Review: Assassin’s Creed 1

The Story

Assassin's Creed takes place in two different time-lines, both modern day-2012 and in ancient Jerusalem, approximately 1191 AD. In modern times, you play as Demond Miles, a direct relative to many of the greatest assassin's who have ever lived.

The game starts off with Desmond being held captive by "Abstergo Industries", a massive secret corporation who is trying to extract information from Desmond through the use of a new device called the "Animus".

The Animus taps into the subjects mind and allows them to relive and see the memories of their ancestors. Abstergo discovered that these memories have been stored in the human genome (DNA) and can only be extracted by having the subject relive the experience in the Animus (similar to the movie the Matrix). 

While in the Animus, in ancient times, you play as Altaïr Ibn la-Ahad (Arabic for "The Bird, Son of No one"), a great assassin who becomes demoted to the rank of novice after failing to adhere to the strict rules of the Assassin's Creed. 

As punishment, Altaïr is assigned by his master to assassinate nine different targets in various cities, all Templars which are enemies to everything that the Assassin's stand for. As the game progresses Altaïr begins to question the motives of his master who has given him little to no explanation as to why these men need to be assassinated.

When I first realized that Assassin's Creed took place in a "Matrix-like" environment, modern day (2012), I'll be honest, I was disappointed; However, after playing through the game the idea began to grow on me and rather quickly I began praising Ubisoft for the move as they've created a really unique story arc with literally infinite possibilities. The blend of modern day to ancient past really diversifies the experience and creates something different than what we're used to. 

Another really cool thing about the multiple time-lines is that you never really know what is going to happen, will he die or not? The game could continue with pretty much any character dying, It really makes for suspenseful gaming, and is a really nice twist on an already intricate plotline.

So it looks like Ubisoft got the story right, but how about the gameplay?