Every once in a while a game will be shown at E3 or one of the other conferences that just blows your socks off. It looks amazing, promises revolutionary gameplay, and a story never seen before. As screenshots and trailers flood the internet, you find yourself caught up in the hype and the excitement surrounding this game. Then, when it does finally hit shelves and you can hold a copy in your hands, you rush home to "pop that baby in" and finally experience this stunning game. Yet ten minutes into the game, you find that it wasn't anything like you expected. "Half-baked", "rush job", and even "this is it?" swirl through your head. What was all the hype for? Why did I wait so long and waste my money on this? Only one phrase can truly describe these games - Drekfully disappointing.
Assassin's Creed was one such game. The hype for this game was so huge that you couldn't help but get caught in it. Screenshots, trailers, and interviews - I followed this game from when it was first hinted at TGS 2005 and then later at E3 2006. This was one of the must have games of the year. When it finally rolled out to the stores, I of course picked up the collector's edition for a hefty $99.99 price tag. When I opened the box, I had a feeling that I made a huge mistake. I won't get into details about the contents of the box itself, but let's just say it was pitiful, truly pitiful.I have to admit the game is gorgeous and I still pop it in every once in a while. The gameplay mechanics work pretty well and it is truly fun to assassinate your enemies. The controls were simple and so were the missions - that's the biggest downfall of AC. It's supposed to be an action/platformer. When I think of platformer, I think of running and jumping, plus a few puzzles mixed in. In AC you can run and jump, but Altair does it all for you. Simply push forward on the analog stick and your off. No jump button is needed, nothing, you sit and watch him do all the work. I absolutely love platforming sequences, especially hard ones (I still play the swingshot levels from the R&C games all the time), yet Ubisoft somehow thought it was a good idea to take away 50% of the gameplay to make it easier for the gamers.
The missions are very simple as well. Collecting information on target, watch target, assassinate target, and repeat. While the first set of missions was fun and exciting, having to follow the exact same pattern throughout the game became tedious and downright boring. This game must have been one of the easiest to make because they just had to "copy and paste" the first set of events five or six times and poof, instant game. As for the locations, the cities of Jerusalem, Acre, and Damascus were very similar. In fact, they are so similar that I had a hard time remembering which city I was actually in. Once again, just "copy and paste" and poof you instantly have your in game world completed, easy as pie.Though there are a few upsides with this game. The combat system was very unique and interesting, though not very polished, and I liked the "puppeteer" control scheme. The story, amazingly out there, was interesting enough to keep me interested in beating the game, which I did. Yet the characters were all forgettable and most were unlikeable, making it hard to distinguish the three factions from each other. The location is the best part of the entire game. The Third Crusade isn't as common a stomping ground as WWII or gang controlled cities, which makes this truly a unique adventure unlike anything we've seen on the PS3 so far. Too bad the upsides weren't strong enough to make this a Qwarktastic game.
With repetitive missions, arrogant characters, horribly simple controls, and a confusing storyline - Assassin's Creed was one of my biggest disappointments out of all the PS3 games I own. While this game did receive high scores, I feel most of them were undeserved, it's like rewarding a magician who can only do three tricks. Ubisoft is going to try another crack at this one with a sequel that's coming out later this year. I would pass on most sequels of "Drekfully disappointing" games, but AC had so much potential that I'm hopeful Ubisoft will fix a lot of these flaws and come out with a truly worthwhile game. This time though, no Assassin's Creed 2 collector's edition for me, no matter what's in it.
Drekfully Disappointing!- Title: Assassin's Creed
- Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
- Publisher: Ubisoft
- ESRB: Mature
- Original Release Date: 11.13.07
- Original Platform: PS3, PC, X360, DS, Mobile
