Hands-On: Assassin's Creed ImpressionsI've kinda been going back and forth with Assassin's Creed. When I first saw it last year I was thoroughly impressed. But as time went on I sort of lost interest. Not to say I thought it was a bad game, just that it didn't shake me to my core like that first look at it had. Then, when I saw it during Microsoft's press conference yesterday I was really starting to think it had lost its way, that perhaps the game was going to end up being a disappointment. But then I spent about an hour playing through what should have been a ten minute hands-on demo and I'm back to square one: I love this game.
The day's demo started with a dev playing through the same chunk of gameplay shown live during the Msoft presser. After playing through it, and pointing out some interesting nuances. the dev handed me the controller and explained how it worked.
I had forgotten, but the game uses something they called puppet controls. What that means is that each button roughly corresponds to a different type of action. Thinking actions or "head action" like using your special "falcon vision" is done with the top button. Armed actions, like slashing with a weapon, is done with the left button. Unarmed actions, like grabbing or pushing someone, is done with the right button. And feet actions, like jumping or running, is done with the bottom button.
Pulling the right trigger allows you to switch to "high profile mode" which essentially means more visible, noticeable, over-the top actions. In combat the trigger switches between attacks and counters. So if you want to counter someone's attack with an attack of your own you hold in the right trigger and press the left button at the correct time.
During combat you pull the left trigger to lock onto an opponent. The demo I played through took place in the Jerusalem of 1191 and area 15 times bigger than the demo shown last year.
The place is a cluttered city teaming with people, all of which can pester, get in your way, act as cover or attack you, depending on your actions. Anything in the entire city, anything from window frame to decorative brass ring, that sticks out more than 2-inches in the game can be grabbed onto to free climb.
This free climbing and free running element of the game is certainly the most noticeable thing that separates it from other games of its kind.
You can, by holding that bottom button, free run through the city and head straight at a wall. As soon as you approach it, Altair runs up the wall and reaches for something. If there is anything jutting out within his reach he grabs on to it. And I don't mean he sorta clings to the wall near it, I mean his hand grasps the object jutting out of the wall. The effect is startling. After he's clinging to that position you just push the joystick in the direction you want him to move and Altair will reach out for another hold. It looks amazingly like real rock climbing, bouldering. Altair looks around for a grab and then goes for it. It's really cool to get him to clamber over objects in real time, stretching for holds, leaping for surfaces, balancing along ledges. That, in and of itself, could make this game a winner, but I found the combat, while a bit more difficult to master, just as satisfying.
When I first started playing it, the controls didn't feel exactly responsive, but fortunately I totally bogarted my station and stuck around WAY longer than I was supposed. After awhile I really started getting the feel of the combat. It's kind of funny, it has the sort of timed back-and-fourth, the almost polite exchange that marks real fencing. You can't really attack when the other guy does, instead you have to time it to attack before him, or you need to parry his attack and attack or, best still, you need to counter his attack, something that results in one of many pretty amazing cinematic kills.
In the game you have four weapons you can use. You can use your hands, a sword, an assassin's knife or throwing daggers. All of these sorts of weapons let you do different sorts of counter attacks in a fight and man are they amazing. In one, for instance, Altair blocked an attack and then plunged the knife into a guards foot and when he bent down in pain, Altair thrust the knife up and under the man's chin.
You can also do assassinations. The quiet ones require you to stand behind your target, and then slip the knife silently into them and walk away as they slowing slump to the ground. But much more exciting is the speed assassination that you can perform while running at your target. Doing this gets you to leap into your target, plunging the dagger into their knife and then running away as people scream.
Assassin's Creed seems to be bringing a lot to the table from the sorta secret, but sorta obvious sci-fi bent of the story to the intriguing combat system, to the cinematic kills to that amazing free running, but I think the biggest, the most interesting thing that this game does is give you the freedom to play the game however you want. How else could I have spent an hour playing what should have been a ten minute demo?
Author: Brian Crecente
Category: Assassin's Creed e307 Hands-On PS3 Ubisoft Xbox 360
Publish Date: Thu, 12 Jul 2007 00:29:01 EDT
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Source: Kotaku
