Assassin's Creed

There are lots of people saying that the gameplay on this is too simplistic and it is repetative, there is little skill involved in the eavesdropping and pick pocket missions. Personally this suits me down to the ground.

Many years ago I was a great gamer. I could play for hours and master all the skill and moves involved. Now life has overtaken this. Work and home life ensures that while in my heart I enjoy playing games, I really do not have the time to master the complexities these days.

The graphics are breathtaking. The controls are simple and I can pick it up after a week and still play the game. I can see an end to it (having completed 5 assassinations so far). Recently I sell games when they get too complicated or difficult to play after weeks away.

If you are a gamer at heart, but feel that you can not give the hours to master tricky moves etc then I would recommend this to you.

I would agree with the majority of views that criticise the gameplay for asassins creed - it is definitely lacking in variation.

But I dont think anyone has given the control system the credit it deserves - it is truly stunning. The character can move in such a fluid, natural way around the cities you have to explore. Absolutely everything you think you should be able to get a grip on you can. When running away from guards you have spooked you can genuinely run and climb anywhere and move as quickly as you can think...

The graphics and detail is amazing - its a pleasure to look at as you move around the cities.

This isnt enough though - the missions are slow and the dialog tedious. I can only hope that the sequel combines the amazing control system with some decent gameplay..

Assassins Creed is really going to divide opinion due to 2 very straight forward reasons, firstly, LOOKS and secondly, GAMEPLAY.

Let's start with the LOOKS. The actual in game visuals are truly stunning and incredibly cineamtic. The cities you play within have the hustle and bustle of their real counterparts and the rooftop vistas and the climbing sequences deliver jaw-dropping horizons and camera work. The main character design is exceptional, with his movement being incredibly smooth and intuitive; climbing never feels unnatural, with handholds seamlessly blended into the city architecture. As a result you will genuinely want this to become the experience the PS3 so richly deserved.

Herein lies the problem - beautiful scenery and characters do NOT make up for underdeveloped GAMEPLAY. What this game does, it does with definite finesse, however ultimately the experience lacks involvement and therefore a real sense of achievement. Firstly, CLIMBING and ROOF-RUNNING (great fun for a couple of days) are almost too straight forward; the over-simplicity of the controls means there is a distinct absence of interaction and danger. Secondly, the game is ultimately repetitive - go to city, visit the assassins bureau, find a view point, get information, assassinate victim. This is not helped as "climbing", getting information via "eavesdropping" and "pickpocketing", are essentially skill-less activities. The fighting control system has also been over-simplified to incorporate impressive fighting moves. This means that once your character's abilities develop you can fight off hordes of soldiers by a few simple well timed button presses; once again you'll start to wonder where the edge of your seat action is. The stealth element of the game actually works superbly well, largely because you will have to plan your strategy and execute it well to meet your objective. Once you become accustomed to the fact that guarding soldiers will start to get twitchy once you are in their "line of sight", hanging off buildings and carefully picking them off one by one becomes very rewarding.

Ultimately Assassins Creed is a style over substance game. Unfortunately the repetitive nature of the gameplay and a lack of involvement and excitement in the key areas of climbing and fighting means this is set to become little more than a weeks fun or a glossy in-store demo to sell more PS3 consoles.