Assassin's Creed

[Ripstar]

This is supposed to be coming out for the PC in Q4.

Looks pretty interesting. There are some great visuals over at Game Rankings.

Hopefully it the PC version will not suffer from too much consolitus.

Anyone interested in this title or have a scoop?

[Skylark]

I was very stoked about this from all the gameplay footage that was released before, at E3 and such.

But then it was made public that there is no jump button. Read that again. Look at the footage. What were they thinking? I mean, a game like that, where the whole interest in the game is the high-flying acrobatics and evading guards across rooftops and everything, and there's no jump button?

The character apparently just jumps when you get to the edge of a roof, or whatever. Does that mean there's close to no skill involved?

I'm just so disappointed by this. It made the game go from a must-buy to a rental for me. Of course, I'm trying to keep an open mind, so I may still buy it after the rental, if I'm proven wrong. We'll see.

[Greg Wak]

QT3 and Tom Chick has a nice review up. It appears to have some flaws. I guess there really is not much of a story and the game gets quite "samey" in short order. I was excited about this title but this review has tempered that somewhat.

[ChrisGrenard]

You guys need to see what most of us have written over in the console area.

Sufficient to say that I, and others, feel that the negative press given to the game is a bit of hogwash. This is not universal consensus, but the vast majority of us are enjoying it.

I, in fact, would give it at least a 9/10. And for what it's worth, you have NO need for a jump button.

Also, the only way I can see playing the game on a PC is by using a gamepad. I just don't see it happening without that.

[Doomboy]

The game isn't called "Jumping Creed". As long as the game doesn't do the assassinating for me, I'm completely okay with it doing the jumping for me. I never enjoy missing jumps in these types of games anyway.

I just need to decide if I want to play it on the Mass Effect machine (my 360) or wait for the PC version. I think I am going to wait though. My computer is extra spiffy now, so it should be able to handle the game and maybe even make it look nicer.

[Greg Wak]

What turned me off was this discription of the ending: A long slog against a ton of enemies minus most of the tools you have been given throughout the game. Bleah. That and the fact that the story was weak.

[ChrisGrenard]

What turned me off was this discription of the ending: A long slog against a ton of enemies minus most of the tools you have been given throughout the game. Bleah. That and the fact that the story was weak.

Did you play the game? I found this whole thing to be just badly described.

Near the end of the game you have to fight baddies for maybe... 10-15 minutes. And you have all your weapons you have always had. That's it. If that's a big deal to you, then... well, sorry, I think you're missing out.

[Rip]

I was very stoked about this from all the gameplay footage that was released before, at E3 and such.

But then it was made public that there is no jump button. Read that again. Look at the footage. What were they thinking? I mean, a game like that, where the whole interest in the game is the high-flying acrobatics and evading guards across rooftops and everything, and there's no jump button?

The character apparently just jumps when you get to the edge of a roof, or whatever. Does that mean there's close to no skill involved?

I'm just so disappointed by this. It made the game go from a must-buy to a rental for me. Of course, I'm trying to keep an open mind, so I may still buy it after the rental, if I'm proven wrong. We'll see.

Make the game enjoyable for those without skill one must, if huge profit to be made is.

[Lord Percy]

Combat is actually pretty straightforward. Exciting, but easy to grasp. I didn't have any problem with the ending at all, and thought it was great.

About the jump button: Altair (the main character) won't jump unless you specifically hold down a button telling him to free run. You also still have to aim your jump for the most part. I've fallen to my death plenty of times because because I didn't make a jump. The only thing the game does for you is remove the need to press the jump button at the last possible moment, plus it guides your landing somewhat so that it is easier to aim for narrow ledges or rafters or things like that. It turns repeated jumping into something exciting when it could have been a frustrating chore. There's nothing like killing your target, then escaping the guards through a dozen fluid jumps while they fumble around below you. Climbing walls isn't completely automatic either; you still have to aim for protrusions in the wall yourself. In my opinion they managed to develop a terrific control scheme.

[rrmorton]

I agree. It's a fantastic experience.

[Windows95]

I'm having a blast. Just wait until you're perched on the top of a church steeple gazing at an entire living city beneath you from a hundred feet up. Then you realise that you can go pretty much anywhere that you can see.

The game isn't perfect, but it's a pretty neat ride.

[Alefroth]

I'm having a blast. Just wait until you're perched on the top of a church steeple gazing at an entire living city beneath you from a hundred feet up. Then you realise that you can go pretty much anywhere that you can see.

The game isn't perfect, but it's a pretty neat ride.

Don't forget the feeling of jumping off of that steeple.

Ale

[Greg Wak]

What turned me off was this discription of the ending: A long slog against a ton of enemies minus most of the tools you have been given throughout the game. Bleah. That and the fact that the story was weak.

Did you play the game? I found this whole thing to be just badly described.

Near the end of the game you have to fight baddies for maybe... 10-15 minutes. And you have all your weapons you have always had. That's it. If that's a big deal to you, then... well, sorry, I think you're missing out.

I don't own a console so no I did not play it. Just going off reviews-which could be wrong or maybe just different things are important to the reviewer. Comments here are making me rethink things. I may just try this when the pc version ships.

[Windows95]

Penny Arcade has a good little blurb up on the game from a few days ago. They talk about how if you're a reviewer, with a stack of game to review for the holiday rush, you're probably in a hurry to play through Assassin's Creed. If you did have to rush through the game, the flaws would probably be somewhat more grating and ruin the experience.

Again, the game isn't perfect. But it does many things very well, and is a pretty fun and unique experience. It won't be for everyone, but I'd definately say its at least a game you have to try.

Penny Arcade link, second post

[Ripstar]

release date for PC....... Feb 2008.

[Giles Habibula]

I didn't pay any attention to this game when it came out. Console Port, AND system requirements that I just couldn't meet.

Well, when I picked up my new rig, I also picked up this game, and finally installed it.

I had trouble getting it to run at all, at first. Not sure what I did exactly, but I finally got it up and running at 1920 x 1200 with everything maxed.

Still getting used to the keyboard and mouse control, but there's nothing really complicated, and I think I should be able to get the hang of it with practice. For a console port, the PC controls actually aren't bad. Plus, it allowed me to reverse the Y-axis. Were it not for that, it'd be unplayable for me. As it is, it's very playable. Framerates very smooth, but with a few odd video glitches that I can't figure out. Definitely not the game's built-in glitches, these are video glitches--flashes of green or black bars every 30 seconds or so, lasting about as long as the blink of an eye. I thought I might be overstressing my video card, but it's running a cool 62C in-game.

Cutscenes are well-done, but not skippable, which really sucked the first few times while I was trying to diagnose my video problems.

Anyway, I just emerged outdoors into a town, and HOLY SHIT this game is stunningly BEAUTIFUL! Plus I appear to be able to run around and climb up on just about anything, anywhere. I'm getting really stoked by the possibilities I'm imagining here.

Off to read some reviews now. This one totally snuck under my radar.

[Windows95]

I think you’ll enjoy it Giles.

I replayed the game on my PC and it’s one of the prettier games out there. In small doses (a mission or two a day) the repetition doesn’t feel like too much of a grind, and free running through a city never gets old. It’s also possibly one of the few games that can actually instil a sense of vertigo in me. Try climbing to the very top of the church’s cross in Acre's southern district and then look down.

I hope they do make a sequel to this game. They’ve got a good engine and foundation; if they polish up some of the gameplay flaws they could have a real classic.

[Giles Habibula]

I think you’ll enjoy it Giles.

You're right. I'm loving it.

What I'm not loving is the fact that I'm apparently one of the many who are experiencing frequent crashing of the game. Sometimes within a few minutes, sometimes I can get a half hour out of it. But when it's not crashing, it runs smooth as butter. I've got a temp monitor on my second monitor as I play, and the highest I'm seeing my video card temp go is 67C (Stalker: CS will push it to near 80C without problems). The temps on all four CPU cores are right around 55C in the midst of things, so I don't think it's heat-related.

After spending a lot of time browsing forums that discuss this problem, I've tried several things: Disabling my internet, disabling the second monitor, dialing the graphics way down, reverting to older drivers, manually turning my GPU fan to 100%, and underclocking my 9800GTX by about 10%. Game crashes still occur just as randomly, preceeded by ever-increasing artifacts.

Wouldn't be so bad if I could skip the cut-scenes. But now it's to the point where I'm barely listening to the dialogue. Instead, I'm watching artifacts appear and disappear while muttering, "C'mon, hurry up, hurry up...finish what you're saying so it will auto-save before it crashes!"

That's what's weird: These triangular artifacts will gradually start appearing in the center of the screen, and then grow larger and larger....Until, just when I think the game is going to crash, they disappear completely, and I'll get another 10 minutes of play sometimes before it happens again.

[Rawrkan]

isnt 55c a bit too much ?

[Giles Habibula]

isnt 55c a bit too much ?

From my research, 55C under load for a Q6600 is fine. Should be fine up to 75C and beyond, actually.

[Giles Habibula]

Touchy, touchy game.
Well, I had it running for a solid hour, two times now.
I underclocked the video card to about HALF speed (still ran at a solid 35 FPS @ 1920 x 1200), and cranked the video card fan to 85%. Not sure if that's what did it, or if it would have ran fine normally, but damn, I'm having so much fun, I'm gonna go back in again for another "test".

Video card temp peaked at 47C at those settings. I just don't get this. Stalker can push my card to 80C with no trouble whatsoever...

I'm still working at getting my controls down. But there's plenty of opportunity for practice. Thus far, this is the most pure, unadulterated FUN I've had with a game in years! No, it's not a deep game, or a thinking game. But it is the very definition of fun.

I just got into Damascus. The horse-riding and fighting from horseback is FUN!
Leaps-of-faith are HUGE FUN! Especially during a chase.
And the chases can be a huge rush.

[Giles Habibula]

Wow. I actually just exited the game normally!

Stupid nooB questions:

1. When you climb to the top of a tall tower or viewpoint, how the hell do you climb down? Everything I try ends up with me falling to my death.

2. When engaged in a big swordfight and you are overwhelmed, how do you break off the fight and run away?

[Rawrkan]

look where the big bird/s are standing and do a leap of faith

[Giles Habibula]

look where the big bird/s are standing and do a leap of faith

That's the only way down? You can't climb down?

[abr]

look where the big bird/s are standing and do a leap of faith

That's the only way down? You can't climb down?

Heh. I actually never tried to climb down, since the leap of faith always seemed much cooler/quicker/more convenient. That said, I assume the problem is that to climb down, you would have to let go of your hold at some point, fall some way and then grab on to the next window/ornament/whatever. Which you can't, so no way for you to climb down.

Spoiler:

At least not at the start of the game. You'll later gain just this ability, to grab on to something while falling.

[Giles Habibula]

That said, I assume the problem is that to climb down, you would have to let go of your hold at some point, fall some way and then grab on to the next window/ornament/whatever. Which you can't, so no way for you to climb down.

Spoiler:

At least not at the start of the game. You'll later gain just this ability, to grab on to something while falling.

Aha! Thanks.
Yeah, the leaps of faith are cooler, but I'm testing the limits of what I can or cannot do. Besides, one of these days I'm likely to run into a high place with no hay bale at the bottom, aren't I?

Okay, so how do you break out of an unwinnable fight and run away. Once I'm locked onto my first target, it autolocks to the next, and the next as I kill them. How do I get unlocked? Pressing the F key again just cycles the locks.

[Rawrkan]

i guess just blocking and walking away

Spoiler:

once you learn how to counter-attack there are no unwinnable fights anymore

[Giles Habibula]

Gotcha. Thanks.

[Skylark]

Yeah, the leaps of faith are cooler, but I'm testing the limits of what I can or cannot do. Besides, one of these days I'm likely to run into a high place with no hay bale at the bottom, aren't I?

Does such a place actually exist?

Seriously, no. There is no high place without a hay bale at the bottom in Assassin's Creed.

[Greggy_D]

I got so tired of this game. It was wash, rinse, repeat after taking out the first major target.

[Rawrkan]

Yeah, the leaps of faith are cooler, but I'm testing the limits of what I can or cannot do. Besides, one of these days I'm likely to run into a high place with no hay bale at the bottom, aren't I?

Does such a place actually exist?

Seriously, no. There is no high place without a hay bale at the bottom in Assassin's Creed.

there was a HUGE church in Acre where i couldnt find a way to jump down

[Sudy Nym]

So, am I missing out by doing the minimum number of interrogations, not bothering to collect the flags or climb to the tops of all the towers, etc.?

Could never get into this game before I bought my 360 controller. Now I'm enjoying it, but the gameplay is kind of boring/repetitive and the cutscenes are long-winded for not being an RPG. Mainly, I'm playing it so I can move on to AssCreed 2, which I picked up in the Steam sale and heard is an all-around better game.

[Blackhawk]

You're missing out on achievements. That's about it.

[Sudy Nym]

It seems like doing all the investigations would provide some additional storyline, but missions such as pickpocketing I find to be pretty much the antithesis of fun. It's not as if the story isn't disjointed to begin with.

And I have no idea who'd go around collecting flags. But in all, it's holding up well for a game that's astonishingly almost five years old.

[Giles Habibula]

Heh. Y'know, I had intended to update this years ago, regarding my video problems. It took me 4 months to solve, but I finally narrowed it down to my brand new 9800GTX. I had assumed it couldn't be the video card, since it was brand new, and no other games had the artifacting problems. But then, gradually, other games started artifacting too, so I exchanged the card, and all was well. I now belatedly post this, in case anyone else runs into that problem, since it was a fairly common one back in 2008.

[NickAragua]

So, am I missing out by doing the minimum number of interrogations, not bothering to collect the flags or climb to the tops of all the towers, etc.?

Could never get into this game before I bought my 360 controller. Now I'm enjoying it, but the gameplay is kind of boring/repetitive and the cutscenes are long-winded for not being an RPG. Mainly, I'm playing it so I can move on to AssCreed 2, which I picked up in the Steam sale and heard is an all-around better game.

The towers are pretty useful because they remove the "fog of war" from your map. The flags can bite my nuts though, they're totally useless. Some of the interrogations/pickpocket missions/side assassination missions give you useful info about the target - there was one where the target could have been any number of dudes and all the side missions strung together eliminated the locations where it was a double.