Developed by: Ubisoft Montreal, Gameloft, and Griptonite Games
Genre: Third Person, Action, Stealth, Open World
Number of Players: 1
M for Mature: Blood, Strong Language, and Violence
Available On: Xbox 360, PC, PS3, PSP, Nintendo DS, 3DS, webOS, Android, Facebook, and MacOS
So Kiru, my girlfriend, told me that this game was sorta boring and all you do is run around assassinating people and it would be sorta difficult for me because I'm not a very patient gamer, I like to rush in and haul ass- not very sneaky, and all this stuff that made me go all "UGH DUMB GAME".She said she quit some where in there because she was annoyed with a level, or something like that. That was until we got Assassin's Creed II and she started to play that. That's when I was like "OMG WHAT IS THIS GAME <3" and started to play the first while she played the second. We'd randomly switch off.
Obviously, the first game is worse than the second because since then the game mechanics have evolved. However, the controls were simple enough to learn and made sense to me. When running you had different options like to tackle versus when walking, you blend in with groups of people and make yourself look unsuspicious to the Templar's.
Let's start with the story. Over all I would say that this series has one of the best story lines EVER. You begin the game as Desmond Miles, supposedly some nobody off of the street that has been abducted by Abstergo Industries, a company that supposedly works in the areas of medicines and science technology, has created this machine called the Animus.
Desmond standing in front of Abstergo's Animus.
Now the Animus is a nifty device that allows you to relive your ancestors pasts by linking into your DNA which has recorded memories from every single one of your ancestors histories. The workers at Abstergo want very precise information from Desmond's ancestor Altair Ibn-La'Ahad. Altair lived during the Third Crusade...
(For those of you that need a refresh, that IS an actual time period in history when the Crusades were happening. Now, the Crusades were an attempt by European leaders, such as King Richard ((Remember from Disney? Robin Hood?)), to take back the Holy Land from Salāh ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb, or for short as you probably learned in your History class, Saladin. During this particular Crusade, as there were MANY hence this being the THIRD, the Christian forces ((Templars)) came to the Holy Land to capture Jerusalem which they considered rightfully theirs and Saladin had captured. Saladin kept the Holy Land, so you know. And another interesting tidbit- King Richard and Saladin often sent letters to each other as if they were good friends. They respected each other as equals based on their intelligence in strategies and combat as well as their physical strength in combat). /End History lesson
... and is an Assassin. You find out immediately that Altair is a cocky bastard and his cockiness results in the death of Kadar A-Sayf. Who just so happens to be related to Malik A-Sayf who has his left arm amputated due to it being wounded badly in the same time of events. Malik is then turned from a high-ranking Assassin to a Dai and is head of the Assassin's Bureau in Jerusalem because he cannot function has a proper Assassin due to the lack of an arm. And then you have to interacted with Malik who just hates the shit out of Altair because of...well....obvious reasons.
Okay guys, little bit of history lesson again. I'm lazy, so here's a summed up version from the AC wikia.
"A Rafik (or Rafiq) is a graduated scholar of the Assassins in the second tier of the caste system (the Assassins being on top). Within the game, they provide information on where to acquire knowledge about targets and determine whether or not Altaïr is well-informed enough to perform an assassination. They are usually located in an Assassins' Bureau, with other Dais and Rafiqs found in Masyaf (though these do not help you)." AND SO "The Bureau leaders in Acre and Damascus are Rafiqs. That is not their name but their rank. A Rafiq is a first level instructor just beneath a Dai."
Get it guys?
Now, the reason Malik was promoted to a Dai (if you read the quoted passage) is because he finished the mission when Altair failed to complete his objective as well as broke one of the rules to their Creed. Do Not Compromise The Brotherhood. Altair's arrogance and stubbornness resulted in the death of Kadar and loss of Malik's arm, and he failed to capture the Apple of Eden from Robert de Sable.
The Apple of Eden
So the rest of the story is basically this- Kill the Templar's important people to weaken their forces and prevent them from getting the Apple of Eden. It does get repetitive if you don't like history. But every one of your targets is a person from history that you learned about. And you heard they died from age or disease or an accident...but according the game they were assassinated. Makes you wonder what's ACTUALLY real and what just got covered up? No conspiracy theories so much as just wondering what actually happened in history.
As repetitive as it is, the final missions do get you up on the edge of your seat with a plot twist and then another...The end of Altair's missions and what becomes of Desmond when they discover what becomes of the Apple and what happens to Desmond as he starts to show...side-affects...we'll say....of being in the Animus too long. Like developing Altair's Eagle Vision (all Assassin's used to have this vision, because they are born through blood- you can't just BECOME an Assassin cause you want to...but it progressively died out as the years went on).
The game leaves you at an intense cliff hanger then allows you to go back and play through the memories again, picking and choosing what you want to do rather than playing the game from start to finish in order all over again.
Altair walking through the streets looking for his next target.
This truly is an amazing game as far as plot is concerned, and this includes the entire series. I'm a history geek, so this is the kind of game I get off too. If you're the same way, this games plot is definitely for you.
Now for the game mechanics...*sighs* To be honest? Altair hates me. It's too easy to fall from rooftops to your death, though it won't always kill you. You have what's called synchronization. So if Desmond does anything Altair wouldn't do? He loses synchronization and the Animus will have to reload the memory. So when you fall and get hurt? Altair didn't do that. Kill an innocent? He didn't do that either. However, pushing them into the water is all fair game, just don't fall in yourself. Altair can't swim. And that's because the programmers were too lazy to incorporate that.
You do what's called leaps of faith where you can jump from a VERY tall building that you must scale to synchronize and update your Animus Map with icons of things you can do. Side missions, other viewpoints to synchronize with, civilians that nee help...and again- these are REALLY call buildings. So you jump off them and land in a haystack, usually.
See that hay down there? Don't ask why that completely makes him okay when he falls...I'll never understand why he doesn't break the cart and break all his bones.
So sometimes...Altair likes to ignore your controls and jump ever so SLIGHTLY to the left or right of where you need to go. You'll know he fucked up as soon as he jumps and you're like "ALTAIR YOU SON OF A BITCH." and it'll reload you on the ground, but you keep the viewpoints synchronization. Also when you're chasing some one or jumping from roof to roof, Altair fails to grab on sometimes, and as much as I wanna blame the game is IS the players fault. It just happens so often to me- but after a while you do get a LOT better at controlling his movements.
But what lacks in the movement category (which is mostly always the players fault. It's just difficult to get used to), they make up for in the weapons category. The arsenal isn't quite as expansive as in the other games, but then again, this did take place in the 1190's. You get to use your fists to beat up random people as well as interrogate targets, your hidden blade which makes the game every worth while as it is your prime weapon for stealthy assassinations, your long sword, a short blade (dagger) and a set of throwing knives. You don't start with EVERYTHING because of Altair's retardation, he gets demoted at the beginning of the game. So you have to earn everything back. While the video below show's Altair using a crossbow, it was taken out of the game because of historical inaccuracy.
...Okay, so the arsenal doesn't really make up for the problems, but you have to admit, walking up to unsuspecting Templar's and guards on roofs, stabbing them with your hidden blade, pushing them off, and making civilians all SCREAM with TERROR...is hilarious and worth while to do in your free time.
The verdict?
Overall Rating: 7/10
Musical Score: 5/10
Voice Acting: 6/10
Graphics: 8/10
Game Mechanics: 8/10
Story: 10/10
Replay Value: 5/10
Comments
Musical Score: There really just is nothing to the music in the first one. I do have the soundtrack and I never know what I'm listening to when it comes on from shuffle. It's more ambiance to the game than it is a musical composition.
Voice Acting: Desmond's voice and ambiance voices were perfectly fine. But I cannot get over how Altair has an American accent. You can blame it on the animus all you want, but that voice kills me. The lips aren't perfect either, and of course, the guards and their plethora of "WHERE DID HE GO?"
Game Mechanics: Based on the frustrations of myself and Kiru and there for, probably a little biased. She didn't fall nearly as much as I did...
Story:In the series over all it's amazing and this is just a part of the the series as a whole, so I give it a 10. As boring as it may seem, and it takes a while to piece things together (you HAVE to be listening and paying attention) it is a thrilling plot line for history nerds like myself.
Replay Value:I would play it again right now. My cousin plays these games more than she should, though she plays the 2nd one over and over and over, and now Brotherhood over and over. Still? For understanding the plot even BETTER, I would pick it up right now and play. It's fun to run around and just kill people for shiggles. There is the element of collection involved that keeps some people playing until they have ALL of the flags and killed ALL of the Templars.
T for Teen: Blood, Language, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco, Violence
Available On: Xbox 360, PC
Holy. Shit. That is all I have to say about this game. Well, not really but this game threw me for such a loop. I didn't physically play it, Kiru did. She saw a preview for it and fell in love with the game and wanted it so we got it at some point after it came out.
So right off the bat, we were interested. An author getting away with his wife to a little town...Bright Falls. How much more ominous can you get, right? Well now it start get freaky. Your ugly, stupid, bimbo wife is afraid of the dark and basically gets kidnapped by the darkness. Alan goes back, fails at saving her, you dunno if you're dreaming or going insane or what's happening. You hit a guy in a car- and he fucking disappears then you find out the guy he hit was a hitchhiker from his OWN STORY. Let me bold that.
A CHARACTER from HIS story.
And then the Taken hitchiker tries to kill you with an axe.
Hence my previous discomfort to write anything bad to my characters in any of my stories.
And yet it gets even weirder. Alan starts finding pages of a manuscript that he wrote...but didn't write.
Yes, this shit comes true.
As if that wasn't enough for poor Alan to handle, I can tell you right now this is no "Prince of Persia". There is no "Well then fuck this, I'll deviate from the manuscript! Screw fate!" Oh no. If you deviate from the manuscript it's you dying and getting a game over. The manuscript is true to its word. So much so that this dude, who just read a manuscript page about...himself...:
....You can guess what happens next.
So while having to evade the FBI and town cops, you're being helped by a guy in an old fashioned scuba suit/space suit, battling darkness with a flashlight then shooting the undarkened dark monsters with your trust <insert gun here>, but the evil behind it all? Is an old woman.
The epidemy of evil.
Aside from the horror and "What the fuck just happened now?" moments, it has its fair share of laughs. Like this.
Your best friend decorated for Christmas.
Two old men in their 70's trying to relive their glory days as rock musicians.
And...you know. Watching yourself on a TV that's watching you talk to the Scuba-Man, Thomas Zane.
Cause watching yourself on TV is always is always fun. I mean, he's famous right? ...Well I guess it gets not so funny when the you on TV is going psycho.
Though you can also find a show on some TV's (the ones that DON'T blow out the TV after you're down watching). It's called "Night Springs" and it's the equivalent of "The Twilight Zone". Alan Wake used to write for the show, and according to Barry, it's sucked since he left.
Adding to the TV theme aside from Alan talking crazy talk to Alan and Night Springs, the whole game is set up into Episodes. There are 6 Episodes, kind of like Chapters, complete with a "Last time on Alan Wake" recap for you and at the end of each episode, a song plays that can be found on one of the many radios scattered across Bright Falls. That just SCREAMS:
"Make me a TV series!!"
Cause I know I would watch it.
Overall, the game is excellent. So much so we bought the two DLC's, The Writer
Fitting...
And The Signal:
"Greeeeat, I'm on TV again...trying to kill myself."
For the game mechanics, I can't say much since I didn't play this one hands on. I can tell you Kiru forgot the controls in her few moments of panic when a Taken popped out of no where on the rare occasions the wind doesn't warn you of their closeness.
I remember one in the bathroom, which is already creepy cause bathrooms have mirrors and if you're like me, FUCK going into bathrooms. Unless there's loot, then you brave the storm. We were CONVINCED nothing was going to pop out then the TV flicked on, Alan spoke crazy to Alan and as we left it came out at attacked us in slow-mo.
Slow mo is one of the neat game mechanisms that I did enjoy because it was another warning system and looked cool when you dodged. It did it randomly and reminded me of a TV show.
At some point I just wanted Kiru to just RUN the whole time because she kept dying. Not that there was a terrible shortage on ammo, you stay pretty stocked the whole game unless you're trigger happy on shadows that aren't the Taken.
It was just frustrating. But instead she didn't- cause Alan ended up getting tired pretty fast. And when he's hurt too he limps and your screen/his vision starts to fuck up which is bad when you're running in circles from this guy.
He can clobber you in a few hits and usually has a few little guys with him to throw shit at you and piss you off.
Or maybe some of these:
USE A FLARE. If you have one. They work wonderfully!
Or you know, dark filled tornadoes hellbent on destroying the town and its wildlife.
Hope you weren't tired before...
Still not convinced you need to buy this game?
Be convinced because this game is psychologically BALL TRIPPING. All of the questions still aren't answered so you know what that means? Sequel!!!
So let's tally this shit up.
The verdict?
Overall Rating: 7.5/10
Musical Score: 7/10
Voice Acting: 7/10
Graphics: 9/10
Game Mechanics: 8/10
Story: 9/10
Replay Value: 5/10
Comments
Musical Score: You don't pay attention to the music so much, and the opening score is so blah that I want to just stab pencils in my ear, though some of the music they play on the radio is really good. One in particular I enjoyed was by Poets of the Fall and you can find that HERE. And also, Space Oddity by David Bowie plays at the end credits.
Voice Acting: It wasn't awful, but sometimes it wasn't very compelling. The voice actor of Alan Wake, Matthew Porretta, has a very sexy voice. Good thing he does most of the talking.
Game Mechanics: Based on the frustration of Kiru
Story: This shit couldn't be more captivating.
Replay Value: Based on my willingness to see it replied/play it myself. It's...low, you can tell. The story sticks with you and has no real surprise ending that makes you over think the whole game and you have to replay it to understand it from that perspective, thank god. Because some of those parts were frusting, albeit the Stage Battle on Tor and Odin's old rockstar stage on their farm has great replay value in and of its own.
