Assassin's Creed on PC

**Bob the Insane** · 11-15-2007, 15:38

I have it now on the 360... Been trhough the tutorial and the first assassination...

While I understand some of the negative comments in the reviews, I feel they have been overstated.

Firstly the game does look fantastic and the story so far works fine even (if you bother to listen) why peoples voices sound odd sometimes and all the weird interferance you see on screen (avoiding spoilers).

The control style is a bit different but does work well, though I have not really gotten the timing perfected yet for the fighting. However for the point of this thread, i have no idea how they will map to the PC, you will be using like 8 keys (or buttons) at once plus the mouse!?!?!

The gameplay is really fun, moving through the city doing your assassin thing...

It is correct that you do not need to complete all of the investigation sub missions before an assassination, but they do help, with real world information. Things like the easiest direction to get into the targets area, suggestions for escapes and ways to move around. It could have been better but is not bad.

The scores in the reviews are appropriate I think, and I feel the main cause of the apparantly heavy critisim is disappointment that this is not the "best game ever!". It is not, but is is very good and does attempt to break new ground. A combination of Hitman and GTA. And it does look stunning (for the 360). If the AI is as bad as reported then I am a terrible player, so far it seems pretty easy to get discovered by the guard and chased around the place. The game makes you feel like you are a very capable individual, but you still need to be careful of mistakes or taking on too many guards.

Plus the guards/soldiers outside of the cities are considerably more difficiult to fight. After owning the city guards I was surprized to have one soldier kick the whatsits out of me!

All in all, lots of fun and interesting story so far...

**alman7272** · 11-15-2007, 17:04

I got a 360 specifically for AC and Mass Effect. :)

**frogbeastegg** · 11-17-2007, 22:38

After spending half of this evening playing the 360 version I'm in agreement with Bob the Insane. Me likes. To me it plays like Prince of Persia with a dash of Metal Gear Solid and a pinch of Thief, as I've not played Hitman or GTA. You can tell that the same team behind Prince of Persia made this game.

The animation in particular is stunning. It gives me the same feeling as Sands of Time did in 2003 in that it's ahead of anything I've seen before and so natural it immediately makes other games look clumsy. Not seen any trace of the tearing some reviews have been complaining about; I’m using 720p and it looks fabulous.

I notice quite a few reviews complain about the guards standing around to take it in turns to attack you. Wish I could say that - I keep getting stabbed in the back by one guard while another attacks me from the front. Block will only stop attacks coming from head on and its hard to evade when surrounded, so this is a very effective combo.

It's a joy to run around and explore. Picking up the optional missions, hunting for flags, and tagging viewpoints. The areas you are given to play around in are massive! Thief III should have handled its city overworld this way.

If someone could explain to me why the guards in the Kingdom area are permanently hostile and will attack me on sight unless I use blend mode I'd be grateful. It's infuriating to have to shuffle along so slowly each time I reach one of the numerous outposts when there's literally miles to cross. I don't have any problems in the cities.

I could have done without the scifi angle on the story. When I first heard about the game it was being reported as a straight up historical setting with Altair trying to keep peace in the Holy Land by judiciously assassinating people on both sides. The scifi tale may yet win me over; it's by no means bad so far.

I have done the first assassination. Quite a ... lively affair.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

No, so far I wouldn't call it game of the year. That doesn't prevent it from being a polished, enjoyable production.

**Bob the Insane** · 11-18-2007, 00:00

I just did that one from the demo movies... The French dude in the castle...

That whole leap on someone and stab them thing is not as easy as they made it look...

I died once and then on the second go got into this rediculously huge battle in the middle of which I managed to kill the guy, it is funny having the cut scene, once it ends you realise you are still surrounded by the dead guy's mates and they don;t look happy... Run!!!

Oh, Froggy look out for Templars in the city... They never show up on the maps but you see them occasionally in the city (chap in heavy armour, white shirt and big red cross). There are points for assassinating them but be warned they are hard as nails... I was stunned the first time. I had been kicking the city guard's around and then this one guy did the same to me!!

**frogbeastegg** · 11-18-2007, 19:09

Originally Posted by Bob the Insane

Oh, Froggy look out for Templars

I found one in the Kingdom area near one of the viewing points. It was quite the shock. I was sneaking around a soldier's camp in blend mode, worried by the large number of angry soldiers standing around the viewing spot I wanted to climb. So I edged my way around one wall, around a bit more, a bit more, surely the line of sight will break soon, a bit more, then suddenly Altair is crumpling to the ground in a gout of blood. There was a Templar standing watch at the back of the tower and he killed me before I'd finished swinging the camera around so I could see around the corner.

I'm intending to spend some more time sight seeing tonight. Exploring these environments hunting for flags, mini missions and neat little secrets is so relaxing.

**Craterus** · 11-18-2007, 19:35

Ah, dilemma! I'm sold on this but do I get it now, or wait for Christmas?

**frogbeastegg** · 11-19-2007, 20:17

Originally Posted by Craterus

Ah, dilemma! I'm sold on this but do I get it now, or wait for Christmas?

I'd say that depends on the kind of player you are. If you are content to play a game simply to fool around, experiment and explore then there's a lot to like and a lot to do. Last night I got the 'killed 100 enemies without dying' achievement, played tag with some guards in the middle of a village with curious locals looking on in order to get a second achievement, scaled all 12 viewpoints in the Kingdom area, entered Acre and saved a monk from some thugs, found some hidden flags, got killed by Templars, and did a lot of horse riding. I didn't advance the plot one bit.

Conversely, if you intend to follow the essential path through the game you'd better wait for the price drop. People who play this way complain the game is repetitive, short and limited.

NB: Don't get the impression that combat is easy because of my killing 100 enemies without dying. I was very careful about fighting small parties, assassinating where possible, and picking on the weakest guard type in the Kingdom area. The other types kill me more often than I'd like if I meet them in numbers. I don't know why some reviews have complained about block making you completely invulnerable - when facing any but the most basic enemies I get stabbed in the back by multiple attackers, thrown, or my guard beaten aside. Some of the more advanced types, like Templars, have parried my supposedly unbeatable counterattacks and smacked me for a whole lot of damage.