Assassin’s Creed

Right, let’s just make it clear that I would in no way describe myself as a “gamer.” Or at least not a hardcore gamer. I like ’em enough and all, but on the whole I don’t particularly care one way or another how complete your pokedex is or if you’ve gotten all the achievements on [insert game title here]. However, that doesn’t stop me from picking up a controller from time to time and mashing buttons like a noob because it’s fun. I enjoy fun things, like most people.

Assassin’s Creed is not a game I’ve played all the way through on my own, most because my little brother is the gamer in my family and I think it’s nice for him to keep that title. But also because I usually run out of patience trying to advance in the game and not to die repeatedly and then becoming more frustrated when I have to redo everything from whatever checkpoint. In short, I am a novice and I pretty much plan to stay that way, and that’s okay with me. But I felt AC deserved some love because it’s just a really well done franchise and despite my abysmal lack of gaming skills, a really enjoyable way to waste my life on (since otherwise I’d probably be on Facebook or Youtube wishing there was something better to do). Therefore, I can’t promise you’ll read anything crazy-awesome on this page, but I still want to document the experience, limited and short-lived as it was.

My favorite aspect of the game was definitely the effort made to make gameplay exciting and culturally enriching/realistic. Yes, the drama is a necessary part of the process, though personally I could have done without the sex part- I mean, who really wants to watch videogame characters get it on with each other- they can’t even physically touch so how great could it be? (Seriously, I don’t understand why even though the graphics designers went all out on this series, the concept of fixing that weird phase-through bug thing eludes them). Anyway, while I’m no Italian culture expert, I really felt connected to the cultural elements brought out in the game, from the different set designs to the accents and splashes of actual history. Historical fiction is always interesting to read because it gives the reader a glimpse into the actual way of life of another time/culture without being droll and dreary like a history textbook. So this translated well into the game, though obviously it was not a focus feature.

The action was. I felt character movements were relatively fluid and realistic which made the freerunning experience quite enjoyable (though it took me a while to figure out how to get around without accidentally killing myself by jumping the wrong way…) The gear and gadgets were really fun, and I liked that it was more customizable than other RPGs (like Zelda for example). And while the side-quests were sometimes distracting, I never found them boring or mundane as compared to the rest of the plot. The plot itself was reasonable enough, though I felt it was at times slightly contrived, more so when playing as Desmond in “present day” time. Personally, I didn’t take too well to Desmond’s character- in all honesty, if I met him in real life, I’d think he was kind of an ass. Ezio was irritatingly a ladies man, which probably bothered me simply because I’m fairly certain my vagina would not want to have anything to do with him. Otherwise, I found him more acceptable thanks to the whole justice-revenge thing, though I’m not endorsing an ends-justifying-the-means attitude whatsoever. In the videogame and basically the entire entertainment universe, I believe this mentality can be at least acknoledged as an effective, though not necessarily moral, perspective of directing the plot and a character’s motives.

The soundtrack fit well with the gameplay, and I liked  that it felt more emotionally charged while playing, especially at high intensity bits like chase/fight scenes, and that it seemed adaptive to your location and current objective in a more intuitive way than other games (as in instead of there being preset bgm in a given area and others like it, the music would change to reflect what you, the player, was doing at the current time). I admit it seemed somewhat repetitive after a while though, and there were quite a few tracks I didn’t recognize when I looked up the OST on youtube, but that could have just been me being an idiot. Otherwise, it was a great addition to the game, the composition fitting really well with the time period and feel of the game as a whole.

Overall, it was really good fun. The end was sort of outlandish, but still cool nonetheless. That was probably the only part within the animus that felt rather contrived to me; otherwise, it was excellent even with its flaws. I’d highly recommend it to everyone, even if you’re only remotely interested in gaming. It’s a real rush of a ride, and it definitely had me begging for more. (Can’t wait for Revelations in November!!)

Ratings:

Plot: 7

Characters/Character Portrayal: 8.5

Sound: 9

Graphics/Presentation: 10

General Effect: 8

Total Avg. Score: 8.5