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Xbox 360 | Action | Assassin's Creed

Boxart for Assassin's Creed
Assassin's Creed 62 screen shots
  • GRAPHICS: 4.75
  • SOUND: 4.75
  • CONTROL: 5.00
  • FUN FACTOR 5.00
  • AVG USER SCORE 4.6
  • AVG CRITIC SCORE 5.0
Winner of the GamePro Editor's Choice Award

Preview: Assassin's Creed

Preview by Dan Tennant | 10/24/2006 | 16:39:36 PM PST

We give you an inside scoop on everything we know about Assassin's Creed.

From the west rides the Lionheart-King Richard of England, inking the pages of history with the blood of those trampled underfoot during his army's long march through the Holy Land. Between the pikes of Richard's army and the walls of Jerusalem stands the Saracen king, Saladin, waiting at the Fortress of Arsuf to hold God's Kingdom from the invading horde at all costs. The year is 1191 A.D. The Third Crusade has been unleashed upon the world.

In the metaphorical center of the war stands a man by the name of Altair, outcast from his people. He was of the Hashshashin: the deadly followers of Al-Hassan, Sheikh of Alamut-history's Old Man of the Mountain. He was first in their order, a master assassin who nevertheless failed to eliminate his most important mark.

Now, Altair is of the Uninitiated, ranked below all others in the Hashshashin hierarchy. He has been given a grand assignment that, if undertaken successfully, could not only see his rise to the heights of his order once again, but also spell the blessed end of the Third Crusade.

Have you influenced history lately?

Ubisoft Montreal, the developer that instilled new life into the Prince of Persia series with its award-winning hit, The Sands of Time, is working hard on developing a brand-new franchise that will allow players to do just that. Assassin's Creed, a game of stealth, combat, acrobatics, and (of course) assassination, looks to be one of the first truly spectacular games of 2007, granting gamers the opportunity to take on the guise of Altair and run, climb, slink, and kill through the great cities of the Holy Land. Although Ubisoft has kept much about Assassin's Creed under wraps, a fair amount has slipped out; we thought we'd share with you an overview of everything we know so far about this upcoming classic-in-the-making.

The Story

Though the specific details of much of the plot of Assassin's Creed remain a mystery, we do have a pretty strong understanding of Altair's motivations. Sinan, current leader of the Hashshashin, wishes to usher in an age of peace upon the world. But, in order to do so, nine officials on both sides of the war who are actively attempting to prolong the confrontation must be eliminated.

Sinan has ordered Altair to find and assassinate those figures, and Altair has little choice but to comply if he wishes to restore his reputation. Setting out to fulfill his assignment, our assassin is soon on the trail of a conspiracy that has far-reaching implications so far-reaching, in fact, that they may extend to the present day.

That connection between the past and the present is where Ubisoft starts to get fuzzy with its details. We've seen that the game's HUD is undeniably futuristic, and that as Altair takes damage, the player's perspective on the game action begins to distort with electronic interference. We've also seen that upon Altair's death, the screen goes completely white instead of red or black before resolving into the face of a lab technician who assures us that all will be well. Ubisoft has ruled out time travel as a possible explanation for the technological feel and visual distortion, and the game menu that appears after death references "genetic memory"; the remaining plot possibilities are undeniably intriguing.


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