Assassin's Creed - Ubisoft - X360

[schild]

Sooo... Assassin's Creed.

One of the more talked about games of 2007, the first few hours of play shows that it does some things very well, and other things very badly. Firstly, the visuals. It's the best looking game of it's type I've ever seen, and close to the best game I've ever seen period (up there with CoD4, HL2 and it's offspring). Altair's Spider-Man act is also great fun and the panoramic views it can accord are breathtaking.

What Ass Creed doesn't do so well, is control. While Altair runs across rooftops and climbs buildings like a champion, he's not as well-rounded as you might have hoped. Context-sensitive buttons are only useful when they do what the player is trying to tell them. I've gotten stuck hanging 10 feet off the sides of buildings because Altair just won't fucking drop down any further, and have instead had to jump across a street like an idiot to make him let go of a wall. Combat and the "locking-on" mechanism is clunky and difficult to control. The horse riding was equally clunky, though apparently walking reeeeeeally sloooowly on a horse makes you less suspicious to guards(!?).

The worst part of the game is reserved for the introduction - a long, long, tedious series of very simple tutorial moves mixed in with long stretches of non-interactive exposition on a par with the worst that JRPG has to offer. Sorry, I don't care about your crappily-written characters. Let me play the damned ninja assassin!

Various objectives scattered around the maps don't make it clear if you've achieved them, such as observation points on the city (if it becomes clear later, why not make it clear from the start). The save mechanism is clunky, and I still don't properly understand how it works. The best I can tell is that it's a checkpoint system that triggers whenever you do something notable - though the first session I played I ended inside Damascus at some random point in the street, but when I reloaded I was in the local Assassin's Guildhouse without having actually been there.

Others have said that the various missions become very repetitive, and I can well imagine that, but after a few hours it's still fresh enough to be mostly-fun. Surprise attacks were fun early on when the game allowed me to perform them, though the guards seem to always be watching at this point.

The game seems like it's trying to do too much, and only succeeding in part. It gives the player the kind of feeling that the next one in the series could really be something special, if only they can polish the crappy bits out.

-

Rent it.
Submitted by Azazel

[Rasix]

http://forums.f13.net/index.php?topic=11759.0

 

[schild]

New opinion. No harm done! Don't shoot me, plz.

[Rasix]

Two for the same game, same platform.  There should be a rule against it, I know there's some I haven't done for the same reason.  We didn't need two Bioshock ones either but at least they were different platform. 

Anyhow, is it odd or disturbing that I find an assassination game relaxing?

[Hoax]

Yeah I'm opposed to 2 biif's for one game, have it out in the thread if you have a second opinion.

[Mrbloodworth]

Yeah I'm opposed to 2 biif's for one game, have it out in the thread if you have a second opinion.

I thought that was how it was supposed to work.

[Sauced]

I suppose I thought it was ok (desirable, even) to have *specific* rebuttals.

[Rasix]

I suppose I thought it was ok (desirable, even) to have *specific* rebuttals.

Not sure what your argument is here, chief.  That type of rebuttal can be done in the thread.  I mean, that's really what the thread is for. 

[Margalis]

Putting it in the same thread seems ok if it can be inserted into the first post or something like that. Having a new review buried in the middle of the thread doesn't seem like a good idea.  Too disorganized.

[schild]

Margalis' second point is sorta my reasoning. I think, maybe, if you want to review a game that's been reviewed, say, wait 2 weeks? That seems fair. Conversation normally dies down by then.

[Sauced]

It wasn't an arguement.  I was just referencing the original intent, which, when it was brought up, seemed fine.  Now people just want it in the thread.  So...... yeah.

[Azazel]

meh, I've seen plenty of people in the other threads saying "if you don't like the review, noone's stopping you from writing your own BiiF about it."

I'm well aware of the other one, and this isn't a rebuttal, but my own BiiF/opinion. Since I've just started playing this game in the past couple of days, I thought it made more sense to write it up now.

Two for the same game, same platform.  There should be a rule against it, I know there's some I haven't done for the same reason.  We didn't need two Bioshock ones either but at least they were different platform. 

Yeah I'm opposed to 2 biif's for one game, have it out in the thread if you have a second opinion.

That's patently stupid.

Not any one of us is the emperical canonical voice of f13. How many arguments are stored on this website with hugely varying opinions about endless numbers of games?
I'm happy for this review to have it's discussion in the same thread, but fuck, if we have 5 very different BiiF opinions of Bioshock, what harm is done?
Fuck, I'd hate to think that my review of Forza has made that title off-limits to a racing genre fan's chance to BiiF it. 

I suppose I thought it was ok (desirable, even) to have *specific* rebuttals.

Not sure what your argument is here, chief.  That type of rebuttal can be done in the thread.  I mean, that's really what the thread is for. 

No dude, this isn't that type of rebuttal. I haven't played enough to tell snakecharmer "hey man, it gets better later, really!" It's my own fucking opinion of the early bits of the game BiiF.

Margalis' second point is sorta my reasoning. I think, maybe, if you want to review a game that's been reviewed, say, wait 2 weeks? That seems fair. Conversation normally dies down by then.

Sounds fine to me. If you get one too early for a game that's already been done, just sit on it for a few days .

[Margalis]

Here is the problem:

1. Having multiple entries for the same games is a GOOD thing.

2. Having a thread per entry for the same game leads to clutter.

3. Posting in the middle of a thread will bury later reviews.

I think the clutter is going to be a problem no matter what with the current format. Already we have two pages of stuff that is not well organized.

Ideally it would be easy to find something in the archive by browsing by system or name or something, and all the BIIF reviews for that game would be easily accessible.

The problem I see now is that these capsule reviews are nice reference material but because of the forum layout will have short shelf-lives.

[Rasix]

No dude, this isn't that type of rebuttal. I haven't played enough to tell snakecharmer "hey man, it gets better later, really!" It's my own fucking opinion of the early bits of the game BiiF.

No, but you have played enough, "this is how I felt about the first portions of the game", and what's wrong about putting that in the thread that already exists instead of having it's own? All I'm arguing about is the structure of butisitfun.  I think we're early enough in the experiment that we can still discuss it.

If we're going to end up having multiple BiiF on the same game, it would help if we had a separate website that indexed all of it to go along with this.  I think that still may be in the works.

As for the game..

While Altair runs across rooftops and climbs buildings like a champion, he's not as well-rounded as you might have hoped. Context-sensitive buttons are only useful when they do what the player is trying to tell them. I've gotten stuck hanging 10 feet off the sides of buildings because Altair just won't fucking drop down any further, and have instead had to jump across a street like an idiot to make him let go of a wall. Combat and the "locking-on" mechanism is clunky and difficult to control. The horse riding was equally clunky, though apparently walking reeeeeeally sloooowly on a horse makes you less suspicious to guards(!?).

At times the interface works really well  and you can do some really cool and fluid stuff.  The rest of the time, you're fighting with it.  Hell, twice in one area I wanted to jump straight down from a tower wall to a well.  Twice in a row instead of jumping straight Altair jumped sideways into the fucking ocean.  The fighting similarly can be fluid and graceful or you'll be staring at the scream screaming "I hit X, FUCKHEAD, counter!".  Btw, in any situation you want to let go, just push B.

[Azazel]

No, but you have played enough, "this is how I felt about the first portions of the game", and what's wrong about putting that in the thread that already exists instead of having it's own? All I'm arguing about is the structure of butisitfun.  I think we're early enough in the experiment that we can still discuss it.

Sure, but I think we're a diverse enough bunch, and the reviews are small enough that multiple BiiF are fine, expecially since schild said at one stage he's going to do something with a website for them.
If I had played AC through a lot before snakecharmer's review I'd have added my thoughts to it. If someone BiiF's CoD4, I wouldn't write my own of it, since I've already finished it I would post in the thread. Since AC was new to me, well, why not?

As I said, I don't think any of us (including schild) can claim to be "the voice of f13" when it comes to opinions on individual games. I think the threads are great, but I also think multiple BiiF are a fine idea.

If we're going to end up having multiple BiiF on the same game, it would help if we had a separate website that indexed all of it to go along with this.  I think that still may be in the works.

At times the interface works really well  and you can do some really cool and fluid stuff.  The rest of the time, you're fighting with it.  Hell, twice in one area I wanted to jump straight down from a tower wall to a well.  Twice in a row instead of jumping straight Altair jumped sideways into the fucking ocean.  The fighting similarly can be fluid and graceful or you'll be staring at the scream screaming "I hit X, FUCKHEAD, counter!".  Btw, in any situation you want to let go, just push B.

I think there is a seperate website in the works for them. Actually, are we supposed to not swear in these BiiF reviews? Or are they as FFA as the rest of the text on the site?

As to Al, yeah, sometimes despite me pressing B like a madman, he just wouldn't let go of the side of a building. The comments you have on the interaface are spot on - a perfect example of where I hope AC2 improves the most.

[Hoax]

meh, I've seen plenty of people in the other threads saying "if you don't like the review, noone's stopping you from writing your own BiiF about it."

I'm well aware of the other one, and this isn't a rebuttal, but my own BiiF/opinion. Since I've just started playing this game in the past couple of days, I thought it made more sense to write it up now.

Two for the same game, same platform.  There should be a rule against it, I know there's some I haven't done for the same reason.  We didn't need two Bioshock ones either but at least they were different platform. 

Yeah I'm opposed to 2 biif's for one game, have it out in the thread if you have a second opinion.

That's patently stupid.

No you're a towel.

I just think its silly if people are discussing or have discussed Assassin's Creed in this very forum already to have another discussion where I have to go find the other thread and see if we've already been over it.  I don't know what the solution is, but I also don't mind the idea of you just bumping the other Assassin's Creed biif with:  Yo so I just tried this and I think...   blahblah

I can't see why you need to have your own review thread.  People could argue that it will be more under the radar I guess, but I like this forum its fast becoming one of my favorite subs I always go here if there are new posts.  Add in something about how nobody reads the front page anyways and I just don't get the need for a separate review instead of a reply.

[Azazel]

I just think its silly if people are discussing or have discussed Assassin's Creed in this very forum already to have another discussion where I have to go find the other thread and see if we've already been over it.  I don't know what the solution is, but I also don't mind the idea of you just bumping the other Assassin's Creed biif with:  Yo so I just tried this and I think...   blahblah

I can't see why you need to have your own review thread.  People could argue that it will be more under the radar I guess, but I like this forum its fast becoming one of my favorite subs I always go here if there are new posts.  Add in something about how nobody reads the front page anyways and I just don't get the need for a separate review instead of a reply.

I think I stated above somewhere that I don't care if the review linked to the existing thread. I don't have a special snowflake need for my own thread, either.

Perhaps that's the solution for multiples of the same game (as long as we're not comparing a mobile version of a game to a PS3 version.) - Multiple reviews of any game can be fine, but have any BiiFs after the first for any game also appear as a forum post in the existing thread for the game, and the front page can just link to that point int he discussion.


In short -
I think seperate reviews, with new opinions are a good thing. One BiiF shouldn't make a game off-limits to the rest of f13.
Sure, instead of starting a new thread, (the admins can) dump a copy of the review into the existing thread and we all continue the discussion from there.

[Velorath]

I'm happy for this review to have it's discussion in the same thread, but fuck, if we have 5 very different BiiF opinions of Bioshock, what harm is done?

It more or less makes each thread more about discussing the review rather than the game.  When something like GTAIV comes out and 5 or 6 people want to do a BiiF for it, not only will it make the front page look bad, but no one particular topic will end up being a good springboard for discussion about the game.  The only result I can see coming from that is that people will make threads in PC/Console gaming forum to actually discuss major releases, and activity in BiiF will drop off.

[Azazel]

I'm happy for this review to have it's discussion in the same thread, but fuck, if we have 5 very different BiiF opinions of Bioshock, what harm is done?

It more or less makes each thread more about discussing the review rather than the game.  When something like GTAIV comes out and 5 or 6 people want to do a BiiF for it, not only will it make the front page look bad, but no one particular topic will end up being a good springboard for discussion about the game.  The only result I can see coming from that is that people will make threads in PC/Console gaming forum to actually discuss major releases, and activity in BiiF will drop off.

Disagree. Subsequent reviews would add new perspectives to the discussion. Like Towelie said a few posts up:

I don't know what the solution is, but I also don't mind the idea of you just bumping the other Assassin's Creed biif with:  Yo so I just tried this and I think...   blahblah

I have no objection what Towelie says here at all. Though better to submit them via the regular method and let the Admins dump it in the thread when they do the frontpage.

Wait.. did you (Vel) even read the post you're replying to? I'm not saying each review (of a same game) needs it's own thread. I'm saying "sure, dump 'em all in the one thread!" though it's not up to me, either. My only argument is that there's no reason to "lock out" reviews of a specific game just because someone else has done it. I'm not entirely sure what schild's plan for BiiF beyond the frontpage and this forum is in terms of "butisitfun.com" go, but we've had 2 seperate reviews for 2 different games now, so I can only assume it doesn't break his master plan.

Also as an option, as schild also suggested, setting a 2-week wait before reviewing the same title will ensure that initial threads have died their natural death. Either works for me though.

[schild]

Until f13's post count doubles or triples (I fear the day), I think 2 weeks between reviews will work fine.

[Velorath]

Wait.. did you (Vel) even read the post you're replying to? I'm not saying each review (of a same game) needs it's own thread. I'm saying "sure, dump 'em all in the one thread!" though it's not up to me, either.

Yes, I think you mentioned multiple times that you don't care whether or not each review gets its own thread.  Aside from the mods having to edit additionial reviews into the first post though (creating more work for them), or people being content to have their reviews in the middle of topics, there don't seem to be a lot of workable options.

Until f13's post count doubles or triples (I fear the day), I think 2 weeks between reviews will work fine.

I don't know.  BiiF didn't start until after most of the holiday games had already come out.  I think Februrary's release schedule, especially with DMC4 will be a better test of how many people will want to do a review of new releases.

[schild]

I hate to derail this further, but I can't wait to see how many people rush to do Culdcept 360.

[Azazel]

Yes, I think you mentioned multiple times that you don't care whether or not each review gets its own thread.  Aside from the mods having to edit additionial reviews into the first post though (creating more work for them), or people being content to have their reviews in the middle of topics, there don't seem to be a lot of workable options.

You can argue with schild now, I'm going to continue to BiiF review whatever I like, and he can stick the threads wherever he likes.

[Velorath]

I hate to derail this further, but I can't wait to see how many people rush to do Culdcept 360.

I don't know.  I think the 4 or 5 people here who have an interest in whether the game is fun or not are already planning to pick it up anyway.

[Mrbloodworth]

Until f13's post count doubles or triples (I fear the day), I think 2 weeks between reviews will work fine.

I think the solution is some way to view the grouped reviews.

On the front page, it kinda looks like a repeat. Also, i think many of here, (Especially me) thought it was one review, and all second opinions go in the thread...becouse, well, thats kinda what you told me.

If you have a second opinion, post it here.

[sidereal]

I hate to derail this further, but I can't wait to see how many people rush to do Culdcept 360.

"It's a collectible card game inside of a console game.  That's like crack inside of opium.  BUY IT!!!!"


Done.