Assassin's Creed

Name: Assassin's Creed
Genre: Stealth/Action
Platform: Xbox 360, Playstation 3 (Reviewed for Xbox 360)

These days, the term "next-gen" is thrown around nearly as much as "innovation" when it comes to gaming buzz words. When quizzed on their titles' merits, many developers will inevitably answer, "It's next-gen," which really means, "It's pretty." But that isn't what "next-gen" truly means.  None of the big games to come out since the launch of the Xbox 360 and PS3 have taken full advantage of either system's respective powers. All three next generation consoles have had at least a year to mature, and developers have had time to learn the ins and out of the systems. Thankfully, the flow of graphically enhanced ports has slowed, and the real games of this "next-generation" are beginning to come out, which is why it may look like every gaming website is giving recent releases such high review scores. Doing something that could not be done on the previous console is the real meaning of "next-gen," and by that rule Assassin's Creed truly is the first.

Never before has there been this much freedom in a game. The engine employed allows for unprecedented levels of interactivity. If there is a crack in the wall, it can be scaled. If there is a windowsill, it can be grabbed. Games in the past have had specific items that players were told to use to get from Point A to Point B. This is not the case with Assassin's Creed. Everything in the world is exists for you to climb on. This is next-gen tangibility. If you can see if, you can climb it. It isn't climbing like Spider -Man, it is climbing like only a next generation title can do. There was never a time when Altaïr would grab something that didn't look right or reach onto a nonexistent block to climb. This isn't the illusion of being able to grab onto anything you should be able to, it's the reality of doing it.

Read Full Review Coop Fri, 16 November 2007 11:10AM 7 Comments