Rate top gamesAssassin’s Creed is the first entry in Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed franchise. It is not the first game chronologically (this would be Assassin’s Creed Odyssey) but it is the best game to play to introduce someone to the franchise. Like many of the games, Assassin’s Creed contains two storylines one set in the modern day (in or around 2012) and the other one set in the past. The game centers on Desmond Miles, a seemingly uneventful character who has had a very interesting past regarding his family. Desmond and his family were part of the Assassin Brotherhood, an organization dedicated to preserving freedom in the world. Desmond is captured by the reclusive Abstergo Industries and is tasked with using a machine called the Animus to relive his genetic memories of his ancestors to accomplish their own nefarious goals. The corporation is focused on one of Desmond’s ancestors named Altair Ibn-La’Ahad, an assassin active in the Holy Land during the Third Crusade (1191). Altair is tasked by his order with unraveling a conspiracy involving key figures on both the Crusaders and Saracen sides of the war (Templars). The Templar order seek to use the Crusades to conquer the Holy Land and then liberate it from the tools that they deem are holding its people back (religion, politics, etc). The story is interesting but the segments of the story regarding the targets are kind of choppy. It’s a rinse and repeat cycle of pickpocket, interrogate, eavesdrop or help an informant all to gather information and then the only interesting part occurs in which you use the information to assassinate the target. Not much occurs in the “modern day” setting, really besides seeing how the past has and continues to impact the present day. The game is viewed as a stealth game, but the stealth elements aren’t as emphasized as they later will be in other installments (and later de-emphasized). The sword play is a mixed bag for me. I like that the sword play isn’t flashy and smooth. It’s very clunky and simple, which is how people would have fought with these kind of weapons during this time period. But at the same time, that clunkiness results in some very bad fighting mechanics. The graphics are kind of dating, but they still hold up good. The setting is very interesting and the series has defiantly stated that they will continue to feature and set their games in time periods like this where video games do no often get set in. The city designs are cool, Damascus, Jerusalem, and Acre are so distinct and memorable in their own ways. The side missions are very bland and typical. Either collect items, save citizens or synchronize viewpoints……nothing much to offer. The writing in the game is fantastic. Corey May does a wonderful job handling a story that can get very muddled and confusing but at the same time he treats the material with a very impressive amount of respect for a video game. Overall, this game is very good. Probably the best way to begin a series. Keep it simple and confined but also leave the door open for more content to come.
Rating: 4.5/ 5
Rating: 4.5/ 5
«Time-tested»
«Liked before it became a hit»
«That ending!»
«Beaten more than once»
Other reviews17
6.5/10
Definetly biased bc of the nostalgy but had a good time and the story is honnestly really solid. Liked the 3 cities and the effort put into historical context. Unfortunately after the first 3 assassinations the game gets extremely repetitive and kinda unnecessarily long. Movement was quite clunky too but most importantly side missions and investigations past the minimum threshold have 0 added value to the story or the assassination missions. It's a shame that each major story block eventually just ends up in a massive fight vs. 30+ guards (although combat mechanics are cool and definetly satisfying).
This game aged.
The once revolutionary parkour feels stiffer nowadays, the missions are repetitive, the environments are samey except for the landmarks and combat is clunky.
Recommended only if you want to see where the series started
«Sit back and relax»
The first Assassin’s Creed spawned a great series but you can 100% feel that this is the first game. I would recommend people give it a try but the repetitive game play and lack of memorable characters aside the main who is not much of a star himself may not grip everyone. Give it a try when entering the franchise but if you cannot make it through just watch a recap and you’ll get all you need.
«Boooring»
«Oh God i managed it»
Initially I was really into this game, however it soon proved to be repetitive and without any motivation (except for plot) to continue to play it further. However fighting and parkour was tremendous fun.
When this first came our, it was so inspired (and inspiring, turns out) and unique. The attention to historical accuracy, the surprisingly intuitive controls and combat system, the parkour even. It was, however extremely repetitive. This game was a proof of concept for what would become one of the most successful action/adventure game series of all time. Its a piece of gaming history that isn't unbareable to play by modern standards. Highly recommend, but just so receptive, I can't give it the exceptional.
This game in short is a flawed, but excellent experience. While those may seem contradictory, let me break it down for you. First, it is difficult to get running properly on a modern gaming rig, simply because it was designed for technology that wasn't available almost 15 years ago. There are glitches, not many, and nothing "game-breaking", but a few annoying ones. The game suffers greatly from monotonous plot progression elements, basically go to city, go to district, do some stuff, kill a guy, rinse and repeat many, many times. The collectables are not interesting and provide absolutely 0 benefit in doing them, and what's more, are very easy to lose place on (which is what I did). All that being said, the good in this game saves what could have been a mediocre game, into one that is memorable, definitely worth playing, and is the reason why a massively successful game series was launched from this title. First, the gameplay mechanics are incredibly detailed and well thought out. This is most evident for me in the combat system. I have played this game roughly 5 times beginning to end since the release, and I am STILL finding out different ways you can respond to enemies movements and to turn the battle in your favor. The combat in general is just very fluid and so much fun. I almost didn't mind the repetitive "Save the Citizen" mini-games, because I got to have a cool sword fight. The plot, in my opinion, is one of the best present in any media franchise, movie, tv, game, or otherwise. It is very gripping, very unique, and very well told (though I wish there were subtitles). The graphics have also held up beautifully, especially the environmental ones. All in all, an amazing game if you are willing to work through some kinks.
«Blew my mind»
«Time-tested»