Below are user reviews of Assassin's Creed and on the right are links to professionally written reviews.
The summary of review scores shows the distribution of scores given by the professional reviewers for Assassin's Creed.
Column height indicates the number of reviews with a score within the range shown at the bottom of the column.
Higher scores (columns further towards the right) are better.
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User Reviews (1 - 11 of 169)
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Do not buy this game. On 360 or PS3!
1
Rating: 1,
Useful: 9 / 38
Date: November 16, 2007
Author: Amazon User
This is the most boring... Mundane... idiotic... game you're bound to play this year. 64 bucks to sit and watch trite cutscenes and jump into action to see the game slowdown to about 20 frames per second and massive screen tearing. Not to mention loads of POP UP from the texture work. It's bad on Ps3 and it's bad on the xbox 360... both versions got shafted... if you have to have one, though.. go with the ps3 version as the game runs a tad more stable.
But, I advise against it. Highly, advise against it. This is the worst 60 bucks you can spend on a game this year. Buy Uncharted for Ps3 instead. It's a true masterpiece. As anyone who's giving this perfect scores is still in the new phase of buying it. Everything's great when you 1st own a game or a movie or a car or a girl... Then it gets bad and the flaws come out. This game is 1 giant flaw. It's Ubi-soft, folks. Don't ever buy a game from Ubisoft.
NOT a next-gen game.
1
Rating: 1,
Useful: 3 / 13
Date: December 05, 2007
Author: Amazon User
I played this game for about 15 hours and after having the game freeze on me nearly every time I played it, a screen finally appeared that said the disc was either damaged or dirty and could not be played. This was when I returned the game to amazon as defective. Even ignoring the freezing issues, problems with slow frame-rates and a lack thoughtfulness in character dialog, this game is still not bringing anything terribly innovative to the gaming community. Many reviewers are trying to highlight the positive aspects of the game, but I believe this to be a waste of time. This game is very fatally flawed and as such cannot in good conscience be recommended.
Very lame for all the cool ads
1
Rating: 1,
Useful: 3 / 9
Date: December 06, 2007
Author: Amazon User
I am a casual gamer who buys games based on what he sees on TV. I saw the ads, it looked great. I checked GameSpot, they gave it 9.5/1o.
So I bought it.
It turned out to be big disappointment. Maybe it was because this game set too high expectations.
Graphics are great and some of gameplay elements are awesome. However, it gets very dull very soon. IT same repetitive tasks. AI sucks. And story which could have been its best story in ages is delivered very poorly. You basically have to read long long notes on screen to figure out why you are killing your targets or whats going on...
SPOILER WARNING ---- And the biggest disappointment is the ending.
I would have rated it but...
1
Rating: 1,
Useful: 2 / 9
Date: November 30, 2007
Author: Amazon User
I couldn't even play it! Here I am waiting for what seems like an eternity for this game to be released, and I can't even get past the first loading screen after picking "new game" Ubisoft won't admit it but they rushed to release this game, not giving it enough time in QA to work out all the bugs and glitches (at least for the PS3 version) I've seen many many people complaining of the game crashing, glitching, not loading properly, and many other bugs which make the game near or totally unplayable. I would reccomend waiting to purchase this game untill they decide to work this out. Though not every copy was affected better safe then sorry. In short, could I have actually played the game, I probably would have rated it higher, but sitting on a loading screen for eternity isn't exactly my idea of fun. Thank you ubisoft, thank you for making us your personal testers.
Freezes on the PS3 format
1
Rating: 1,
Useful: 3 / 5
Date: January 06, 2008
Author: Amazon User
This is a great game, however it comes from a terrible company. I say terrible because they apparently did not even test game through on the PS3 format before releasing it. This game freezes, glitches, locks up your system untill you have to manually cut off the power before getting it up again, and it is not just my experience, go to the ubisoft boards and see the 79 - yes i said 79 page thread on the forums about freezing problems under the assassins creed section. Refund? Nope. Will the store give you a refund? Nope. Since when have you been able to return opened media?
DONT BUY THIS GAME FOR THE PS3. I promise you will be as angry as I am. It is an awesome game, but it is unplayable on this system.
Not as expected .......... disappointment
1
Rating: 1,
Useful: 0 / 2
Date: April 01, 2008
Author: Amazon User
this game was very disappointment to me , the story of the game not as you will expect to be , the game play is very boring very quiet the action on the game is minimal the special move of the main character is the same it will not change or upgrated so you will feel you doing the same thing over and over , the graphics is normal , i cant say no more , there is alote of grate game on ps3 so dont waist your time for this one .......
Beautiful world; Boring gameplay- which is more important?
2
Rating: 2,
Useful: 6 / 10
Date: November 18, 2007
Author: Amazon User
Let's just say it, Assassin's Creed is visually impressive. That aside, the gameplay is far too repetitive to actually merit a purchase. Think about playing for 6 hours straight and using the same button presses over and over again while only actually being in peril twice.
Things are far too easy in this button masher. The game never feels challenging and the tasks are so repetitive that you simply want to go on a random slashing rampage to vent your frustration. Alas, not even this is comforting because after about two hours, all of the bystanders seem to be the exact same people placed in different alleys. The AI is absolutely flawed (it feels like you are pursuing a clone of the exact same guy around everywhere) and in no way would even a casual gamer feel challenged by the bumbling soldiers with swords. Fun factor is rated at 2 out of 5 and my overall rating is a 2 out of 5 (which is a tough call because of the beautiful visuals).
Nonetheless, don't buy into the hype-- just because the setting is beautiful, doesn't mean you should spend $60 on mediocre gameplay. After you accomplish the first assassination, this game will have you asking why you bought it in the first place...even worse, you'll catch yourself thinking, "8 more to go?...groan."
Bottom-line: Great eye candy but a very boring game after the first few hours. Climbing is easy, fighting is mechanical, and killing random guards in the exact same ways will not hold your interest. I don't see myself working up the will power or wasting my time to finish the game. Do what I should have done...spend your money elsewhere.
OVERRATED! How did the makers get away with this ???
2
Rating: 2,
Useful: 8 / 10
Date: March 09, 2008
Author: Amazon User
This game is a very good example of what HYPE, word of mouth and "cool looks" can do. Everything you do in this game (and a lot of the things you see and interact with) is the SAME, over and over again. You start a chapter talking with your master, then you practice a new move (optional) , then you take a horse and ride to a city. In the cities you do 3 required task to be able to advance to your main assassination objetive, always 3 out of the following :
You may climb on top of a high tower/building which would reveal the tasks that can be done in the area around that high spot. It's optional, but it saves time, of course, and doesn't really hurt. Besides, after you climb all your way to the top, THERE IS ALWAYS a cart full of hay awaiting for you right down below so you can just DIVE from whatever height you are into it (of course the character takes damage and dies when he falls from like a 2-story building, but diving from over 300ft into hay, that's just fine, sure.)
1-Interrogate some dude. (ALWAYS preaching in public. You harass him even if guards are right there seeing you and they won't do anything unless you push the guy over them) He talks, you kill him (again, no response from guards)
2- Eavesdrop 2 dudes having a conversation. Always 2 dudes, you ALWAYS sit on a bench to listen, and can't do it any other way. You may even start a fight in the area and the dudes won't move and leave. I even started a fight against like 10 guards (who were ON THE BENCH and the game wouldn't let me start the mission, so I killed them) and after the fight was over people were still running in panic screaming, and I just sit right there on my bench and calmly listened to the 2 dudes still talking over there.
3- Help some guy with a task (Picking up flags or Silently killing some guards in the area. Both time limited) Self-explanatory. You talk to some guy who asks for your help. You do the task in a time limit (very easy, of course, even the killing ones thanks to the atrocious AI <--more on that later).
4- Pickpocket. There always two dudes talking about something related to the plot. One of the leave, then the other. You must get close to him from behind, push a button and voila! you just completed the task. The guy will ALWAYS react the same way after you successfuly pickpocket him, like he realized he was robbed, but will NEVER get suspicious of you even if you run away from him just after you rob him.
Besides the taks you can save some citizens being harassed by guards. There are always some of those spread around the city. You kill the guards and then you should hurry the hell out of there, but of course the ones you saved must thank you. They always say one of 3 dialogs and you can't leave the area after they finish saying their stupid thanks (you attack the guards even if you have no idea who's right or wrong. Hey, you're an assassin! what's more stealthy than killing some guards to help a stranger and draw some attention to yourself. Way to go!)
After you complete your 3 tasks (which always reveal something about boss of the city you must kill, his whereabouts and schedule) you ALWAYS return to the assassin's creed headquarters located in every city. These hideouts are always designed the SAME way, you access them from the roof, and they are exact copies of each other in every city. There's always some dude behind a counter talking crap (you can visit them anytime and they will give you hints on where to look for your tasks) and almost all these dudes talk down to you (something to do with the beginning of the story) but it gets old and annoying too soon (like everything in this game, duh). Well you tell guy what you learned from your tasks, and then procceed to the primary objective.
Primary objetive: They are always in a well-guarded place and with the exception of maybe the LAST one, they are in an area that can only be accessed by you getting mixed with a group of Scholars (4 dudes dressed in white always walking around in circles and praying <----this is the very same way you can only get inside every city in the game, ALWAYS)
After you get inside, there's always (can you count how many times I've written "always" and "same"?, trust me the game it's even more repetitive than that!) always a gathering of people, and the Boss talking to them or/and doing some public act. Then after a cutscene, it's your time to strike. How? does it really matter? there's really no way to kill the bastards without causing an uproar. You just start the riot, and break through the guards , push the Boss to the floor and stick him with your knife. Some of them run, but again, just a couple of them (remeber, they are 9) and it's very unlikely you'll lose them and be forced to restart the scene. Most of them take you on! They actually ask for it, and you simple fight admist the chaos and kill them on the floor. Before they die you are always taken to a screen kinda like inside an isolated memory, only the two of you talking. Oh, these guys are always very chatty before dying. How nice of them!
After they die. You run. It won't be long or difficult before you lose the guards and can't safely return to the Assassin's headquarters (you always do that of course). There you talk to your pal behind the counter, and later you return to your Master.
Wash. Rinse. Repeat. 8 more times. There's your game.
Other embarrasing examples of mediocrity in this game:
-AI sucks. The guards are the most prehistorically intelligent things you've seen since Metal Gear 1 from NINTENDO (1988)
-When the alert mode turns yellow (meaning caution and you must hide to avoid further alarm) you can only hide inside Hay, sitting on a bench or inside a tent. There are plenty around.
-Combat is done with one button. It's just a matter of timing. You can just counter attack all your opponents and be done with it pretty easily. There are no real fights, you just get into sporadic trouble here and there, not a single fight except the one you kill the bosses have any meaning. Fighting is like performing a dance, it looks nice, and to some degree fun.
-The game is short. It only takes longer 'cause of the annoying endless repetition. Climbing the buildings, walking slowly to avoid detection (you can 'cause an alarm very easily by running a lot while being on "under watch mode" and faster than killing the guys you interrogate or killing a guard close to another on rooftops)
-The story sucks. I won't waste my time going into details. Let's just say even if you think it's decent at best, it won't make up for the rest of this garbage. Anyone can figure where the thing is going after a couple of missions.
-The game has no ending. "WTF" you say? You can look it up everywhere, the game has no real resolution and it just plain sucks. I had to tell you this even if it was sort of a spoiler, so you will stay away from this. It's not even worth finishing the game, 'cause there's no rewarding story or conclusion of it.
-The last boss sucks. It's even easier to beat this guy than any corner fight you run into the city.
-No character development. No drama. No exciting plot twists.
-No change of environment. All 3 cities look the same, you don't go underground, you NEVER GO INDOORS. You NEVER PLAY AT NIGHT (some assassin huh!) weather and time of day is the same always.
I could go on, and on. But I'm tired now. Can't you tell I hated this game?
Why did I play/finish it? My brother bought here on Amazon. I was suspicious of the game after reading some reviews. I had read it was repetitive, but no idea to what extent. After I had played for 3 or 4 hours it was cleared to me that I was playing garbage and decided to finish the game just to be rightfully able to criticize the game and advise others to stay away from it.
How did this game sell so much? Why are some many reknown videogame sites giving good scores to this gate (above 8 and even 10)? Where they paid off? It seems very likely. Maybe they are irresponsable and don't finish the games before scoring? Not even the latter is a good excuse, you will definitely see how bad this game is just by playing 2 or 3 of the missions.
This game deserves a 5 out of 10 at best. It feels like a BETA game, not fully developed, rushed to the stores before it was not even 70% complete. But in a 5 star system I wouldn't give 2.5 if I could. 2 stars is a "rent/borrow it" rating. It's all it deserves. They shouldn't have charged full price for this game, it's a total scam. I hope the team of developers behind it laugh at their success in sales, I enjoy it very much, beacuse I SERIOUSLY DOUBT they are regarded as talented people and good game designers among the videogame developer community. May this game stain their resumes forever! Shame on you! and shame on Ubisoft! or should I say "Copysoft" I'm sure they refered to this game with the codename "copy/paste" when it was on pre-production. It seems it never got that far from that stage.
STAY AWAY.
Repetition does not equal fun
2
Rating: 2,
Useful: 5 / 6
Date: December 13, 2007
Author: Amazon User
When you first start Assassin's Creed you will like what you see. It's a story in a story with great controls and some beautiful city landscapes.
That's the first hour of the game. After that, you realize what the game is really like - a blond bombshell that should never have been passed out of the fifth grade. There is no central game and it becomes empty very quickly.
Pros
1. Looks great
2. Controls are second nature, anyone can be a master swordsman and almost put spider man to shame when climbing buildings
3. Interesting layered storyline
Cons
1. No interaction. You can't enter a building and you sure won't remember the names of any of the characters after you finish a chapter.
2. Controls are too simple. Want to climb a building? Grab onto a ledge, and just hold up. That's all there is to it. You will almost NEVER fall from a building unless you hit the wrong button, how boring.
3. There is no real "assassin" play techniques. Need to kill a target? Simply walk up to them and use your hidden knife, no one will be the wiser as long as you don't stand at the murder scene.
Even better is once you master the counter technique for sword fighting, you can take on huge groups of guards with very little chance of death. Farther into the game you are required to dispatch entire groups of guards, once again dispersing the entire assassination theme. Also, don't even try to assassinate the main bosses, it's a waste of time since the game always forces these huge group battles.
The icing on the cake is the fact that the story does very little to wrap up at the end and leaves you wondering what in the world is going on.
The game looks and plays for everyone, but there is no real assassination themes, interactivity, or closure. It gets repetitive after a few play sessions and I'd be surprised if even 1/10th of the people who buy this game actually try to finish all of it.
Older Gamers will be disappointed
2
Rating: 2,
Useful: 3 / 7
Date: November 25, 2007
Author: Amazon User
Ugh. I was really excited about this game. I kept hearing about how "open" it is and how good the graphics and story are. Well, to start...this is not an "open" game. Elder Scrolls Oblivion is an open game. I was hoping this would be like that but set in the crusades with more of a thief type of character. Instead it is more like a next gen graphic take on the original Prince of Persia games. The objectives are very set. Besides the fact you can run around the cities as much as you want (and climbing and jumping is a lot of fun at first), you are not really able to mix around the missions or as in Fable develop different types of characters or make any important choices at all.
The action is very, very predictable. You do the same things over and over. The attacks feel scripted (you don't feel in control). You go in to these towns. You rescue citizens in the exact same manner (over and over). You kill the soldiers in the exact same manner (and they stupidly wait their turn to attack you). Besides the breath-taking graphics, the game play almost feels like a game from the early nineties. It is almost like Sid Meier's Pirates at points where you feel like you are doing the same swordfight of the same guy endlessly with the exact same outcome over and over. Cool back in 1987.
The acting is horrible and you are not able to bypass these really long, boring scenes that give you information that is meaningless (since you still end up doing the same thing after each scene). After a while I muted the game and in no way did it deter my progress. I would go get snacks whenever somebody started talking.
Maybe being an older gamer is a problem. I might have higher standards...maybe I have seen it all before...maybe I will always be dissapointed when expecting something new and different. who knows. All I know is that this game has a great concept...great animations...great graphics...but the story and gameplay are terrible. If it didn't look so good, I would say it feels very expected and dated.
I am not so upset by the Michael Crichton aspect...if they would have used it as a cool gameplay device that is. For instance, the Darkness does a similarly weird switch and yet it is still cool gameplay. In this game, the twist is boring and also used as an excuse to cover up why the game isn't "open." At least a game like the Darkness has a good story, so even if it is fairly easy to win it, I was still interested. It is a shame because the Crusades are rich with really good stories. It wouldn't have been hard. Instead it is a bunch of cartoony characters and stupid quests you don't care about (jumping around the city after flags??? Is this Mario Bros.?)
Sadly, it feels like they spent all their time getting the world together and forgot that you also want to have fun playing within that world. The first hour is a lot of fun just running around, but then it is a bore.
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