'Assassin's Creed' Has A Hidden Agenda: To Justify Video Game Cliches

Why are games separated by levels? Why are characters moved with a controller? New title tries to explain.

Those whose jaws drop at screenshots or TV commercials of Ubisoft's big holiday game might see some important qualities. They might see high-definition, swashbuckling, wall-climbing action, set in the 12th century during the Third Crusade. They might see a game world that makes the Jerusalem and Damascus of a millennium ago the setting for open-world, almost "GTA"-style action.

But Patrice Desilets, the Montreal creative director, who hand-delivered an early copy of the game to MTV News a few weeks ago, sees something else, something that is important to him: "I got this idea of justifying everything in a game so that you don't feel like you're in a game." It's an unusual idea, one that may be among the most radical ideas attempted in a game this holiday season and one that he thinks "Assassin's Creed" almost accomplishes.