Loot Ninja's Assassins Creed (Xbox 360) Review

This game showed up in the Loot Ninja mailbox early last week and saw some of the initial reviews for the game and they ran the proverbial gamut. Some sites gave the game a 10 of 10 and some a 7. Usually, the gaming media comes to an ultimate consensus but this time was an anomaly. If you ask five different people, you will get five different opinions. Loot Ninja decided to play the game at a reasonable pace as opposed to rushing through to give a review ahead of everyone else or basing your opinion on hype and trailers alone. Loot Ninja has decided to throw their hat in the mix. Read on my friends.

[Shaka2K6]

Its horrible to see how any idiot with a computer that can run a blog, camn give reviews to games now, blogs sucks i hate them.

[Crazyglues]

I much rather get a gamers review of a game then all of these website reviews. (but I will have to agree with loot ninja when you ask 5 people what they think you get 5 totally different reviews.)

[fiercescuba]

@ Shaka:

I am not an idiot. I have a masters degree in biochemistry. I am a gamer just like you and my website gets 500k hits a month. Apparently a half a million people care. Thanks for being a hater

[1ben2]

"..I am not an idiot. I have a masters degree in biochemistry..."
someone can be an idiot and still have a masters degree in biochemistry...that's another debate i believe...

But on the review part, giving a 4/5 on Gameplay when the ONLY thing the reviewer finds good about the gameplay is the fighting, thats not a 4/5 in my book, more like 2/5, MAYBE 3 ....pushing it...i mean read that part again :

"...You can fight your way through almost anything or only kill those you must and get a similar result.." = boring, but he likes that..

okay then what about this:
"...The game can get repetitive though and this may be the biggest downfall of the overall gameplay mechanic.."

"...There are plenty of flags to find throughout the game although really unneeded..."

"...The eavesdropping is basically pointless..."

what are you left with? okay the Templars and the fighting...you better love this because thats the only thing you will be doing....
and even then ..the freakin templars OMG how could someone sit and look for templars for so long in these HUGE cities... that's beyond me.

in the end you end up with this:

Presentation & Graphics: 4/5 and i agree, they were gorgeous.
Sound & Music : 4/5 same here, pretty good.
Gameplay: : 2/5
Lasting Appeal : 3.5/5

pretty average game certainly not 4/5...

[fiercescuba]

@ Ben

Your feedback is appreciated.
The reason I gave the gameplay a 4/5 was because I thought it was very good. I pointed out that the eavesdropping was pointless, but is not a major part in the game, just something I thought was lacking. The gameplay mechanic is very good, the combo kills, the climb anywhere aspect, the ability to hide where and whenever you want. The game was thought to be stealth, but turned into more of a fighter with stealth aspects. Again, this is just my opinion. If you played the game, which I assumed you did, fighting many people at once felt very fluid. The controls were tight and camera angle was rarely an issue.

[MK_Red]

Thanks for the great review and post :)

I actually believe gameplay deserves 4.5/5 because control, movement and battle mechanics are perfect and aside from the bugs, moving through the game is really enjoyable and fun.
The repetitive problem of some of missions and are the low point for Replay value, are kinda forgiven with game's big, detailed and living citites and joy of the open-world gaming in medieval era which is a first in gaming. GTA's were modern cities, Crackdown was future, ME is RPG and galatic and Assassins is the only game of it's kind and they actually got 1 very important factor right: Fluid and enjoyable controls.

Bubbles for your great review and golden lines:
"Some sites gave the game a 10 of 10 and some a 7. Usually, the gaming media comes to an ultimate consensus but this time was an anomaly. If you ask five different people, you will get five different opinions."
The best way to talk about AC. It's a really unique game that gets all kinds of unique reactions.

[1ben2]

Honestly, im not even getting into the fighting, because just like the climbing, camera angles etc..., i LOVED it.

The gameplay as a whole for me was lacking. When you are sitting and almost falling asleep listening to SO many uninteresting cutscenes, when you should be assassinating and wanting to advance further and further in the game, walking around a lab (trying no to say too much here...) is hum...not too fun. Anyways, that was my experience. If you feel like you are working in a game, its not a game, its just not fun.

I feel as they made such beautiful cities and they should have used them, not just for climbing + fighting, because if i wanted to do that i could have bought Spider-man, ok, i wouldnt have cause it sucked, but you get my drift.

Cheers

[MK_Red]

Great find and review. While I believe the overall score shouold have been 4.5/5 (instead of 4/5), it has some valid points and a superb intro: "Usually, the gaming media comes to an ultimate consensus but this time was an anomaly."
"If you ask five different people, you will get five different opinions."
Just here on N4G, we have PS3 fans that love it while the there are other PS3 gamers that dislike or even hate it. Some of AC's biggest fans are 360 users while some 360 fans also don't like AC.
I personally love AC and believe it's a masterpiece and there are others who think like me. There are also people that think it's good to great but still kinda disappointing and then, there are some that think it's downright dull and awefull.

That is another reason I love AC so much because true works of art (among movies, books, music and such) are always about getting different reactions and even the best picture Oscar winning film has negative, natural and positive reviews. Games like Mario Galaxy are made to appeal to everyone and while they get the highest ratings, they are exactly the thing that is preventing games to become a full art form.
Okami, Shadow of Colossus, BioShock, Mass Effect, Assassin's Creed, Uncharted and few others are not mass appeal games but that's the way the art is. Everyone loves a blockbuster movie like Transformers or The Simpsons (Just like everyone loving Nintendo games like Super Mario Galaxy) but real works of art and oscar worthy films like Zodiac or No Country For Old Men or Persepolis are not loved by everyone and each have specific group of fans (Just like but AC, Uncharted, ME...) but THEY are the best movies around and the oscar and award worthy ones, Just like AC, Uncharted, ME and BioShock being the award worthy ones instead of Marios and other mass appeal games.

[Danja]

Dude you make some good points but remember that AC was really HYPED outta this world..it was suppose to revolutionize gaming as we know it..and it basically dug it's own grave from the start cuz ppl were gonna expect more than what the actually game would be able to offer...

I will say that if Ubisoft had taken the time to really fix the major Probs in AC then it could have been a great game , it's a good game and nothing more..and alot of PS3/360 owners will probably complain most about the repetitive missions...Glitches..not so smart A.I..and those annoying civilians beggin for money..lol..j/k..

and as I said below in my post the Ending is horrible.. I felt like I played the game and accomplished nothing.....and I don't know about Zodiac beign Oscar Worthy..lol

[MK_Red]

Thanks for the great reply :)
The thing that you don't think Zodiac is Oscar worthy and think AC was overhyped is exactly my point. The true works of art MUST divide people and bring challenges, discussions and arguements. I believe Zodiac is the oscar worthy film of 2007, another thinks No Country For Old Men is and another thinks In Valley of Elah is.
That's exactly my point about AC. I believe Assassins Creed IS revolutionizing and has introduced the true free running mechanics in gaming and in a new world (Historic open world) and in short, I think AC was rightfully hyped. You believe it was overhyped and some other differences.

Among many 360 users Halo 3 deserves the Hype and is worthy for GOTY while I think it was overhypted and is not worthy of that and I know 360 users that think the same.
Crysis is also in the same category, some PC users worship it and it's hype while some others believe BioShock easily surpasses it.

My point is that a true worthy work HAS to bring discussions and show differences and that's why I don't think Mario Galaxy is worthy of GOTY and actually believe its one of the elements that's preventing games from becoming an art form. SMG is great but a mass market/ pop culture fave like bestselling movies of 300, Transformers and Simpsons. Are they good? YES. Are they Oscar worthy? NO! Same goes for Mario and GOTY.

Crysis, BioShock, Halo 3, Mass Effect, Assassin's Creed and few others are the true GOTY worthy games instead of mass appeal Marios. The thing is not everyone likes all of them. I personall love Bio, ME and AC but think the others are overrated and many disagree with me and that's what makes not only Bio, ME and AC the true worthy games but also Crysis and Halo 3.
Zodiac, No Country, In Valley..., Persepolis, 3 10 to..., Before Devil Knows... and few other films are the true best movies of 2007. No one thinks all of them are Oscar worthy but that's why they are all true art. I love Zodiac and Persepolis, other one loves No Country and Ratatouille, Another one loves In Velley and Before Devil. We may all have liked Simpsons Movie or Enchanted but they are mass appeal and not the deep works that bring discussions and arguements the way Zodiac, No Country, Persepolis and others do.

[1ben2]

i do agree with what you said, about the art bit and all but let me just say something here:

I bought Uncharted and was expecting this: a good, if not great platform/indianajones/tombraid er maybe? etc kind of game...(it did get "some" hype, not "AC hype omgbbq" but some hype..)so guess what happened i put the game disc in the PS3 and had TONS of fun...graphic + gameplay wise+getting treasures to unlock stuff, which im usually not into that stuff so much...it was just gorgeous. That's my definition of a "game".

I can't really say the same thing about the hype machine that is AC.
As much as i was blown away completely by the beginning of the game, fully equipped Altair, and thinking to myself "...finally, i get to play a bad ass assassin, in an open world, climbing, jumping, woohoo!!!..."

And then the game starts for real. I get stripped down of all my weapons and i gotta go kill people to get em back, DOH....okay fine.

From there it went downwards, for me anyway, repetition at its best.
I almost fell asleep in the cutscenes, so much bla bla..."...let me back to Altair ! please!!!!

And then you go back and notice that beside killing those 9 dudes, the story isnt getting really more interesting, and i REALLY could have gone with an "assassin-with-no-twist-t o-the-story-and-more-fun-thing s -to-do-around-these-beautiful- c ities" kinda game.

I am hoping for some great things in the sequel... please?

_____________________________ ________________________

@MK_Red
Trust me you are talking to the right guy about art. All i meant to say i guess is, to me : Assassin + real open world + assassinating in a game + excellent story = Awesomeness in a game. i didnt find that here. To me going to work was less painful than playing this "game".

Thats all :)

Cheers.

[MK_Red]

@ 1ben2
Thanks for the great reply.
I see what your talking about and that's the reason I belive both AC and Uncharted are AAA games and GOTY worthy ones.
I liked the Uncharted but not as much as AC or BioShock. See, the games HAVE to get different reactions because that's what true art is about. If all people loved same pop song or same rock song, that wouldn't be the real art.

That's why I think Uncharted, AC, BioShock, ME and many others deserve GOTY more than Mario Galaxy. The true art must go deep and bring personal reactions from depths of people. My reaction for AC was pure love while it wasn't for you and others. I know people that dislike BioShock, others that dislike Halo3 (Myself included), others that dislike Uncharted and others that dislike AC.
The really good and classic works of music, movies, books and such are the same. A true work of art doesn't have to appeal to everyone and even different masterpieces of art shouldn't appeal to same groups. That's the beauty of Uncharted, AC, BioShock and ME.

UPDATE:
Peace and Cheers :)

[Danja]

I would give Assassins Creed a 3.5/5..it has a good story..with some cool gameplay mechanics..but the it has zero replayability...the game has a few freaking annoying bugs..A.I isn't that good as they should be in games like this..and the Ending Sucked Ass...left me feeing like I wasted 15hrs..

But I wouldn't discourage anyone from getting this game...judge it for yourselves...you may actually enjoy it..I did until the dumbass ending..!

[MK_Red]

Danja my friend, we and my other friend are exactly examples of those different opinions.
You, me and my other friend all are kinda PS3 fans. I'm absolutly in love with AC and think all of it's aspects (Story, Gameplay, Graphics, Autdio and Replay value) are great and only problems are the bugs.
You think it has good story but little appeal and many problems.
My other friend thinks it looks good and has great replay value but TERRIBLE story!!!
Just like IGN, GameSpot and 1UP. IGN said the story was problemic, 1UP didn't like AC's story and GameSpot considered AC's story a great one and even gave it a medal!

[hellraiser501]

I thought it was another good review over all. It's still just a rent for me because of the lasting appeal and no multiplayer mode, and no I havent played the game yet.

[znu]

i found three major problems with this game
1, Too much repitition(tasks too easy or hard and same tasks over and over.)
2, Not enough replayability(hated those flags and who exactly would i run everywhere to kill templars)
3, This one is a certain personal opinion, i found the game too grayscaleish, i mean i know its in medevil ages and all but when i turn the game on and see lack of vibrant colours, itkinda annoys me,the game may be great but theres that feeling of lack of colour

Besides from that the game is amazing not a perfect but probably a 3/5, its got its ups and down but it does not suck or own.

But hey everyones got a different opinion,it either ok, sucks or owns!!!!

[antoinetm]

Guys, whats ur input on the AI in this game.

Because as amazing as the gfx can be, if the game poses no challenge then its not worth playing more than 1 hour. (the boredom would kick in quite fast)

I think that in the kind of games that ACreed claims to be a part of, the most important thing is the AI. And so far the video reviews have shown some horrible things :o
(especially the Gametrailers review)

[1ben2]

The AI wasnt a problem to me, i really didnt mind because i was having fun with the combos and the killing, it wasnt what i would have called an issue really...more important things to me were issues. But thats just my opinion, see above.

[Danja]

The A.I at the begining of the game was OK..but when I aquired Counter Kill...all I had to do was wait for them to make a move and press the counter button.. BAM ..there dead..no challenge...and even when I kill a civilian all I have to do is go in blend mode and the gaurds won't notice me...not to mention that the last fight in the game wasn't even a challenge all I had to do was knock the guy to the ground and perform an execution...the game was too easy...and reptitive..im really dissapointed in it..but lets hope they get AC2 right..im kinda curious about Desmonds future since he is now an...ahh hem..I won't Say..lol...and what role Lucy plays in the game...!!

[solar]

hey guys...stop arguing! Gamespot told us good AI hinders gameplay. duh!! read their uncharted review. :D (loves to ruffle feathers)

[leon76]

Fact: bought the game last thursday...play 3 hours...friday 3 hours...saturday 2.30 hours...sunday 3.30 hours....no freeze screens, no crash games, no repetitive play...
So who am I?:
1. the luckiest guy ever, won the lottery 3 times...
2. a normal guy, that doesn't believe anymore at what SOME people say in this site... ( and really wants to win the lottery ).

[1ben2]

ok first of all, to get this out of the way:

No freeze screens, no crash games <- that depends on the people, some did others didnt...read about UBISOFT; they will patch it, they said it, when ? thats another issue. I didnt have any problems with the game crashing or freezing either myself.

No repetitive play <- really?
so either we are not talking about the same game (?) so you didnt have to kill 9 guys, and it wasnt the same pattern/way every time?, go talk to the bureau go on a viewpoint etc etc 9 times. I must agree playing 2-3 hours at a time is probably best for this game...it makes you forget what you did last time you played = the same thing as the time before. /sigh

good luck on the lottery though :P

Cheers

[leon76]

Well depends of everybody's tastes...there are a lot of another games that are repetitive (and some are ones of the best games ever), and depends that what you mean about repetitive, and i thought, even i must to do the same thing, the way you did it could be diferent of the other times, don't you agree, the situations seemed to me to be different... i understand your view, but sorry, i liked the game!