Title: Assassin's Creed
Genre: Action
Platform: Xbox 360
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Publisher: Ubisoft
Release Date: 2007
Images Gallery
France is, by now, the third video-game publisher and producer in the world, after USA and Japan. Furthermore, France is geographically situated in the middle between those 2 extremes (USA and Japan) as well as its most promising game will be released in the middle of a console war between (always) the same extremes.
Assassin's Creed breaks into the video-game world and its impact won't pass unseen.
France is in the Middle... East!
Fortunately, if there is a thing sure about this new Ubisoft title is that it is simply astonishing, no matter on which console the demo was running during the E3 2006 or the X06 demonstration...it is simply astonishing.
Maybe, in 2007, being an assassin it will be the coolest thing ever! Set in Jerusalem, during the Richard Lion Heart crusade, Assassin's Creed will put us in the role of Altair, a humiliated and demoted master Assassin who is guilt of having failed a very important mission.
His objective, Robert de Sable, is still alive and firmly keeps the lead of the Templars. Nevertheless, Altair had also another objective, the templar treasure, but something went wrong and he lost his power and his "honour".
Our adventure will begin with the capture of Acre by Richard, and with his march toward Jerusalem. However, there will be someone trying to stop the king: Saladin, leader of the Saracens and regent of the Holy City. Saladin, in his attempt to stop the advance of the Christian infidel, will move his army to Arsuf fortress, in order to cut in crossed army path.
In all this mess, only kings' trusty men will gain something; without a controller and a guide, they will begin abusing of their power, becoming a menace also for Assassins' plans. Altair will be in charge of killing those men as soon as possible: the prize will be the regaining of his rank among the sect. During his mission, our assassin will understand that there is something more than a mere abuse of power, there is a secret sect that links all those men to each other. And this sect, clearly, wants to...well, we'll discover it in spring.
Licence to kill
In September, during the X06, Ubisoft has, for the first time, showed an in-game video of Assassin's Creed. During the presentation we'd the possibility to understand three main features of the title: Assassin's Creed will be a probable "Killer Application" on every system it's on development; it is something really original; an extended and innovative action freedom will be one of the game key concepts.
In the above video, we'd the possibility to admire an, indeed, astonishing graphics and an incredible variety of characters and sets: however, the most important thing is that we'd seen how Altair will be able to go all over the city...even on roofs!
After having reached the roof of a building, in a very acrobatic way, Altair has several possibilities...it will be our task to figure out how to kill our objective: if we choose a "silent" way, once our job is finished, we will probably be able to go away without being noticed; on the contrary, if we choose to kill our enemy in front of dozens of people...well...we'll face the guards and the crowd!
No need to say that the video had also shown a very sophisticated and realistic combat system, with lunges and parries executed by very well-animated characters.
Killer App... Assassin!
One of the most evident things about the first game screenshots Ubisoft has released is the quality of the graphics: amazing. Moreover, if we take into account the fact that no movement in the game has disappointed us, it seems that the graphics will be really revolutionary and spectacular. In fact, besides the very good animations, it is possible to notice the almost perfect choice of the colour palette and an optimum management of light effects.
The atmospheres are clearly medieval and have the desert touch typical of those sets. While Altair roams in the city, we've never seen two identical persons and every character seemed to have a well-developed AI, able to be surprised seeing a man climbing roofs or able to run away in panic after having assisted to the city leader murder!
Furthermore, during the presentation it has been said that, in the game, it will be important to calculate the movement of the crowd as, when people are panic-stricken, they do not care of what they're trampling on.
Even if everything is still under development, we cannot feel different than astonished for what we've seen so far about a title that will probably re-write all the standards for the genre.
Final Comment
Assassin's Creed is almost certainly one of 2007 Killer Applications. Ubisoft will bring a wave of novelty in several fields: in graphics, in sets and in the game-play. Scheduled for spring 2007, Assassin's Creed will temp us to visit Jerusalem...at least, virtually!