Assassin's Creed Comments by Kristan Reed

@Knot

to clarify I would just like to see what some scenes would be like in first person, not 'it should have been first person'. third person is much more suited for this kind of game, but it would have been nice to see some scenes in a chronicles of riddick style first person view, if just for a novelty bonus or option

Seriously impressed guys. A full 2 page preview and 53 comments so far and NO ONE has mentioned Jade Raymond yet. Seriously, she seems to get more press than the game itself does.

Back on topic though - this does look like it could be pretty cool, but unless the plot is spectacular or there are a bunch of new moves/abilities unlocked later in the game to up the variety I can see it being one of those games I start but never get round to finishing.

You can go into first person but only when you are standing still.It's mainly useful in some of the investigation missions to allow you to check out a location more clearly.

As a fan of the Hitman games, I'm really looking forward to this, but, just like Io's products, I can't really see this appealing to a terrifically wide audience - sure, it is pretty, but it doesn't seem like it is going to be 'GTA in the past' which some of my gaming buddies are evidently expecting.

Hitman games have a sort of slow and deliberate skeleton about them, occasionally surrounded by some action meat, but you aren't really getting the best out of the atmosphere of the game by cruising through any of the hitman missions with silverballers laying waste to all and sundry.

However, the combination of the stealth and free running elements of ACreed make it look an interesting sort of thing, and it'll be a welcome diversion from shooting people, which Halo3 and CoD4 will have made me do far too much of by the time this is released.

Why did this get so many more comments than my article? :(

I'm not buying it unless you can play online.

You mean I can't crouch roll across Hyrule^W Jerusalem? I suspect the stand around waiting mechanism will come to resemble the healing mechanism in the Getaway. e.g. pants.

@a.d.venturer

You don't stand around waiting, it just allows you to take first person view if you want to.Its not a gameplay mechanic its just an option.

As a fan of the Hitman games, I'm really looking forward to this, but, just like Io's products, I can't really see this appealing to a terrifically wide audience - sure, it is pretty, but it doesn't seem like it is going to be 'GTA in the past' which some of my gaming buddies are evidently expecting.

I think (and seriously hope) you're hitting the nail on the head here. People seem to expect a GTA meets God of War kind of game, when Hitman and Thief with some climbing thrown in seem far more realistic (and much more exciting) associations to me.

Review here for the 360.

http://gameinformer.com/Games/Review/200...

Preview reads like an 8. Spectacular visuals with not so well worked out gameplay.

I just completed crackdown today and
I really hope this is a game like that
but actually involving?
Crackdown's technology was fantastic but the enemies and missions sucked.
The last one where you kill wang was a bit better but even that was very dull.
I'd love a free running game where your enemies free run too>
please please please make it be good

I'm mostly excited about the setting... Games tend to bore the hell out of me with their generic settings and environments, but this one is something else. I hope it's good.

This game is starting to grab my attention... I'm looking forward to the full on review.

Oh... and for the love of Pete... Please dont call this game "Ass Creed"... AC works just fine.

This sounds like a great counterpoint or complement to the all-out smashathon of Ratchet & Clank. Will do nicely on my PS3, and yet another reason for not getting EoJ since I will spend my time on other games instead.

Why did this get so many more comments than my article? :(
I, for one, only heard about your article in this preview. I hope that comforts you. :-)

Hairy - because your article read like someone's blog, and because we all know Kristan and have been reading his gaming journalism for years. It's nothing personal, stop going on about it. Jeeeeeeeez.


Oh, and we're bummed that a forum Mod got picked instead of a 'proper' prole which is what Ubi wanted. ;)

@gaselite

Is anyone else slightly... anxious about the apparent lack of PS3 build being shown off anywhere? Everything I read seems to be based off the 360 version, which is even more confusing considering the PS3 was the lead platform for the game, wasn't it?
...
I don't want to be playing a version of a game that might be inferior than another version which I COULD be playing.

The version shown to EG was the X360 one. Must be a reason for that...

Sounds like lots of great ideas, pretty limited and frustrating execution - so basically a next gen version of the first Splinter Cell game?

Even if its just Hitman with swords, I'm sold \o/

@ agparrot I know what your saying but some of the best moments in hitman were when you got rumbled and there was nothing left to do but pull your ballers and blow those fuckers away

"The thing that drove this point home even more so, though, was Ubisoft's opening insistence that it had strived to do everything possible to ramp up the levels of immersion. I mentioned this to one of the game's developers who pulled a face before adding that unfortunately I'd not managed to pick my target's pockets in time and thus had failed the side mission and it had to be restarted."

Wouldn't a really easy soloution to that problem be to have the character walk into a building and shut the door behind him?

The GameInformer review Huddy linked to is exactly repeated for the PS3. Pity they don't specify which one was played. Here's hoping it's because they are identical.

Jezus. Orange Box, Ratchet and Clank, AC just for starters. What a month - and it's summer down here, so should be out windsurfing. Too much opportunities for fun!!!

Woo! Can't wait! :D

"Why the F do i see people saying "Thief this Thief that" and "This should be in FPS" nonsense !?

Third person IS integral to this type of game. Besides, i WANT to see a great character model perform cool moves and to estimate his relative position in game world space.

Fuck first person camera's and ADHD people whose attention span is way too short for stealth games !"

The reson I would assume that Thief is being talked about in the same way, is because of the gameplay and style seem to play in the same way,or at least it sounds to me that they share a common ground. Add to that we don't have many games set way way back and you might have your answer. I did play Knights of the Temple on GC , I enjoyed that one. Re 1st and 3rd I'm with you on that. Thief 3 can be played in either. All games should have this option. Try T3 on xbox and backwards it is a great game.

@gaselite
"Is anyone else slightly... anxious about the apparent lack of PS3 build being shown off anywhere?"

It was shown on the tour led by Jade Raymond. They didn't have PS3 kits at the London one, but apparently they did at some of the others.

Only found out because she was taking questions and it took about 3 seconds for someone to shout "but which version looks betta?".

This game looks like it could be something to really engage the player and make you think about what you should be doing in relation to the NPC's around you. I think all those people expecting a hybrid crackdown-like experience are going to be pretty disappointed.

Of course the fact that you might have to actually *think* about what you are doing has instantly alienated half the EG forum userbase..

Regardless of a number at the end of a review this will be a must-have game for me from what I've read so far.

30 hours of gameplay!

When the hell am I going to have time to get through that? I'm only five hours into Phantom Hourglass and haven't even made a dent in HL: Episode 2.

Curse the whole real life, job, marriage stuff that takes me away from my true calling.

Of course the fact that you might have to actually *think* about what you are doing has instantly alienated half the EG forum userbase..

Yeah, got to say, that's my impression from many of the comments (not just here, but wherever the game is mentioned) as well. I blame consoles. ;p

/nervously awaits review and eyes slowly draining bank a/c and free time available to get through more AAA releases.

Must hold....on...for...mass effect.

Looking spiffy. Will be good to play a game that isnt an FPS to be honest.

On crackdown, did anyone else think that there should have been an additional storyline at the end of the game where you fought with other 'dark' agents or at least other super powered beings? that would have been ace. or have some of the bosses be genetically altered rather than just 'pump 5 rockets at him and watch him die'

The controls sound immensely irritating

@Xiphos - Actually I'd say that the detail and scale of the environments DO make it a more impressive game that Gears of War which rarely had more than half a dozen enemies onscreen and had you fighting in mostly enclosed environments. Climb to the top of a high building in Assassin's Creed and the view is astounding not to mention the draw distance. My only concern with the game is the tearing (which I understand has been drastically reduced/eliminated), the iffy enemy A.I. that seems to queue up to attack you when they have the perfect opportunity to take you out from behind and...

*** MINOR SPOILERS FOR THOSE THAT DIDN'T KNOW ***

... the daft SF storyline with a twist that I feel shouldn't have been unveiled at the start of the game.

*** END OF MINOR SPOILERS ***

Otherwise it looks very impressive and very next-gen, or should I say this-gen.

Jade Raymond.

There. I said it.

I'd love her to try and parry my sword thrusts

@varsas

"Have they improved the enemy AI? The videos I've seen often show them all standing around with swords drawn but not actually attacking you together?"

Is that a problem though when it comes to fun gameplay? It worked for Bruce Lee in films for years.

@Duffmans

Here is what one of the AC devs has to say about similarities to the Thief gameplay:

"Action is a choice, for the most part. It's a rare time when you are forced to fight. Maybe two or three times in the game.

That being said, it's no Thief, thank Jeebus. If you like fighting, there's plenty to do without getting frustrated (although there's plenty of You Are Going To Get Your Ass Kicked fights if you aren't smart about it).

And it's not a stealth game either. At least, not in the way that the terms are commonly used. You hide in plain sight, and there's no real 'failure' for triggering conflict. There are some missions where it's expected that you don't trigger an all out fight."

Wendelius

Game Informer has the first review up and gave it a 9.5!

And they gave Mass Effect a 9.75!

What a week next week will be!

@Somatic Sense.

Now I'm not buying the game at all, until someone mentions that this is in fact something that no longer exists in the final build of the game. It sounds like absolutely appalling game design, that would just lead me to take it straight back for a refund.

So your not buying a game which isn’t even out yet because you found a bug while playing the beta version??? based on that and playing games before they are released you can't actually own many games seeing the difference between pre-alpha, beta and master candidate is obviously not apparent to you?

Gotta laugh at all this negativity when no one has the final build and no one has a clue what’s fixed and what's not. still unsold i spose lol !

@Duffman

Quote "The reson I would assume that Thief is being talked about in the same way, is because of the gameplay and style seem to play in the same way"..

People are just mentioning Thief to make the hip elitist comment as if Thief would be the obscure quality game everyone forgot compared to the new AC.

Again : AC is all about relative position of your character in the game world; third person cam is integral to Altair's footplacement, ledge grabbing and moves set. A first person game cannot and will never focus on such meticulous kenetic gameplay. (Even the Nano suit gameplay in Crysis is still limited in accuracy of foot and hands placement/movement.) Besides, I don't think Thief had the 'crowd' gameplay in such a way either.
Oblivion had a third person cam option as well, but the character's feet "slide" accross the surface ; fps games don't calculate such kenetics such as AC does, because they're never made to that purpose.

People are just seeing medieval setting + some form of stealth and they scream "Thief !" while not looking beyond the range of their noses.

I'd say ; play AC and see it for what it is.

Knot speaks the truth.

I am amazed at the negativity towards AC. I just don't get it.

Only ONE credible revier has played the final build and published their review - and it got an amazing 9.5. Now I'm not that this game will be great based on this one review but it does lead me to think this game will be a fantastic game.

People are just seeing medieval setting + some form of stealth and they scream "Thief !" while not looking beyond the range of their noses.

I'd say ; play AC and see it for what it is.

Christ, come off your high horse, will you. Maybe people care about different things in games, and are therefore reminded of different things. Thief is a perfectly valid association from the setting, dodgy main character, some gameplay mechanics, etc., while you're getting lost in details about the calculation of foot placement, when the game does all the climbing almost semi-automatically anhow, if you've read the preview.

christ this sounds good...i just wish it offered 1st person as well, since 3rd person just doesn't do it for me

He is not on his high horse - he speaks the truth!

People are comparing Tomb Raider to Halo! They are different genres.

Thief is nothing like Assassins Creed and any comparisons is folly. If You like Theif then thats great - but it really is NOTHING like AC.

@ UncleLou

Dude, a majority of people only see what they want to see and as a result of that they'll claim all kinds of (false) assumptions. It's not me who's on the high horse ; THEY are.

If YOU actually did some research into what goes into those footplacements then you'd see it's what makes this game tick, UNLIKE any Thief game. But ow well, i'll give up on those screamers who rant "I want my first person cam, I want my grenades, i want the game to forgive me for my lack of patience with STEALTH games ! Boohoo..."

gamesradar gave it a 10

wow a page to myself.... *Struts around*

I'm very much looking forward to this one, however:

"...mashing the X button does deal with the game's earlier enemies, it doesn't take long before you're required to pay more attention to timing and take advantage of countering techniques..."

...is exactly what killed Heavenly Sword.

^ All the more incentive to go the stealthy way or to use the crowd to blend in and avoid fights altogether.

That is a excuse, for years developers are trying to re-invent the wheel and when it invariable does not work as expected there is always some excuse, the whole "oh well, the fighting system is a bastard child of the fighting game system so just use stealth" it kinda negates actually doing the fighting system in the first place.

I think I read enough about this now to give it a wide berth.