They cart him out for interviews on a fairly regular basis too.


    "Famitsu: 9.3/10 :-O"

    This is another thing that bothers me (alongside things like, y'know, the swathes of sexism and general idiocy in this comments thread), why is so much emphasis and good faith placed in the reviews of Famitsu by 'hardcore' gamers on the net and so on? It's like some insidious virus where some western magazine 10 or 15 years ago said 'Famitsu rated it, and I'm a bit of a wap so it must be good', and now people will just cite a famitsu review score as though they're one of the foremost authorities on what constitutes a good game. Do people that cite these reviews actually bother to read the content of the reviews? CAN they actually read the content of the reviews? What makes their reviews stand out from the rest? It's baffling, for mine.

  • PameBoy #338 4 years ago

    Reviewers, compared to the average game-playing public joe, have to rush through games full stop, christmas or no. That's one of the important issues to consider with a review - the journalist is probably not playing the game in the same way as you would.

    Anyway I think the game sounds fantastic and I'm looking forward to its delivery tomorrow - although considering Mario Galaxy should be arriving the same day, I'm not sure it'll get much play time.

  • jachap #339 4 years ago

    Cancelled my pre-order.

    Scores are pretty irrelevant to me and the actual content of this review seems a completely fair confirmation of my misgivings. So thanks, Tom.

    Some of the reviews I've read (this not being one, I hasten to add) seem to have forgiven the grind of the entire second half of the game simply because of some of the views "The first time you scale the tower in Damascus... blah blah blah." I'm afraid that's just not enough for me.

    Ubisoft have released so many bloody videos for this I feel like I've played a full demo of it. Once you get the ability to counter, the combat looks basically as sophisticated as the sword fights in Sid Meier's Pirates.

    Where the videos are concerned, watching the one where Al Khali or whatever he's called loses his pursuers by simply sitting on a bench and letting them run past (utterly laughable, of course) opened my eyes to a possible alternate universe where Ubisoft had gone for a full Errol Flynn style swashbuckler with moustache-twirling villains shouting silly taunts and deliberately bumbling guards.

    Instead, we get this po-faced assassination-a-thon which doesn't even have the balls to explore its setting. I was expecting at least one mission where you had to infiltrate a city that was heavily under siege or had just been taken over. Stalking past an army of drunken Crusaders raping and looting a new conquest would have been exhilarating.
    Edited by 1 at 15/11/07 @ 15:06

  • patchbox360 #340 4 years ago

    @jachap

    such criticism based on so little actual experience

  • jachap #341 4 years ago

    Uh, yeah. The evidence I have seen and read pre-release has put me off the actual experience. That's my criticism.

    What's your point?
    Edited by 1 at 15/11/07 @ 17:36

  • foamy #342 4 years ago

    After seeing Gabe's comment (from Penny Arcade) on this game, I'm gonna buy it.

    It made me want the game all over again, which was a thing a bit hard to do after reading this review :|

  • gaselite #343 4 years ago

    "I was expecting at least one mission where you had to infiltrate a city that was heavily under siege or had just been taken over. Stalking past an army of drunken Crusaders raping and looting a new conquest would have been exhilarating."

    Ignoring the rest of your criticism for a second which sounds to me like being pessimistic for the sake of it, even though your sceptisism is probably warranted (although I don't understand people cancelling their pre-orders, if you were so interested in the game and the concept in the first place that you would willingly pre-order the game, surely you'd at least be somewhat willing or compelled to try the game to see what they actually do do well and admirably, that made you want to pre-order the game in the first place, and see for yourself, but I digress). I have to wonder what on Earth made you expect a mission like that? Do you have any right to be let down by an expectation like that when, as far as I'm aware, no such possibility was put forth by the dev team? Why let yourself be let down by unrealistic expectations like that?

    I mean, you go on to say it would be exhilarating, fair enough (although to me I think it would just be a bit of a confusing shambles), but when I look at Assassin's Creed, providing some exhilarating experiences via its smooth controls, seamless animation and beautiful graphics seems to be the least of its problems, even if areas like the combat and, uh, sitting on benches to avoid arousing suspicion are a bit underwhelming.


    Mind you, I never saw anyone write off GTA for the equally ridiculously contrived method of simply driving into a garage and getting your car spray painted to get a fleet of police cars, swat and army vehicles off your back. Funny that.
    Edited by 2 at 16/11/07 @ 07:05

  • SirClive #344 4 years ago

    I wish these reviews would tell us which version its best to get. I will be buying it today but do I get 360 or PS3???

  • FlamingCarrot #345 4 years ago

    According to IGNs Insider head to head comparison the 360 is the better. Its not a huge difference but some textures etc look best on the 360. I got the game yesterday and wish it didn't have cod sci-fi elements. I just wish it could be a straight forward Middle Ages based story but there you go.

  • jachap #346 4 years ago

    Gaselite: I take your point.

    It would have been utterly ridiculous of me to expect that actual mission in its full imaginary glory. I was just echoing (in a rather badly handled way) sentiments I'd read elsewhere about the under use/exploration of the setting.

    Also, I don't really follow your point about why underwhelming combat shouldn't bother me? Its a third person action game. I'm buying it for the fighting.

    The sitting on benches thing is hardly a crippling flaw in the game (though, in answer to your final point, I think GTA's cartoon style lets it off a multitude of sins) I was just making an aside. I think KG is right when he says there should be more comedy in games and there's definite potential for some proper tongue-in-cheek medieval swashbuckling. Again, it was just a way of echoing sentiments I'd read elsewhere about the possibility of, say, a Robin Hood style game.

    What you said about preorders is interesting. In all honesty, the main reason I pre-ordered Assassin's Creed was so I had a high standard reason to force my Pro Evolution obsessed housemate off my Xbox. That and I thought, despite my niggles with the combat etc, I could probably forgive it if only for the free-running elements (which look as astounding as the combat looks poor).

    Then, I reached this week, saw some of the unfavourable reviews and, upon examining my strained bank balance, decided it was probably more sensible to wait. For example, the last time I preordered a game it had dropped in price within a week.

    Nowhere, and I want to stress this, did I say I wasn't eventually going to get the game. I'm still interested. I'm just not £40 interested.

    Hopefully that has clarified my muddled, stream-of-consciousness first post.

  • XdarXideX #347 4 years ago

    I've been playing this game since wednesday (legitimately I might add) and not once has it become repetetive or boring... this game is fantastic. Not the least bit dissapointing.

  • mash the x button #348 4 years ago

    It gets 90% in The Sun.

  • Maximilian #349 4 years ago

    Think I'll wait for the PC version in case they make some radical improvements.

  • Blackthorned #350 4 years ago

    Ouch! That blog quote is interesting.

  • Wendelius #351 4 years ago

    I still see an Assassin's Creed ad on the main page. *shrugs*

    Edit: Oh. Not anymore. It was one of the square ones in the middle of the page...

    Wendelius
    Edited by 1 at 16/11/07 @ 15:59

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #352 4 years ago

    What, this story?

    [link url=http: //www.n4g.com/industrynews/News-84760.aspx
    ]http://ww w.n4g.com/industrynews/News-847...[/link]

    I've never heard of n4g.com. (I just posted part of that quote into google).

    And i still see Assasin's Creed ads in various places on the site, too.

  • Fatfish #353 4 years ago

    10/10......

    .....at least as far as the review goes. A fantastic concept and great character mechanics, let down by a lazy story and gameplay. The parkour and climbing controls are very good, and once you get the hang of them, they feel quite natural (rather than the more common 'press A to jump' style). There's still loads of scope for Ubisoft to improve and adapt the game engine for any future IP's/sequels. Let's just hope they actually do it rather than letting this one slip away as it really does have potential. Definitely worth cheking out, but some way short of brilliant.

  • SlackMaster #354 4 years ago

    I've had the last two weeks off between jobs completing as many games as I could to build up enough to exchange for this so was pretty dissapointed.

    I still ended up getting it but am now really looking at it passing a couple of hours between now and mass effect next friday.

  • SlackMaster #355 4 years ago

    I did notice tho that Gamestation had it advertised at £49.99 but that morning dropped it to £39.99 just after opening. My local game did the same as well so thinking prehaps it's linked in with the lower than expected review scores in general and the fact that many now think it may sell less copies.

    It was mentioned on gamesindustry.biz somewhere in the analysts predictions running up to xmas that Assassins will be selling a lot less now than originally expected. Still think it'll do alright for itself tho.

    Hope they grill Jade on the Bonus round on GT this sunday. :D

  • FunkyAlchemist #356 4 years ago

    I bought this on the way home and it's actually pretty darn fun. Reviews, shmeviews. 7 seems harsh but then again from the amount of blood that has sprayed around I'm far more amazed that it only got a 15 rating.

  • gaselite #357 4 years ago

    jachap: good points but it's getting to the stage where I really can't respond to any of them until I play the game for myself and see what I think of it. My pre-order still very much stands though.

    Although with this:

    "Also, I don't really follow your point about why underwhelming combat shouldn't bother me? Its a third person action game. I'm buying it for the fighting."

    That's not quite what I meant, what I was saying was that I was under the impression that the game had quite a bit to offer in other places so as to make the underwhelming combat a bit more forgiveable. Still, I'm not really in a position to judge for myself until I see just how underwhelming the combat is, or if I even feel that way.

    Good to see you're still vaguely itnerested though. Honestly, with some of the reviews like this, it probably makes sense to hold back until it's cheaper if you have a few misgivings. I personally am still quite eager to see what it's like, and I'm usually quite forgiving of 7/10 games.



    Oh as an aside, your point about GTA and its cartoony style is pretty fair, although to be honest, I think the cartoony visual style is more a visual excuse to get away with the violence rather than any sort of light-hearted take on the genre. The games do take themselves fairly seriously in a number of places, in spite of some moments of ludicrously exaggerated violence.

    To be honest, while I like the 3D GTA series for the undeniable fun moments they provide, I've always felt that they've been quite drastically overrated. For example, I don't think I'll ever quite understand why a game like AC, on the back of some justifiable criticisms by the sound of it, gets a 7/10, while games like GTAs 3 - SA get so many of the fundamentals wrong (combat, for example), end up feeling like a jack of all trades and a master of none, and still end up with 9 or 10/10s across the board. Although that's a discussion for a different day/thread I suppose. Still, I very much hope GTA4 rectifies these personal criticisms I have and takes GTA to the next level. From what I've seen so far it looks like they're on track in that respect and have learned quite a lot. Still, I'm changing the subject, so ignore me.

  • hula hoops #358 4 years ago

    did notice tho that Gamestation had it advertised at £49.99 but that morning dropped it to £39.99 just after opening. My local game did the same as well so thinking prehaps it's linked in with the lower than expected review scores in general and the fact that many now think it may sell less copies.

    It was mentioned on gamesindustry.biz somewhere in the analysts predictions running up to xmas that Assassins will be selling a lot less now than originally expected. Still think it'll do alright for itself tho.

    Hope they grill Jade on the Bonus round on GT this sunday. :D


    It would be a shame if the game sells much less than anticipated. If that's the case Ubi might think twice in making a sequel and gamers, or I in particular, would feel robbed by the negativity in some of the reviews. I have played the game for about 10 hours now and I am still liking it. Shame about the story as it really breaks the overall immersion of being a medieval assassin but the game is surely much better than what is said in the review.

  • hellweaver666 #359 4 years ago

    I picked this up yesterday morning and have put in about 6 hours so far and I'm enjoying it.

    Personally, I prefer to make up my own mind about games, this may not be the best in the world, but it's certainly keeping me occupied until GHIII comes out in the UK on the 23rd.

    The only thing that annoys me about this game is that whole horse riding bollocks - I think I'd rather have the choice of skipping the ride.

    Anyone else think it would be awesome if they released a crackdown style 'keys the city' addon with new targets, more weapons (whatever happened to the crossbow they showed in the trailers?) and a crazy point to point free running race mode!?

    Just me then...? Ah well... a guy can dream ;o)

  • T4RG4 #360 4 years ago

    Thought all along it'd get this kind of score, but amazed Eurogamer rated it as 7 when they gave the most over hyped (and frankly boring, even for the target 12yr old audience) game I've played for ages a 10! ;)

    Sounds very much like the Dev team needed until after Xmas to work on the game...

  • septimus #361 4 years ago

    After spending some good hours with this game, EG's rating seems way off base. How the hell did Halo 3 get 10 this not an 8 at least is beyond me.

  • TheJuriel #362 4 years ago

    I'll have to disagree with the review. The game is visually awesome, technically great (no load times within one huge play-area, only between them), and a lot of fun (even if repetitive on the long run, and very gamey in how dumb and short-memoried the enemies are).

    It should have scored better, because while there are niggles and things that could have been done better (very bad beginning, useless horse-riding), this is a game that actually tries something new (easy cool movement) and is one of a few solidly next-gen titles.

  • db3 #363 4 years ago

    Bought this for the wife, who plays the odd game like Tombraider, and she loves it - played it most of yesterday.

    It took a bit of a while to get going while you're introduced to the aspects of the game and different weapons but things get more interesting and challenging further in.

    Technically it's stunning, the graphics and environments are very cool.
    Would be better with more interaction of objects and different weapons.

    Certainly an 8.

    NB) Appears to be a technical problem with game - 4 crashes in 2 days, locking up PS3.
    Edited by 1 at 18/11/07 @ 13:50

  • Mashum #364 4 years ago

    I'm having a great time with this game since turning off the HUD components. While they were on I would just follow the arrow jumping over whatever persian content happened to be in front of me.

    Playing with the GPS, the threat indicator and other HUD data turned off requires a better understanding of your surroundings.

    Like Halo on legendary, F.E.A.R. without using the bullet time and dare I say it Theif on difficult (not that I got all that far) it totally changes the game into something slower, more concidered and far better IMHO.

  • byron_hinson #365 4 years ago

    @TheJuriel

    I'd call it next gen for graphics content but not for anything else. What does it do that is "next gen" I'd say 7 is spot on myself even though I enjoy the game I wouldn't rate it higher than that. It is too repetitive, combat is in fairness pretty awful, some and I mean some AI is dire. Also the feeling of the game in my view is ruined due to the sci-fi element that just doesn't need to be there. The atmosphere would have been so much better without it. Good game, but nothing special.

  • Fatnick #366 4 years ago

    I've been playing it on and off since Friday and the score fits it pretty much perfectly. About 7/10s of your time is spent in absolute awesomeness, and 3/10 of your time is spent trawling through absolute rubbish. The combat isn't as bad as everyone seems to think it is (its certainly no worse than the gun play in GTA, Crackdown or Hitman) and the side missions are not really any more repetitive than those found in any other sandbox game. You also don't need to do all of them in order to move the story forward.

    No, the only really major flaw is the mind-boggling lack of decent assassinations. Although walking up to people and stabbing them in the stomach does have an air of realism about it (its pretty much how the real assassins did away with Conrad of Montferrat) you kind of have to feel that Ubisoft don't really have an excuse for not coming up with sneakier ways of killing your marks because of all the Hitman games I/O have flooded the market with.

  • guernican #367 4 years ago

    Another one who has to concede that the review is right.

    If they'd spent a little of that 3-year development cycle thinking more creatively about the ways you get your information, this would be edging an 8/10. At the moment, beauty aside, it's a 7 and no more.

    Sorry, Jade. Does that mean our date is cancelled?

  • driptray #368 4 years ago

    Really surprised about a lot of the negativity around this game. I guess if a game grabs you, you'll like it despite the flaws, but if a game doesn't grab you then you'll dislike it despite the quality.

    For me AC's completely grabbed me. I'm finding it beautiful and compelling; it's provided an environment I just want to be in, to the point that I'm even enjoying taking time out of the main quests and collecting the flags! (normally flag-collecting would bore the tits off me). The living, breathing cities are astonishing, and the character animation is really wonderful. It's a real pleasure to play, an amazing achievement, and - so far anyway - it's GOTY for me.

    EDIT: .. and another thing! Just to add: one of the things I really like is the planning of the assassinations; although you only need two completed investigations to go ahead with it, it's really satisfying to do them all as most of the information you gather is actually genuinely useful. Using the info to plan the mission, and then executing it properly is genius!
    Edited by 2 at 19/11/07 @ 12:04

  • Gurgeh #369 4 years ago

    Ubisoft post regarding problems with the PS3 version of the game (mainly the "white screen freeze" issue)

    [link url=http://forums.ubi.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/525 1069024/m/5191065806/p/1
    ]http://fo rums.ubi.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f...[/link]


  • gmmonkey #370 4 years ago

    Ok, I'm about halfway through this game and I'm a bit conflicted about it and agree with the points made in the review. I would of probably given it an 8 though. It has some of the best art and gfx that I've ever seen in a game. The whole climbing game mechanics are awesome. I love the fighting (could of been made a bit harder, though).

    Sadly the game, is rinse and repeat down to the core. It's the same quests over and over; save the citizens, listen in on a conversation, pickpocket information from someone, kill that guy. They use the same conversations over and over again. After the first "Poor District" mission you do, you've done every quest-type in the game. If the game was given another 6 months to flesh it out, I'd think this would of been one of the best games ever. I think they got to that stage of mission design and realised they've ran out of time and then copy and pasted everything. It feels too much like a big empty sandbox. I was hoping for more varied missions along the lines of oblivion, thief, hitman, splinter cell style - Like going into ppls houses, slitting their throats, stealing stuff, rummaging through their house for info, shitting on their pillow etc..

    I would of like to have seen them going through daily routines. i.e. you know they stand in the square speaking to ppl at midday or they like to go collect water first thing in the morning. Not punching ppl in the head, in the daytime, after you activate a scripted event, until they give you some info. That's it's biggest flaw - no variation. Hopefully in the sequel they flesh it out.

  • L42yB #371 4 years ago

    I have been playing this since the release and I have to say... THIS GAME IS AWESOME!! :D

    I think 7 is *very* unfair from the site that gave Halo 3 10/10. I would give it an 8 or a 9 :) Excellent gameplay, good story and AMAZING graphics. Well done Ubisoft, I am quite happy with my purchase.

  • asphaltcowboy #372 4 years ago

    I agree, 7 is a bit crazy. I was pretty down on the game after reading this review, but stuck with my preorder having read Gabe's article and generally having faith. Good thing as well, as it's bloody brilliant!

  • Prox #373 4 years ago

    I think AC is hugely impressive - it is one of only a handful of games this year truly raising the bar. Ubi took a big risk with this game, went for innovation, invention and scope, and that should be praised. I'm not surprised they feel insulted with a 7.

    It might be flawed at points, feel a little clumsy when pushed to it's limits but overall it is a breathtaking achievement.

    I think it's just as important to pioneer new gameplay (AC/ME) than it is to perfect existing gameplay (COD/Halo).
    Edited by 1 at 19/11/07 @ 16:26

  • SleepyMagpie #374 4 years ago

    I was actually one of the doubters of this game. But then I went and took a leap of faith, despite the 7/10 rating.

    I am glad I did.

    My feelings on this release are almost exactly what Prox, above, stated.

    The 7/10 now feels petty, and one can well understand the dev teams reported feeling of insult. This is a pioneering, and next-gen, title. And should be praised thusly for it's efforts and achievements.

    Maybe Tom was going for the "Achievement unlocked - Made Jade cry"?

  • jlaakso #375 4 years ago

    Been playing the PS3 version and with my SDTV, tearing is really pretty bad (and I'm not sensitive to this) and the framerate is too inconsistent to really enjoy the admittedly beautiful vistas. It's a looker, though, and I find myself enjoying the storyline much more than I expected to. Threy're doing pretty interesting things there.

  • RamblinSydRumpo #376 4 years ago

    It's a pioneering control system agreed but one which doesn't quite work as well as it needs to. There are times later in the game where you feel that the control system is actually beating you because Altair just doesn't do what you intended him to do and the camera struggles to keep up. It's a fantastic technical achievement in terms of the size and detail of the environments but that's negated by the fact that the soldiers, citizens etc repeat the exact same phrases over and over, which given what Bioware have achieved with the volume of dialogue in Mass Effect is inexcusable. In terms of gameplay it's extremely limited - climb buildings, beat people up, have swordfights, find flags, pickpocket (which takes about 5 seconds max) or eavesdrop (watch cutscene after pressing a button). There isn't any freedom to pick your spots for the assassinations - they're pre-scripted and once you've fulfilled your quota of climbings, pickpocketing and eavesdropping there's pretty much one way to kill your target.
    I very rarely agree with Tom tbh, but in this case he got it pretty much spot on. 7 is a fair score for the game as it stands. If we're scoring on potential, Ubi has the makings of a 10 if they can address the gameplay issues for the sequel.

  • L42yB #377 4 years ago

    @SleepyMagpie -
    "There are times later in the game where you feel that the control system is actually beating you because Altair just doesn't do what you intended him to do and the camera struggles to keep up"

    I am already on my second playthru and I haven't experienced this at all... infact I think the combat and free run control system is incredibly good! I have reached a point where I can have fights that flow really well and look great :) It's all about style, really... and I love trying to collect as many gaurds as I can by running thru the streets and then having a *massive* brawl :D Camera has been great too, with no lagging or glitching to speak of at all...

    "but that's negated by the fact that the soldiers, citizens etc repeat the exact same phrases over and over"

    Agreed... I think this is the one thing that really does let this game down... a few extra days of recording similar phrases said in different ways and in different voices could have made a world of difference...

    "In terms of gameplay it's extremely limited"

    I disagree. I think the gameplay is great, and I have spent hours just running around and completely ignoring the "missions"... In the end I didn't even do them all, I had enough fun just trying to get an awsome free run going :) I think it would have been cool to include a type of "points" or "scoring" system for the whole making a long "combo" (this is what I call it) of a free run :) Also points for combat, and then leaderboards :)

    "there's pretty much one way to kill your target"

    Wrong! There is *always* more than one way to kill your target, and there is *always* a way to do it in a very cool way :) You need to explore the games options more, they aren't thrown in your face, you're expected to figure it out.

    Anyway, 7 is not a fair score for this game at all. 8 would be fair, 8.5 would be accurate (IMO) :)

  • menage #378 4 years ago

    Edge will problaly poop on it because it's hasn't got 4 wheels. :p

  • Crea #379 4 years ago

    After a few hours play I’m gradually coming to understand the score. After the build up to the main hit in an area the final kills are far too anti-climactic for my liking. I’m only a couple in, but I really do hope they get a bit more intricate because so far they have been really disappointing. It is not entirely clear to me what the benefit of gathering all the extra intelligence is before the final hit.

    Take the second main kill as an example – the doctor guy. Can someone explain to me another way to kill him other than gung-ho running past the guards followed by a stab, or waltz in courtesy of the scholar-express followed by a stab? It just doesn’t seem particularly rewarding to spend ages gathering all this intel when your options for the main hit are so bloody limited?

    Can someone who has found the hidden depth to the main kills please explain it to me, because I’m missing it. Although for the record, I do find most other aspects of the game spectacular.

  • hula hoops #380 4 years ago

    I consider all racing games to be repetitive as well. What's the point of going through the classifying stage if you can just most of the time drive past everybody in the first corner by breaking late or use the car in front of you as your brake.

    What's the point in adjusting suspension, gear ratio and all that shit if I can win most of the time without it.

    And what the hell is the point of going around the same piece of road in many laps, especially that is what there is to it in the whole bloody game.

    But people still play racing games.

  • RamblinSydRumpo #381 4 years ago

    L42yB "I have spent hours just running around"

    And you don't call that extremely limited? Surely just running around is doing the same thing over and over? If that floats your boat fine, but it doesn't exactly spell variety.
    And I'd love to hear some examples of the different ways you've managed to kill your targets....

  • L42yB #382 4 years ago

    @RamblinSydRumpo - Yes well, in a game that takes on parkour and has a new "Free Running" feature that is incredibly fun, just running around is infact not that limited. You should try it, its really cool.

    The different ways of killing people require you to be inventive. You have the Rambo option or the Stealth option at the outermost level, but within those you still have more choices, like how to get to your target, how to kill them and get away...

    And absolute mastery of this game (and what I find keeps me playing it after finishing it TWICE now) comes from not just getting to your targets and killing them, but *looking really, really cool while you do it!!* It's a style thing, and this game has it in buckets. If you are unable to get off on this, then it really isn't the game for you...

  • menage #383 4 years ago

    Edge gave it a 7 like Mass Effect.

    But Mass Effect did have wheels, now I'm confused. Maybe it's Moustache thing.

  • hula hoops #384 4 years ago

    Big Moustache tramples on wheels, guns or knives all the time. It's a rule of law.

  • menage #385 4 years ago

    A Moustache on wheels with guns would be an 11 then.
    Edited by 1 at 21/11/07 @ 18:42

  • RamblinSydRumpo #386 4 years ago

    L42yB - I guess we're going to disagree on "more than one way". Every kill has your target in exactly the same place so your options then seem to be "look cool" or not. Not exactly my idea of a master assassin. There isn't any freedom of choice about where you take your target - all of the kills are scripted as I said. If there's always more than one way, have you managed to kill Talal without going into the warehouse, or Garnier outside his "hospital", or Nuqoud outside the palace? The answer is no, because you can't do it - you're channelled into one place because you have to watch the cutscene before the kill.
    If the game was supposed to be about free running your argument for just running around would hold up, but it's not. It's got to say something about a game that puts you in the shoes of a badass assassin but you have more fun running around and ignoring tha assassination part...

  • Crea #387 4 years ago

    Totally agree with the previous poster, last night I did the mission where you have to kill the slaver guy in the warehouse in the rich district of Jerusalem. I spent an absolute age gathering all the available intel, trying to play the game in the spirit in which it was meant to be played, blending in etc. I had all the info I needed – map of the guard layouts , routes the target likes to escape along, tips about his fight style etc. In my mind I’m planning some awesome hit involving me stalking my prey along the rooftops before dropping cat-like to the ground for the silent kill in a secluded spot.

    Instead, I have to just ignore all the guards, and walk through the open door of the warehouse (which practically screamed trap) in order to activate the cut scene where my target mocks me for stupidly walking into his trap, which is some sort of amusing computer game ironic take on the issue of free will I suppose, since I clearly had no choice. Cue boss battle style guard ambush and then a chase to get the target.

    That is game-breakingly bad game design, I’m sorry. Leaving aside the free-running (which is incredibly awesome), the lack of depth for the main assassinations is criminal. The original Tenchu did this far better, and that’s saying something. The only guys you have any sort of creativity in killing are the templars, at least the game isn’t trying to ram the story down your throat there. There are other issues as well that ruin the game for me – in a medium where deus ex machina is a pretty commonly used device, the scholars are right up there with the most contrived and silly game mechanics I’ve ever seen. Only Metal Gear Solid’s cardboard box has it beat for silliness.

    I’m still mesmerised by the entire free running system, though. Amazing tech.

  • SleepyMagpie #388 4 years ago

    This is the third time I'm posting about AC.

    After having played roughly 60-70% of the game, my previous, positive reactions are diminishing, and it seems ol' Tom might have been right after all, and my initial assumptions as well..

    I honestly thought the assassinations would open up, and give you more choices and scope after the initial mouth-fed cinematics, but not so. This is very disappointing and greatly lowers the game's attraction and impact.

    And it could have been astounding. The engine, controls, visuals, vistas, all this dazzles you the first goes, but it crumbles like a lesse Thief guard in the end.

    All hail the Thief, you still reign supreme, Garrett (and some would say Snake or Agent 47 or whoever).

  • captainrentboy #389 4 years ago

    There's a reason why I think I'll enjoy this game faaar more than all the folk that are bashing it, it's quite simple really, I have hardly any effing time to play video games!! I mean, I've had this since it's launch and have managed to cram a whole 3 hours into it, I get the odd 30-45 mins playtime here and there when I get a chance, and because of that it always feels quite exciting and fresh to get back into. I can see how it would grate on someone's nerves if they're plowing through the whole thing in three sittings, but it seems that if you take your time it's not sooo bad.
    That's one of the reasons why I can never take a reviewer's opinion too seriously, they basically have to race through these games in a matter of days, and with titles like this I don't think that's the way they should be played.

  • p00ntang #390 4 years ago

    I've returned after reading the review, and then getting it anyway. I think it's a solid 8 personally.

  • rhinoxious #391 4 years ago

    Surely a solid eight would describe a game well crafted game based on tried and tested mechanics.

    Creed is definitely not that.

  • MBar #392 4 years ago

    It's an 8/10 for me, now that I've bashed it.

  • THEGREATMADMAN #393 4 years ago

    Thoroughly Enjoyed this game, though the investigations became a bit repetitive. Also, am i the only one who likes the plot? i.e the whole idea of Desmond.

  • wattoo #394 4 years ago

    I think the foundations of AC are a 9 or a 10. I love the free running, the view points, the pigeons, the haystacks, the falling over, the pot carriers, the vigilantes, the scholars and the combat system.

    Unfortunately I think the stuff layered on top is a 5 or lower.

    I hate the story (like someone has said already I'd rather it was a straight Middle Ages story). I imagine is was their way of getting an American into the lead role so the yanks would buy into it (a la Steve McQueen in The Great Escape).

    I ended up hating the camera. As you get into bigger fights against better opponents and find yourself against a wall or some scenery, the camera can get itself behind scenery, obscuring your view so you can't see when to counter.

    I also ended up hating the glitching bright animus effects, again especially in combat when i was up against them as the whole world is brightly lit i found it tricky seeing when i was then also up against the bright animus wall.

    As has been said the main missions are rubbish. I tried playing them as i would hitman and analyse all the intelligence, but more often than not i had to run out and stab the guy.

    And the ending..what a load of crap. I can't choose which I hate more, that or HL2.

    Yes GTA does kind of the same thing, but GTA has far more to do so they have a bigger playset with which to create the missions.

  • GeezaTap #395 3 years ago

    Got this from Lovefilm this week.

    It's a crying shame who samey a lot of it is, as some moments are beautiful.

    Although i now wanna kill all tramps, and watch the cast of Spooks climb Nelson's column to get their intel.