It's Altair's World

Published November 28, 2007

Assassin's Creed™ stars the preternaturally agile, fearless, and ruthlessly efficient assassin Altair in his bloody quest to achieve peace by eliminating corrupt power mongers in Damascus, Acre, and Jerusalem during the Third Crusade. With three stunningly enormous and vibrantly alive cities, a head-scratching, thought provoking storyline, and action sequences seemingly choreographed to perfection by you, the player, Assassin's Creed is a rare achievement in gaming—thrilling, visceral, visually awe-inspiring, and even emotionally complex.

Someone down there is about to have a bad day.

Acrobatic Revolution
The bulk of your time spent with Altair will definitely involve some measure of intuitive and spectacular acrobatics. Whether it's scaling breathtaking View Points such as churches, temples, and castle towers that are sure to inspire a twinge of vertigo, leaping effortlessly across a series of narrow beams to track down a fearful target, or counterattacking a wayward sword swipe with brutal but graceful results, Altair's every movement is executed with a subtlety and athleticism never before seen.

Ubisoft has changed the very foundation of platform gaming with its out-of-this-world animation, and by focusing the gameplay more on awareness and less on twitch reflexes. Other games force you to navigate areas with frustratingly precise placement and timing, but in Assassin's Creed, the most complex environmental elements can be traversed by simply holding down the right trigger and the A button while running or climbing in the desired direction.

The challenge is in instantly recognizing and taking the most efficient path, and in the sprawling cities, where every crevice can be grabbed hold of, every ledge reached and every wall scaled, finding the proper route can be a formidable challenge indeed.

Blend in to avoid suspicion.

Mission Structure
There are nine essential targets, brutal, conniving, and selfish men of power that must be stopped to achieve peace during the tumultuous Third Crusade. However, there are no linear "levels" in the traditional sense. Instead, you freely roam through the open-ended city districts of Damascus, Acre, Jerusalem, and the Assassin Guild's fortress village, Masyaf.

Assassin's Creed is an enormous game, especially for the action/platformer genre.

Once you're given a target, it's up to you to investigate the target's background, behavioral patterns and character before devising your final plan and closing in for the kill. These "investigations" can take on a variety of different forms.

• Get help from the Guild: Fellow members of the Assassin's Guild may trade critical information for a favor, such as tracking down and assassinating your comrade's enemies, or participating in a rooftop race to collect flags within a set time limit.
• Pick their pocket: Track a target carefully through the city streets and pick their pocket of strategically important documents.
• Do some eavesdropping: If you can avoid detection, eavesdropping on targets will reveal crucial details to help you on your way.
• Interrogation works: Some investigation targets must be tracked down and persuaded to part with vital intel, though, sadly for them, imparting their knowledge only further seals their unfortunate fate.

Each assassination mission carries with it a series of investigation missions, but even these sub-missions must be unlocked by either scaling the View Points, or saving citizens being accosted by guards.

Draw the Blade
When it comes time for Altair to draw his blade to dispatch pesky guards, brigands and the like, he does so with a system built on recognition and timing. Tapping X will initiate a standard strike, and holding it will unleash a slower, more powerful attack, but the majority of successful attacks will come courtesy of the "combo" kill or counterattack, both of which feature outstanding, sometimes gruesome animations.

Looks even more sweet in motion.

Successful combo attacks are achieved by tapping X immediately after an opponent parries your attack. The counterattack on the other hand is executed by tapping X while blocking (holding right trigger), before your enemy's strike makes contact with your sword. You can also dodge attacks (once the ability is learned), throw knives (a one shot kill on a standard guard), grab and throw your opponents, and even "assassinate" prone enemies with a quick strike from your hidden blade.

Assassination kills with Altair's hidden blade is the preferred method of attack whenever possible. Anonymity is the mark of a true assassin after all. Any hidden blade attack, whether high profile (running, holding right trigger) or low profile (walking), will result in an instant kill on any unsuspecting target.

Flag Hunts and the Kingdom
Beyond city-based side missions, investigations, and, of course, the actual assassinations, there is still a world filled with collectibles and rewards for those willing to explore. Every city is filled from top to bottom with flags waiting to be discovered. Find every flag in a city and you'll unlock an achievement. Also, scattered throughout every area in Assassin's Creed are members of your nemesis order, the Templar Knights, and, like the flags, you'll earn an achievement if you hunt them all down.

Altair's world is vast.

The Templar Knights and area-specific flags are also to be found in the enormous hub world, known as The Kingdom. This vast and gorgeous landscape connects all the game's major cities and is densely populated with villages, citizens, guards and even fortifications of its own. Because of its size, you can traverse The Kingdom on horseback, and even do battle with enemies while mounted. There are hours of entertainment packed in just this area alone.

You may notice that I've talked very little about the game's storyline. That's because even to reveal a few details would spoil the experience. This is one game you should jump into without any prior knowledge of the plot.

Assassin's Creed is an enormous game, especially for the action/platformer genre. The world and cities are so vast, so wonderfully crammed with thrilling content that those who take their time could easily top thirty hours in Assassin's Creed, and, most importantly, be rewarded for every minute of that time.

Article by Ryan Treit