Assassin's Creed : Director's Cut

As a possible testament to the quality of Assassin's Creed, Ubisoft sold 15 times fewer copies than were pirated. Shocking figures to be sure, but there’s a lesson to be learned from this: don’t make a game with one hour's content last for 12 hours, fill it in with cut scenes, and charge £35. Also, why is this a director’s cut? There are only four additional side missions in this edition, and roughly 20 minutes more playtime. It’s not worth mentioning such paltry additions when other publishers manage to release larger chunks of content in free patches.

The basic structure of almost every mission in Assassin’s Creed begins by entering the city, usually by sneaking around with monks (that’s all their reputation needs: being caught hanging around with strange men). Next, you climb some buildings to find side quests, and do a couple of them. (The quality of these side quests is dubious. One had me destroy two merchant stalls because they were selling bad meat to children. What am I? Health and Safety?) Finally, you kill the target and run off, preferably whooping like Futurama’s own Dr. Zoidberg. Occasionally, the target will reveal more of the story while he dies, which can last for up to five minutes. Between this mission formula and the cut scenes, you've got the whole game.

Ubisoft claims that Assassin’s Creed is a stealth game. Unfortunately, nobody told the hero, Altair. And anyway, he has little incentive to be sneaky.  Every time stealth is encouraged, the punishment is rarely enforced. Save a harassed peasant from the city guards by butchering their attackers, and the guard is none the wiser to your actions five minutes later. Kill the governor of a whole city, and the guard soon tires of chasing you. For the first few missions, when you have low health and are running from the guards, Assassin’s Creed is a really good game. Sadly, four hours later, when you’re a bit more advanced and can block and kill in one blow, things turn sour. The stealth emphasis completely disappears, along with any aspiration to play any more than is absolutely necessary.

This is a game that is often more fun to watch than it is to play. Free running looks amazing, but is far too easy. Simply hold one key and go forward, and you've mastered it. Similarly, combat simply involves holding block and waiting to be attacked. Supposedly intelligent opponents simply sit and watch you kill their friends and family, until they do the sensible thing and run away. Battling on rooftops should be frantic as the fear of falling heightens combat, but with a small penalty for player falls and a massive one for enemies, the best bet is to leap off the roof and watch the poor AI follow.

In terms of the story, side quests are derivative and lack any emotional payoff. The main story is a little far fetched, but at least it allows Ubisoft to write this off and take a completely different setting for the next installment. Visually, Assassin’s Creed is excellent. Even if the performance suffers because of it, Jerusalem, Damascus and the rest of the cities look authentic and have a lived in feel. Character models could be better, but their current status makes me confident that the upcoming Price of Persia title will look good.

This isn’t a terrible game, but it isn’t varied enough. If you’re a 'pick up and play for an hour' kind of gamer, this will be worth picking up when the price drops a bit. However, if you’re looking for a new stealth game or an action thriller, this doesn't make the cut.