Author Archives: Retired

The Secret World First Impressions

Posted by Retired on 10/07/2012 – 2:15 am
Filed under PC
Tagged as ,

The Secret World is an mmo with a modern day setting. Where every myth, conspiracy and urban legend was true. To start off you choose 1 of the 3 factions, Templar, Illuminati or Dragon each one of them has a video giving you an idea of what each one stands for. The character creation does a decent job, personally felt like it left more to be desire from. As for leveling it’s different from your standard mmo. When you fill up the bar of exp you get one SP (Skill point) in which you could use to level any of the nine weapons or tailsmen (gear) you could wear. Also for every 33% of the exp bar you fill you get an AP (ability point) which you use to learn powers for your character. The way you determine what power you have access you can choose up to two weapons for example hammer and shotgun, and only seven active powers and seven passive powers. I would recommend you to follow one of the pre-decks they have cause looking at all the powers could at first be overwhelming.

The story is told in cut-scene while it’s well written for the most part I’ve played about 20 hours so far. I find that the mute character you play as is put into awkward situations, directly being confronted with a man holding a gun at you while your character stays speechless with a blank stare or while the npc will ask you a question and your character would stay there just looking at them until they start talking again is pretty bad. These moments don’t happen often but when they do it’s just bad. Graphics are good, they’re not high end but they look believable and the atmosphere of the game is done so well. Kingsmouth looked like your apocalypse zombie outbreak with one police station left holding off the zombies.

Gameplay- While the combat is basic, they have an active dodge ability while it’s useful for bosses you’ll hardly use it for the regular enemies as most will either fight you at range or run up to you and fight you at melee range. Dungeons boss is where combat really shines, bosses will keep you on your feet even though you still need a tank and a healer. Everybody in the party needs to stay focus since bosses can one shoot you when they charge up their big attacks. In one of the dungeon the boss would cast an aoe (area of effect) attack that will hit everyone who is more then 4 yards away from him so all the range damage dealers would have to get in melee range in order to stay alive. As for missions you have your basic kill x amount, your collect x amount, travel to point A to B, but on top of that they have Investigations mission and stealth mission, stealth mission you have to sneak in a base without the enemies seeing you or else you get dragged out and have to reenter. For pvp i was only able to try out, Warzones is like a 24/7 pvp area where you can capture 4 facilities while capturing them nets you good amount of exp your group have to kill a boss. If you keep them captured your faction also net a boost like you gain 3% extra exp etc.. All three factions could enter at the same time the most I’ve seen was about 40vs40vs40 not sure if it could go higher but when everybody was fighting in the same area it was indeed fun.

The bad- Well during my play with the secret world i noticed many bugs. Some bugs locked quests puzzles out, but the most annoying is the chat bug. My group chat would disappear from time to time. Sometimes my other chat’s would disappear sometimes re-logging wouldn’t help. Another bug I find is when your traveling and you get to close to a building or a gate your character would get stuck and the /unstuck command won’t get you unstuck. I found the active dodge to get me out of being stuck at places more then the /unstuck command. One disappointing thing I found with combat is the physics, like if you swing a hammer at the zombie it goes right threw them doesn’t feel like your hitting them.

Final thoughts, as of right now I am having fun with this game but I feel like i would need to write another review for this game after 30 days to say if it’s worth keeping subscribed to or not .

Nintendo’s Comic-Con 2012 Lineup

Posted by Retired on 09/07/2012 – 8:05 pm
Filed under General
Tagged as , , , , , ,

At this year’s Comic-Con Nintendo is planning to show off a handful of 3DS, DS and Wii games. Along with the games they plan to show the new design of the 3DS, the 3DS XL, to the public

3DS Lineup:

New Super Mario Bros. 2 (Releasing August 19, 2012 in the US)
Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon (Releasing Q4 2012)
Kid Icarus: Uprising
Mario Kart 7
Super Mario 3D Land
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow- Mirror of Fate (Releasing Q3 2012)
Heroes of Ruin (Releasing July 17, 2012)
Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance (Releasing July 31, 2012)
LEGO Batman 2: DC Superheroes

DS Lineup:

Pokemon Conquest

Wii Lineup:

Kirby’s Dream Collection (Releasing September 16, 2012)
Just Dance 4 (Releasing October 9, 2012)

The mixture of games that have been released with upcoming games is sure to drum up sales for the forthcoming 3DSXL. It’s sad to see that there won’t be any Wii U games present at the convention as that may help Nintendo recover after a rather lackluster E3 performance this year.

The Walking Dead Episode 1 – A New Day

Posted by Retired on 18/05/2012 – 9:21 pm
Filed under PC, Playstation 3, Xbox 360

Telltale's newest episodic game combines great storytelling with classic point and click action to deliver an unforgettable experience.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First and foremost I have to say I’m a huge fan of both the Walking Dead TV Series and the comics however those new to this series don’t worry, the game is easily accessible and thoroughly enjoyable to those who are new to the Walking Dead.

You play as Lee Everett, a likeable protagonist with a less than reputable past, beginning his story in the back of a police car taking him to a prison somewhere outside Atlanta. However as you may have guessed he never makes it there and instead Lee is thrust head first into the zombie apocolypse. He eventually comes across a little girl named Clementine, whose hiding out in her treehouse, as it become pretty clear that her parents have died. Clementine keeps the player grounded as not only does Lee now have to survive the vast zombie hoardes he has to take care of a young traumatised girl.

The gameplay is basic yet engrossing, the point and click interface may be simple however it’s used in rather fun ways and feels refreshing especially during combat which usually boils down to press the right button in the right amount of time. You use the left stick to control Lee’s movement and the right controls the camera angle. The face buttons control character actions such as picking something up or initiating conversation.

The main focus, and strength of A New Day it’s the conversational aspect of the game. Your choice of speech moulds the perceptions of the characters around you and how you behave towards them will be remembered. For example Clementine remembers if you treated her kindly or not and the way she behaves to you is reflective of that allowing you to create the character you want to play as. The use of the timer forces the conversation along at a decent place never allowing it to feel stale or forced.

Graphically, A New Day is reminiscent of Charlie Adlard’s drawings from the comics but it holds it well in it’s new medium with everything from environments to zombies being well rendered.

Some of the decisions you have to make during the game are quite literally life or death and adds to the game on an emotional level as you hold the fates of characters in your own hands. For fans of the series there are cameos from established characters in the Walking Dead franchise.

Overall, A New Day is a thoroughly enjoyable gaming experience with definite replayability that leaves you wanting more.

Dead Space 2: Severed – Review.

Posted by Retired on 26/04/2012 – 9:25 am
Filed under General

Severed has a parallel storyline to the original Dead Space 2 campaign. Although it’s life span is only two chapters, Severed still manages to keep things immersive and the player at the edge of their seats. With a new point of view on the outbreak and a story line separate to Isaac Clarke almost completely. Severed has us tagging along with Gabe Weller, a surviver of the previous outbreak. As everything spins out of control and Titan Station spirals into chaos Gabe finds the odds stacked against him. But a satisfying arsenal with a hint of determination will help Gabe find his way to his primary objective as well as unravel more of the mystery behind the Marker and it’s psychotic followers. Everything that made the Dead Space 2 campaign horrifically immersive and overly satisfying is in Severed. It is a great addition to the Dead Space universe and I can not wait for further DLC or the next game in the series.

Dead Space 2: Review.

Posted by Retired on 19/04/2012 – 8:08 pm
Filed under Xbox 360

 

Dead Space 2 picks up three years after the original game ended, with Isaac Clarke waking up on the Sprawl (a space station built on one of Saturns Moons. Also called Titan Station) to find that all is not well. Due to the ignorance of human greed another Necromorph outbreak has occurred and it is up to Isaac to uncover the truth behind Titan Station. Dead Space 2′s campaign builds a rich environment from the moment Isaac first opens his eyes. By giving Isaac a voice this time round not only does it make him more believable as a character but it also opened up conversations between Isaac and other characters. Which adds to the games already amazing level of immersion.

Most importantly, Dead Space 2 is scary. Alot of other horror games just can’t seem to build a horror environment. The Resident Evil series has jumped over to action adventure and the Gears series is classified as a horror shooter but it’s more of a beautiful gore title. Like Bayoneta . . . off topic but moving on. Weither it be Titan Station, the horrific monsters and psychotic loonies that inhabit it or your own subconscious there is something to terrify everyone in this game. The new additions to your arsenal as well as some old friends add satisfaction to the dismemberment of the alien race. New variations of Necromorphs keep the combat engaging and messy with new combat strategies.

A big new thing in Dead Space 2 is full 360 movement in Zero G Areas. I can honestly say I have never enjoyed space so much before. The mulitplayer is immersive and balanced. The objective based game play adds thought to the madness. And stepping into the Necromorph role is satisfying. There is not much else I can say without spoiling the game in some magnificent fashion. So I’ll conclude this review by saying Dead Space 2 is a beautiful horror game that stands out in it’s genre.

Rayman 3D

Posted by Retired on 21/02/2012 – 12:51 am
Filed under 3Ds, DS/DSlite
Tagged as , , , , , ,

Rayman 3D

 

An army of Robot Pirates has invaded Rayman’s world and is enslaving its inhabitants. Rayman has been captured and needs to regain his powers and escape the prison ship to save his world.

If you think you’ve heard this one before, it’s because you probably have. Yup, you guessed it. This is Rayman 2: The Great Escape all over again.

Gameplay

Rayman 3D is a port of the Dreamcast version of Rayman 2 and the gameplay is still the same. You can control Rayman by using the circle pad to move around, Y to shoot balls of energy from your fists, B to jump, and B again to activate your helicopter hair. For the most part, these controls work very well.

Swimming, though, takes a little time to get used to. Unlike most 3D platformers, you use X to go toward the surface, A to dive deeper , and the circle pad to move from side to side.The camera is another issue which was common about 12 years ago when Rayman 2 was first released.

There is a good variety in the 21 levels. Most of them are pretty lengthy. Some require sliding down steep slopes, while others require riding on rockets and other strange ways to get from “Point A to Point B”. The only thing unique to Rayman 3D is the added 3D effect and while great at times, it is too inconsistent to justify another release.

Graphics and Sound

Compared to other 3DS games, Rayman 3D has sub-par graphics. The look was not given an upgrade from the Dreamcast version and it certainly shows. Many images like plants and clouds are 2D and there are too many polygons that should have been smoothed out over time.

I found the music to be quite good. It makes good use of instruments like acoustic and electric guitars and there were plenty of memorable and unique tunes. Unique to games other than ports of Rayman 2, of course.

Even the music had problems, though. There were times when the music would inexplicably stop and not restart until you entered another area in the level. This wouldn’t happen often, but it was still annoying.

I thought the voices of the characters were done well. One complaint that some people may have is that the game lacks the voice acting found in the PlayStation 1 and 2 versions. I generally prefer characters speaking gibberish, but that will vary from person to person.

Presentation

The story is more interesting than most other 3D platformers. In this game, you have to fight off Robot Pirates from space who have invaded your world and have enslaved most of the population. I’ll take that over saving a princess for a living.

The game gives you periodic updates on the story through cut scenes on the prison ship. These cut scenes show you game’s main villain, Admiral Razorbeard, as well as the number of slaves aboard. Most cut scenes were well-executed except for when the 3D is turned on. Ghosting, or seeing more than one of an image, is a big issue in this game.

Although the characters are strange, I thought they were relatable and very likable. Some dialogue could have been done better, but the game still has its humorous moments.

Score

Gameplay: 7.0

Graphics: 4.5

Sound: 7.0

Presentation: 6.5

                Overall: 6.8 (not an average)

Rayman 2 was and still is one of my favorite games, but after about ten ports, it just feels old. If you have never played Rayman 2 before, I would recommend at least renting it. If you have played Rayman 2, you should probably pass this one up.

Law & Order: Legacies – Episode 1: Revenge

Posted by Retired on 08/02/2012 – 1:54 am
Filed under iOS games/Android, Multi Platform, PC
Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , ,

I’m not a standing fan of Law and Order or any of its spinoffs.  Its long history and familiar premise has never really clicked with me.  In fact, I resorted to Wikipedia research to gain enough insight on the characters and setup to prepare myself for the experience.

That said, the experience itself wasn’t half bad.  I feel like I haven’t been giving the franchise enough credit.  Telltale’s expertise in modifying series for new audiences continues to shine through its tried-and-true design, though there are cracks in the presentation that seek to undo their progress.

Gameplay

First and foremost, the factor that could make or break a product.  The game’s layout is, at first glance, a stripped down version of traditional point ‘n click conventions: options or objects appear on screen, you click to interact with them. It’s nothing revolutionary.

So, Telltale decided to use Law & Order‘s premise to freshen up their approach.  For most of the episode, you will follow Detectives Benson and Curtis around as they try to investigate a murder.  This will involve one classic point ‘n click moment to gain evidence, and several interviews/interrogations that involves the player choosing what questions to ask, based on several topics laid out in a simple, yet functional menu of sorts.

During the interview, there will be several points where you will have to determine whether the interviewee is being truthful and then back up your claim with past statements that are recorded in a handy notebook in the top left corner of the screen.  Details are the key: remember one person’s side remark, and you’ll advance further.

The last 30-40 minutes of the episode (bringing play time to about 3-4 hours) are definitely the most different from genre tropes, as you take the role of attorneys Carmichael and Cutter as they attempt to close the case.  This was, admittedly, the more entertaining part, as you can object in a number of ways to people’s claims and can manipulate the jury into siding with you.

The whole system is governed by stars (or jury support), which you earn by successfully confirming or disproving a statement or by finding “red herring” topics strewn throughout the interviews.  It’s a good incentive to go back and retry certain interviews if you didn’t get the result you wanted.

Overall, I found the changes and removed features refreshing.  This game was focused on one thing: telling an interesting story. It wasn’t saddled with unneeded controls or gameplay mechanics and it profited from being so refined.

Story

Since the focus is storytelling in this endeavor, there has to be something said about a game that provides the perspectives of both detective and prosecutor.  It’s a typical murder investigation, filled with the appropriate amounts of intrigue and conspiracy, but it manages to fit the mould set by its peers and its namesake.

The setup is simple: a maid is killed under mysterious circumstances.  Connections to a media conglomerate, an anarchist hacker youth, and a Russian businessman lead to some interesting plot twists, some of which are expected, some come out of left field, but all manage to fit into the overarching plot.

There’s also plenty of references to old characters and events, including one that leaves the episode on a bit of a cliffhanger, for long-standing fans of the series.  I may not get the references, but I appreciate them: it shows that this series has its own lore, its own universe and history.

Presentation

Here is where I’m on the fence.  On one hand, the simplified nature of the graphics, to the point where backgrounds are flat and character models are simple, does have that familiar “Telltale style” (thanks to the continuing use of their in-house engine) and it does sort of fit with that “refined” angle.  However, looking at the glass half-empty, the technical design does not do the franchise justice.

To be honest, it’s a matter of perspective.  I found that the character models were a bit hard to interpret during investigations, the locations felt surreal and almost painting-like and there isn’t a whole lot of graphical flair.  It wasn’t necessarily horrible, just not outstanding.

Credit has to be given to sound design, though.  The familiar Law & Order theme plays during the opening and ending credits, and the voice actors play their roles excellently.  I can’t say for certain if the actors from the series voice their in-game counterparts, but regardless the actors involved gave a believable performance.

Conclusion

Taken as a new chapter in the L&O universe, it works well both as fan service and as an introduction to new followers.  Its gameplay is the most refined that the experts at Telltale could make it, its voice actors are some of the most impressive I’ve heard and the investigation keeps you guessing.

It’s got rough edges, and it’s probably not winning any beauty contests, but if you’re looking for a truly worthwhile mystery, Telltale has you covered.

Gameplay: 8.5

Story: 8.0

Presentation: 6.5

SCORE: 8.0

News Update : Get Ready for some old school dust cleanin’ !

Posted by Retired on 12/01/2012 – 6:27 pm
Filed under General, PC

Brisbane, Australia – 10th January – Independent game development studio Hitbox Team recently announced the global release of their 2D sweep-‘em-up platformer Dustforce, to be made available on Steam on January 17th this year, for a price of $9.99 for PC(Windows), following it up with an update for Mac shortly thereafter.

Cleaning the world in style !

A launch trailer was recently uploaded on YouTube dated 9th January showing off the gameplay, sound design, and art style of the title. At first glance, comparisons with Team Meat’s hit platformer game Super Meat Boy, released in 2010, will be inevitable. The blocky yet super smooth art style, the retro inspired sound design, and even the platforming sections are reminiscent of the extremely well received and successful indie title.

But with a minute remaining in the trailer, a gameplay element is revealed that vastly differentiates the both of them, combat. Yes, u heard it right! Equipped with a stylish yet deceivingly deadly and handy broom, you are tasked with not only performing daring acrobatic manoeuvres, but also using your weapon to cleanse off your dusty, dirty foes! The game reportedly has 50 levels, employing the ever effective “easy to learn, hard to master” formula, with lots of challenges for even the most hardcore gamers looking for a tough fight. Dustforce also offers an online leaderboard where you can watch replays of other players’ best attempts. In addition to a challenging single player mode, a four player local multiplayer will be included featuring game modes like “King Of The Hill” and “Dust Rush” for some co-op dust mashing!

In addition to the gameplay, the trailer highlights the game’s beautiful environments featuring a distinct art style. Hitbox’s art and game designer Woodley Nye said “I wanted to settle on a style that was fairly simple, allowing for lots of frames of animation. Hard edged shadows have always worked well for me”. In response to the soothing and instantly captivating retro music of Dustforce, Hitbox’s music and sound designer Terence Lee said “We wanted the music to evoke some feelings of retro games, but done in a modern way that fits the game style.  I did this by using some simple electronic sounds, like sine and saw waves that you’d find in older games, but produced with modern effects and samples. I made each song with an idea of what mood I wanted to capture and just worked from there.  It was interesting for me because I am always learning as I go, and I feel like I’ve improved my skills significantly since working on my first few songs, so sometimes I have to go back and rework those songs to get everything at the same level of quality”. Lee also explained the process of designing the game’s unique multiplayer mode. “We’ve been having a lot of fun designing the game’s multiplayer mode. I think we’ve found the right balance between movement and combat, which makes for really exciting battles”.

Lets hope it delivers well !

(For those not acquainted with the developers, Hitbox Team is a 4 member team of passionate and dedicated gamers, just like us! It consists of Woodley Nye – the art and game designer, Lexie Dostal – the game coder, Matt Bush – the engine code writer, and Terence Lee – the sound and music designer.)

Check out the trailer of the game here :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZcpK3OU_bA

Saints Row The Third Review

Posted by Retired on 11/01/2012 – 12:08 pm
Filed under PC, Playstation 3, Xbox 360

The anti-matter to the story driven, and at times dark, GTA 4.

Welcome to Steelport. Welcome to insanity.

As I ran around, my attire comprising of an underwear, stockings, brown warrior gloves, a gold chain, Darth Vader helmet, carrying a weapon that launched Mind-Controlling Octopii on the enemies (and pedestrians alike) and then drove a bike that looked like it was straight out of TRON, only smeared with blood and aptly named Bloody Canoness (which is just another day in the peaceful city of Steelport), the fact that was staring me right in the face from the very beginning just became crystal clear, Saints Row The Third is one of the most fun games I have played in a long while or possibly, and dare I say, ever !!!

Story is nothing remarkable, and that is just a small gripe. You play as a fully customisable (gender included) character, who is also the boss of the infamous and now international stars Saints from Stilwater. Following a bank heist gone wrong and losing a valuable member (Johnny Gat, I’ll always remember u man!), you are tossed into the crime ridden and Syndicate-controlled fictional town of Steelport. Here you are tasked with taking down those who deceived and tried to destroy you, and blow anyone who comes your way to bits, and you get three gangs to fight, The Luchadores, The Deckers, and The Morning Star. Well, that just about covers the story. But if you are here to play a well written, story driven adventure, this game is not for you. However, if no-holds-barred, crazy mayhem, violence, profanity, nudity, destruction is your thing, then you’ll be more than happy at your purchase. There is one thing this game can’t be accused of being, and that’s repetitive. From tons of side activities, to assassinations, vehicle thefts, completing challenges, hidden collectibles to find, as well as the lengthy campaign, it will keep you busy for a long time. The activities vary from blowing stuff up with a given weapon or a tank to rake up dollars, to driving on an ATV blowing anything that touches you while you are on fire, to escort a client with a hooker in the car and saving them from the prying eyes of the paparazzi, protecting your homies, entering a tron like digital world and racing through it (which at times can be a little difficult), and last but not the least, Professor Genki’s S.E.R.C (Super Ethical Reality Climax), where you’ll kill enemies in a closed arena to earn cash. Kill more, get better weapons, kill even more. And needless to say, it is as crazy as the name itself. While many of the main missions are amazing, one which stands out and will probably blow your mind away is” http://deckers.die “ where you’ll be transported to a digital world and it leads to hilarious situations as well as lots of baddie-blasting with cool weapons. I mean come on, playing as a toilet and a dragon in the same mission ? Badass…….

Gameplay is very well done. Shooting feels normal and just perfect. The weapons are a blast to use, although aiming down the scope of a rifle is not as quick and easy as you might want it to be. Calling your homies in battle or the undead horde for that matter (yes, zombies can be called, they’ll pick up and say “Arrrrr”, how cool is that!) is really helpful and adds a new twist to the firefights. Driving any vehicle is a breeze and also a blast !

Graphics also impress, though occasionally framerate slows down, with a few glitches. But all the characters are excellently animated, so are the weapons and the vehicles. Explosions feel especially satisfying. Enjoying a view of the city in the night while gliding down in a parachute is truly a wonderful sight.

Sound design is top notch, and so is the voice acting. All characters sound distinct and great. From the sexy Shaundi, to the giant but sweet Oleg, to the mechanized ramblings of Zimos, all characters stay memorable thanks to the superior voice acting. And also, this is one of the few games that got me cracking with almost every dialogue !  Its hilarious, like it needed another reason for you to get it ! Also noteworthy is its FM. Lots of different songs on a number of stations, each offering metal, hip-hop and any other music you like and can possibly think of. But better than the songs are the news updates that notify you of the events and outcomes of your previous mission. Do not, I repeat, do not miss them ! (Jane Valderama, I have fallen in love with your voice !! )

As few as they maybe, there are a few issues I have this game. Enemy variety was less, they simply looked different for each gang, but did not offer a different challenge. And the AI is a little inconsistent. Friendly AI is generally good and helpful in battle but they tend to be borderline dumb a few times.  But that’s about it.

In conclusion, if you love sandbox games, or if you love your games funny, or hell, if you even love video games, get this one. With all the crazy missions, weapons, vehicles (you have a V-Tol in your garage, I mean if cruising at 300 miles per hour, while firing a flamethrower and missiles doesn’t get your heart racing, probably nothing will!), tons of upgrades and purchases, wardrobe atrocities and hilarities, this is one hell of a ride. But if nothing, skydiving naked and then streaking after landing, looking at the shocked faces of the people and listening to their comments is always satisfying !

I give Saints Row The Third a score of 8.5 !

(I apologize for not including the review of the Co-Op and Whored mode of Saints Row The Third. Since I could not play it, as I was focusing on the single player experience, I have no right to comment on it. But I hope you like the rest of the review!)

Assassin’s Creed

Posted by Retired on 08/01/2012 – 7:52 am
Filed under Multi Platform, PC, Playstation 3, Xbox 360
Tagged as , , , , , , , , ,

With the New Year in motion, and after buying a Xbox 360 seven years after its release, I felt like reviewing something unexpected to start off my desire to write this year. Though it took some deliberating, I eventually decided to go with the underdog, the game that was hyped to no end but which was generally seen as failing on deliver on all that it promised.

 

Ladies and gentlemen, here is my take on Assassin’s Creed.

 Gameplay

For those not savy to Assassins or video gaming in general, Assassin’s Creed is an action-adventure game with elements of stealth and platforming integral to the gameplay. Though the process by which it occurs makes sense in the context of the story, players take the role of Altair ibn-La’Ahad, a Master Assassin who is reduced to the rank of novice and must now prove his worth to regain his honour and his rank.

 

Being an Assassin has many perks, like being able to use throwing knives, a sword and a hidden wrist blade in combat and being able to climb virtually any part of any surface. The player will travel from the Assassin fortress of Masyaf, through a “hub-world” of sorts, to three carefully recreated Middle Eastern cities (Damascus, Acre and Jerusalem) in search of nine important targets, to whom you must do what Assassins do best – assassinate.

Actually, the assassination missions are high points of the game, as they put you in interesting situations and force you to rely on careful timing and specific tactics. The body of the game has you undertaking smaller, more repetitive missions (more like “tasks” than missions, actually) to gain intel on the targets, which run the range of eavesdropping on a conversation, pickpocketing civilians for key information and maps detailing enemy locations, interrogating particularly out-spoken citizens, and assisting fellow Assassins to gather flags or assassinate suspicious guards.

I personally didn’t feel the repetitive nature of the tasks to be too grating, but given the slim variety I can understand why someone else might. On the plus side, the game’s take on parkour, which turns climbing into a challenge all its own, keeps things interesting. Any edge, any window, any ornament or significant part of a wall that looks like it can be grabbed can usually be grabbed. It’s also fun to go sprinting along the rooftops, holding down the right trigger and A button (or equivalent for PC & PS3) to send Altair off the edge of the building he’s on to make a seemingly-impossible leap across a street to the next building.

The game controls well, even in combat, which seems clunky and rigid at first but will get easier to handle once you understand the flow of a battle and get used to quickly switching between guarding and striking. The counter-kills Altair performs are pretty cool, as are his assassination animations, though his prowess is aided by persistent yet somewhat lacking A.I. Example: if you run at an archer on a rooftop while facing him, he will delay for about 5 seconds to declare, “You’re not supposed to be-”, allowing the player to pounce and promptly end the guard’s scripted life. Guards are also eager to give chase and rush into battle quickly, which is respectably dedicated at best and idiotic at worst.

As for lasting value, there are flags scattered throughout the cities that earn you Achievements/Trophies, but experiencing the story will take up most of your time in the game. Granted, it’s an intriguing story with large emphasis on historical events and conspiracy, but if you’re looking for more than just cool parkour, surprisingly fluid combat and intriguing plot devices, Assassin’s Creed comes up a bit short.

Story

Luckily, those plot devices can keep your attention if you are patient. The game intially puts you in the shoes of Desmond Miles, a modern-day bartender who’s been kidnapped by the Abstergo Corporation to aid in their research. Using the Animus, a virtual simulation device that brings to mind The Matrix, Abstergo intends to scour the memories of Altair, Desmond’s distant ancestor, which are encoded in his DNA, in search of…something.

 

The other half of this tale is just as intriguing, as players will experience the trials and tribulations of Altair, who has recently defied the Assassins Order and is obliged to help his mentor Al-Mualim hunt down nine key Templar leaders (the Templars being the Illuminati-esque, power-mongering rivals of the Assassins) to regain his title of Master Assassin and “find peace”, as Al-Mualim might say. It’s your standard “fight to regain honour” quest, but it’s engaging enough to keep your attention, what with the assassinations and cameos by famous Crusade-era figures.

Out of the two timelines, the present day events seem like footnotes. Desmond’s predicament of being held by a mysterious organization is worthy of sympathy, particularly when one learns of Abstergo’s true allegiance, but it seems very sterile and subdued…until the ending, which will be equal parts interesting and frustrating for the player, a la Halo 2. Let me put it this way: this ending pretty much guarantees an sequel, just to understand what the hell just happened.

Presentation

If there are flaws in the narrative and gameplay, then the presentation mostly makes up for it. The scale when staring at each of the aforemention cities is immense, as is the historical accuracy. I’m no historian, but I’d guess from what knowledge I have that for the most part, each of the cities match their real-life counterparts of the time. Every building is covered in details, the environments are lush and beautiful and the atmosphere is tense with the conflict of the era.

 

Sound design also plays into this, though not quite as well. The performances from supporting characters and random civilians fit well with the time and are well-acted, though you’ll hear repetition of similar dialogue from the latter throughout the game. Altair’s accent, or lack thereof in this case, stands out in a bit of an awkward way: it’s not that he’s uninteresting or portrayed with little emotion, it’s more that he speaks in a rather flat, casual manner.

It’s not a major complaint, more a nitpick, compared to the noticeable lack of atmospheric music most of the time. There are moments in the game when the soundtrack fits with the poignant nature of the background, like standing outside of Jerusalem and taking in the sights, but for the most part things are quiet for Altair…besides guards shouting at him as he flees, civilians pleading for help and assassination target gasping in their final moments.

Conclusion

I said at the beginning of this review that this game was an underdog, but not out of lack of support. Rather, it fell behind its cousins in the genre because it was masterful in some aspects of gameplay, presentation and storytelling, but was unable to make good on its promises entirely. That said, in the context of starting a franchise from scratch, this games certainly provided the blueprint for future masterpieces (Ubisoft’s equivalent of Portal, as it were). For that fact alone, this game deserves a moment in the spotlight.

Score: 8

If you’re patient, dedicated and open to new experiences, this is a game worth spending money on.  It’s not for everyone, but fans and the open-minded of us will certainly find something to enjoy.