Assassin's Creed (Xbox 360 Version)

So, I really really really REALLY hate spoilers, so I am going to try to keep them to a minimum but I can't very well review a game without giving a few things away so this is your warning to back out if you want. I am not going to be giving out a lot of info on it but there will be some.

Disclaimer over.

Now I didn't know much about this game going into it. I knew you were an assassin during the crusades and part of the game took place in Jerusalem. And I knew that they had gotten the rights to the "oh so attractive" chick from Veronica Mars (aka Kristen Bell). This game happens five years in the future using a machine that allows people to see the memories of their ancestors through the cunning use of... wait for it... memories lodged in your DNA. You play the part of Desmond Miles, who is a bartender/used to be assassin and whose ancestor was an assassin during the crusades.

Now part of this that I didn't realize until the credits and kind of irritated me was that Desmond and Altair, although using the EXACT same face and body, did not share a voice actor even though they sound really similar. I don't know exactly why this irritated me, but it does.

Apart from this, the game was pretty enjoyable. It does get a bit repetitious at times but the story line more than made up for this. And actually, if you are into the story, the bits of repetition kind of make sense. The only annoying part was that the voice actors of the extras obviously only were hired to do like three lines each and so occasionally you were forced to overhear the same bits of extra dialogue thirty-seven million times.

There was a lot in this game that I assume could have been missed if a player was not really into the story and so a lot of elements of the story and game could have been missed but that to me only adds to the environment and therefore the enjoyment of the game. And I fully understand someone not liking the game because they didn't like the fact that not ALL of the story was presented to them like it would be in a movie. But at the same time, if someone doesn't like this game due to that, I would also think that they were an idiot.

The ending to me SCREAMED "sequel," which doesn't really excite me. Don't get me wrong, I would love to play the sequel to this game, but at the same time, Assassin's Creed had so much story that it promised to tell you (and by this I mean explain about what was going on) and then it didn't because of what I am assuming is allusion to a sequel, that it was rather irritating. At this point in time (and that point being the point without said sequel) I would have preferred explanation of all the bits of the story rather than have the "I wonder what this means..." ending that I was given.

The game play was rather easy to pick up. Although it kind of follows a pattern set forth by MANY a game before it where you start out with uber-gear and then lose it and have to earn it back. And starting out with said uber-gear, I was unaware exactly how to use it to its full ability. But that is the fun of video games. As I earned it back I was able to figure out how to use abilities that let me do really really cool things. And the control scheme made it so that it was really easy to make my character do really cool things. However, this was a curse as much as it was an advantage. At the same time as it was easy to do cool things, it was also very easy to do not cool things which used the exact same buttons as the cool things did. In short, I could have been done a lot sooner if I could have had better control of what I was doing but as the game uses the same button combos for MULTIPLE MULTIPLE actions, the character winds up doing actions that I would have rather he not preformed.

The game (at least on the 360) also is a great way to boost your player score. I found it really easy to unlock achievements and although I haven't checked to my exact number, I think I gained somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 points for this game. And that's not too shabby for a four day weekend for a casual gamer such as myself.

All in all it was enjoyable, ending and everything. If it is the first part in a trilogy, I anxiously await the later installments. The story is great, the game play is fun, and the graphics are pretty decent (granted I am sure it would have looked better had I an HDTV but it looked good enough on my old Sony at the point blank range I play at) and that made for a altogether enjoyable experience.

Rating Criteria
What it is meant for: An action game exploring the realm of crusade-era middle east.

Achievement of intended goals: 8.5/10
The game is pretty immersive and if you are willing, lets you be sucked into the world of the game.

Learning Curve: 9/10
It takes a little getting used to, but once you figure it out, the game lets you perform incredibly cool actions with relative ease. The only downside to this is performing the right action at the right time but with a little patience and determination, this is second nature and easy as dialing a 1-900 number.

Enjoyablility: 9/10
I found this game to be extremely enjoyable. The repetition was okay because I found the parts that were repetitive to be fun. The bits I didn't like weren't repeated often and if the success of the Hitman series is anything to go by, then who doesn't enjoy playing the part of an assassin?

Overall: Better than a serving of Curried Peanut Butter Swedish Meatballs but not quite as good as a liter of relatively expensive single malt scotch with a kinky, attractive girl who is totally into you who is willing to drink it with you.