To say Assassin's Creed is structurally repetitive would be an understatement. Where this becomes a problem though is that none of the tasks required are either particularly enjoyable or challenging and the whole thing reaches such levels of predictability and tedium that it actually become a chore to continue. Investigation tasks, for instance, come in a handful of variations. Interrogations involve waiting for someone to finish talking, following them for a bit then punching them repeatedly. Pickpocketting involves waiting for someone to finish talking, then following them with the B button held down. Meanwhile, eavesdropping requires you have a nice sit down, lock on to a target then simply wait for them to finish nattering. Really, the only interesting investigation tasks are those involving informants who'll only give you information once you complete a certain task within a time limit. Stealth killing a set number of targets is mildly compelling while running around rooftops collecting a bunch of misplaced flags is simply dumbfounding in its incongruousness.
Sadly, all this street time also highlights the generally superfluous, yet widely-touted guard alert system. Theoretically, you need to behave in an increasingly low-key manner as city security becomes aware of your presence throughout the game. In practice though, we had no trouble tearing through the streets and clambering up buildings in direct view of the law. Even when things get sticky too - generally completely arbitrarily, from our experience - it's not too hard to duck into one of the environment's many hiding spots, or hit blend, to quell any potential trouble.
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Ultimately, where Assassin's Creed succeeds is in its most basic form - a vast, believable world to explore freely, a place teeming with life and intoxicating beauty. As an experience, it's undoubtedly a bold, brave and distinctly unique creation - exactly what this generation of consoles has promised from the beginning. In that sense, it's an incredible achievement and one that deserves recognition - we'd even go as far as to suggest Assassin's Creed is an experience everyone should investigate purely to see what's in store for the future of the industry, if only from a presentation and tech perspective.
As a game though, Assassin’s Creed fails in just about every respect. That sense of freedom offered aside, its design is hopelessly outdated at best and laborious to the point of perpetual boredom at worst. Once the initial lustre of Assassin’s Creed’s world wears off after a few hours, what’s left is a flimsy, soulless gameplay experience, struggling under the weight of a painfully ponderous, woefully hackneyed narrative which only serves to drag things down further. That said, the score below reflects Assassin’s Creed’s unquestionable achievements as much as it does its failing. Hopefully, next time, Ubisoft Montreal will give us the game to match its commendable ambition.
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