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Today is a day to die (A fictional description taken from a playable scene in the game).
A warm dusty breeze filled with the stench of stale sweat, caresses your face as you observe an amassed swarm, an angry shouting crowd of spectators, who with a passion are raising their arms in defiance of an armed legion. These soldiers look like they are struggling, as if battling against a tirade of stormy water are outnumbered, yet an oppressive glint of an intense Sun reflects off the sharp points on their spears and swords; even though these armed men sway too and fro, being pushed and retaliating back against the oncoming hive of physical activity. It's noisy, there is commotion, yet in your mind it is calm and serene despite the fact that your heart races far too slowly for a man who is about to risk his own life for the sake of many others.
A bead of sweat cascades down your face as the undulating heat tries to dampen and tear away at your composure, like a caged animal caught in a trap with the only intent being of escape. Scratching at your clothes, the Sun's scorching heat could never stir an emotion within you no matter how hard it tried, as today was someone else's day to experience the pain and degradation of a dry and sombre death. At this time there could never be a person as steadfast and at ease than you are, and with your eyes carefully perusing the surrounding courtyard locale with out so much as a minute movement from your head, you are suddenly thrust to one side. A middle aged man, tired and red faced launches past you towards the crowd, impervious to the opposition of your solid frame. You catch a slight glimpse of his anguish as the lines on his face tell a tale of a thousand horrors that interest you not at this moment. Unstirred and not perplexed by the actions of the crowd, your observation seems like an eternity in time and space as calculations revolve around your consciousness.
Before you, lies cold hardened stone walls which ricochet the sound as it reverberates and fills the air with a deathly charm. A raised platform with three men tied to wooden stakes can be seen, the faces of the men are solemn and defiant as their fate of an eternal doom immanently towers over them with out stretched boney fingers. These men are to be punished, and yet their crimes are of no concern as your senses are stimulated further by the arrival of an emir dressed in blue on the platform.
The intensity of anger grows within the madness that surrounds the heaving crowd, like a swelling caused by a blow to the face from a weighty solid object. There is a roar as loud as the torment of lightning from the most raging of storms as the emir steps onto the raised platform before the amassed crowd.
An archer placed high above the ensuing torment on one of the neighbouring buildings shifts position slightly, his eyes transfixed and prepped for anyone that moves abruptly towards this important looking robed figure, although you can tell instantly that the midday heat is tearing away at his composure, draining his ability to focus.
The emir starts shouting, reeling off words that have little effect on you, but drive the angry mob into an even greater frenzy. Their jeers echo around the courtyard with an undying passion, unmatched by his solitary voice.
Today someone is going to die, and the men tied to those dry wooden stakes are going to be the first to taste the quashing of life. As the emir continues his relentless speech unawares of your presence, you move calmly, unemotionally to the far side of the swarm, the cluttered misguided people. Your hooded robe covers the vast majority of your face and conceals you under the facade of innocence as you push past the few men and women who unintentionally block your pathway of redemption and truth. It is time, and is the moment you have been purposely waiting for. The moment your heart has been steadily pumping the adrenaline fuelled blood through your veins for.
With a swift movement to one of the shadowed side streets beneath the archer, all attention is focused on the platform as the emir draws a curved sword from its blood stained sheath. The sound of metal against leather somehow manages to penetrate the din of the aural insanity that fills the gloomy courtyard. The crowd's cries progressively bombard your ears, although in your mind the audience here are all mute as if their lips are sewn together with steel wire. The emir shouts his words of authority and brainwashing, giving you opportunity to climb up on to one of the old and crumbling buildings over-looking the courtyard unnoticed. Your hands feel no pain as you grip the loose but solid stone. Fragments and debris crumble and make their decent to the hard sandy ground below you. For a moment, your mind wanders as it contemplates the loss of a finger from times past, reminded as the tendons try to move something that is no longer a part of your left hand. It's a fragmentation from your vice like grip and one that you have become accustomed to. The loss of your digit remains a symbol, and a meaningful departure from the rest of your body, an embodiment of your commitment to the task that you have sworn to accomplish .
The emir eerily grins, his mouth almost foaming like a rabid wild beast as he raises the curved sword above his bearded head and forcefully slashes open the stomach of one of the tied men, whose torment is finally over. It's an indication that the emir is no stranger to this kind of brutality, especially as he remains composed, wiping the splattering of crimson blood from his sweat covered brow; although his white turban absorbs the splashes like a sponge. It is also an indication that the emir's blade is as sharp as they come and has been the purveyor of many deaths. The victim's intestines and stomach lie exposed to the heat of the sun, and glisten before deepening with the dark soul of flowing blood. Another swipe from the bloodied sword, lops off the man's head before he has time to cry out in pain, and yet almost comically, the emir struggles slightly to free the deadly weapon embedded into the stained wooden stake that holds the now slumped and lifeless decapitated man upright. You can feel the fear from the other two men who can do nothing but accept that their turn is next. The crowd are ecstatic as blood gushes from open wounds, and yet their frenzy of sound remains distant as you place your right hand over the mouth of the archer, who remained unawares of your movement behind him due to his fixation on the horrors below. You feel his warm breath through your fingers and before he is fully aware, your left hand clasps his neck. He struggles for a moment like an insect caught in strong breeze, as you carefully place him onto the ground, as if putting a slumbered young child to bed. The archer is dead, and as a trickle of blood oozes from a tiny but deep incision in his neck, you are free to continue your journey into the raging lion's den that awaits.
From your vantage point you have a clear view of the emir, today it's this commander's turn to die, today it's time to put an end to his tyranny, his evil and his govern. He is your target and your orders are without question. Today his assassination will mark the beginning of the end and the beginning of a means to answer so many unquestionable truths, lies and deceit. It is time to act as it is time to fulfil your destiny. It is time to become the masterful assassin, it is time to accomplish the kill.
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Last month I visited Ubisoft's offices to have some hands on time with the forthcoming Assassin's Creed. The game's Creative Director Patrice Desilets alongside Art Animation Director and Level Designer Director (Alex and David) were on hand to give us a glimpse of some of the features in the game. What is more I was able to sit down for quite some time (on comfy extra large bean bags) to have an extensive play of an almost complete build of the game.
About Assassin's Creed:
Assassin's Creed is a new intellectual property that is being developed by Ubisoft Montreal and is one of this year's most anticipated games. The setting is 1191 AD during the Third Crusade and features a character called Altair, who as the name of the game implies is an Assassin. The details surrounding the character are rather sketchy as there is more than meets the eye. What is known about Altair is that he is a master assassin from the original clan of assassins. As part of the Assassins guild, Altair is tasked with killing 9 leaders who are behind the crusade and who are ultimately causing much misery for the inhabitants of the lands. There are two opposing forces and as an independant, Altair has no affiliation with either of them. However as a side note, each person might be somewhat evil but their motives are only deemed evil depending on which side of the fence you are, so to speak. Altair is working under orders to kill these guys, almost like a grunt doing the work without question. Obviously there is a higher order, a behind the scenes group that pulls the strings and by playing the game and uncovering the story, gamers will undoubtedly uncover the truths held within.
It has been widely speculated that the game is actually a simulation rather than real time and once you begin playing the game this is ever so obvious. Perhaps the intro to the full game will reveal more of this? We do know that by killing the targets in the game, they reveal a wider conspiracy which has implications for our modern times. It has been speculated that you are not necessarily going to be Altair but one of his relatives from the future, perhaps a modern day assassin looking back at how his forefathers operated via Virtual Reality which is a key to unlocking the conspiracy that occurs in the modern day time frame? There is a huge mystery surrounding this possible scenario but I can say that when you play the game there are things that certainly hint to this theory such as the map, heads up display and various symbols and text when you die. There are even indicators when you highlight people which seem somewhat out of place for a character in the 12th century - although they are useful gameplay devices.
The Great Kingdom
Assassin's Creed is set in one large kingdom that contains 3 major cities which have been accurately recreated for the game. The cites include Jerusalem, Acre and Damascus, with each featuring 3 districts complete with inhabitants and even a social class system within each district. So for example, in the poorer areas you might come across beggars who will try and harass you for some spare change and obviously draw attention to you, especially if you are less than favourable with their actions i.e by drawing your sword which makes them back off.
Players are encouraged to explore and one of the main gameplay features is the fact that Altair can go anywhere within the cities. This is handled by Altair being rather a nimble chap which means he can scale buildings for a better view of the surrounding area. Scaling buildings is very easy as there are two buttons that need to be held down which allow Altair to perform these moves without you having to manually do it. Holding the right trigger and one of the face buttons will enter a high profile type mode which allows Altair to perform the climbing, jumping and more flamboyant moves. It's here where players have to be careful to remain stealthy as guards and peoples vision extends further than just at ground level.
There are actual high points within the cities that Altair can climb which give him a greater view and also uncovers more of the map (areas are fogged when you haven't visited them) which is accessed via the pause screen - although there is a smaller mini map on screen as well. The map shows soldier locations as well as other places of interest, such as hiding points and of course the locale of your main objectives (I think there will be an achievement for activating all of these high points in the game). Within each city there are around 150 flags which can be collected (similar to the orbs seen in the recent Crackdown). The flags not only offer acheivements for finding them all (some are more well hidden than others) but act as save points as well.
Between each city there are more open lands to travel and these are quite large and require the use of a horse. Luckily there are plenty of these for you to steal and unfortunately, there are penalties for stealing them should you be spotted by any nearby guards. Riding on horseback is a great way of getting around, although once you get to the city you'll have to dismount. The open lands surrounding the cities are populated with various smaller settlements and of course there are people who will either pose a threat or are just wandering around. Altair can attack foes on horseback which is bonus, but as Patrice pointed out, the game isn't really a killing simulator and so stealth is more paramount to success. On horseback you can actually draw unnecessary attention to yourself if you are galloping compared to simply trotting along at a relaxed pace. Again, galloping is handled by holding down the right trigger to enable the high profile moves. For kicks, you can actually kill people by riding into them at speed! Killing innocents does have its penalty because if you kill 3 innocents within 30 seconds you automatically die and have to resume play from the last check point (again this harks back to the whole simulation undertone the game has).
The Art of Stealth
Assassin's Creed offers a sandbox type environment where you can go wherever you please - although some story based areas are blocked off by visible walls. The general idea of the game and assuming the role of an assassin is to be as stealthy as possible; although players will have to encounter some scripted fight sequences at times, but can decide to start fights at random if they choose. With Altair's ability to climb buildings for an overview of the area around him is a huge bonus and the GPS map system is also a useful tool for when you are planning your attacks on the main objectives. You can set way points to objectives on the map and the GPS mini map shows the distance you are from them.
Stealth is interesting in Assassin's Creed and comes in two forms. Considering the world is not shrouded in darkness means that Altair is visible at all times when wandering the streets or climbing up buildings. The onus isn't neccesarily on hiding in the shadows but like the Hitman games, being in the open and simply blending in with your environment. Altair can remain unseen if you are careful enough by climbing and utilizing the rooftops rather than walking the crowded streets and perhaps this is a good way to find a way to your main target, who is usually well protected by guards. The game's population have been placed to basically annoy you and make your job of blending in as difficult as possible and there is also a random element to these people as well. Wandering the streets there are people going about their business, but because there are so many of them, you can't just run through them with out drawing unnecessary attension to yourself. At one point I was walking through the streets and encountered some people carrying clay pots on their heads (as you do). Moving past these guys at speed made them lose their grip and drop the pots, causing them to break. This then caused a commotion which made several guards in the local vicinity investigate. Luckily you can control your movement speed by holding one of the context sensitive buttons which allow you to blend in more easily. Altair can even sit on benches to take a breather if you so choose, which is a nice touch and a possible means of waiting until things calm down a little. On a side note, there are troublemakers placed near main objectives and throughout the cities and these guys will actually pick a fight with you regardless of you stealth status. Again, getting into an unnecessary fight close to one of the main targets is not wise as guards will come and investigate and potentially join in the fray.
Killing guards stealthily is satisfying and pretty challenging, considering there is usually an eye on you from somewhere - including various archers who patrol the rooftops. The game handles how you are seen by others with an on screen symbol which changes colour depending on your social status. Green/white is neutral, yellow means you are seen or someone is suspicious of you and red, you are busted and guards are giving chase. In red status you can try and run away to hide ( there are various hiding spots marked on the map but you have to enter these without being seen) but in the build I played this was very difficult indeed, especially without knowledge of the area I was in. I basically tried to outrun guards but the game's system is such that if you run through one area with guards in tow, others will join the chase as you move through the city. Eventually you could potentially have huge numbers of pursuers after you with little means of escape and the only option to engage in combat. I found this a great feature yet at the same time a little unforgiving but was told this needed fine tuning for the final game. There are places where you can run and hide and also if you are up high, there are various spots where you can perform a leap of faith into a straw laden cart below. These points are indicated by birds and so if you have a ton of guards all vying for your blood you can run and jump off a building for a safe landing. Jumping off tall structures isn't healthy especially if there isn't any straw for a soft landing, so keeping an eye out for these birds is paramount to your survival when being chased by guards who also can climb up onto rooftops. Interestingly you can push guards off the rooftops although this is hardly an act of stealth if there are crowds of people below; great for comedy value, not so great on your health!
Perfoming stealth kills means you need to be in the correct position behind the target, although you can run up to someone and stealth kill them from the front. This is pretty hard to do as there is a small window of opportunity and if you are too slow the person will actually counter you and then raise the alarm. Again, the context sensitive controls inform you when you can perform a stealth kill, although once you are used to the game mechanics it does become second nature. What is neat is the fact that if you do stealth kill a guard, the people will react to the dead body and guards will investigate. In fact I found it not wise to stick around as guards can get very suspicious of you hanging around a dead body - like they would anyone else. Sure, Altair doesn't have a huge neon sign above his head which flashes "Assassin is here" but you get the point that you have to use some common sense.
The Art of Combat
Assassin's Creed features a comprehensive combat system once the poop hits the fan and Altair is no longer viewed as a normal citizen. As mentioned earlier, there are some scripted moments where combat can't be avoided. In one instance I was close to one of the main targets who was surrounded by guards protecting him from crowds of onlookers as he was giving a speech before performing a public execution. This was partially handled via a cut scene, but like Splinter Cell Double Agent, these are interactive; so in this case I was able to move freely around the crowd of people. It was here that the open nature of the game came into effect. Sure I could charge right in and try and take down the target or I could try and find a more subtle approach. Naturally, I tried to sneak close to him but in this case the sheer number of guards surrounding him got the better of me and so a huge fight ensued. Once you are engaged in combat it's quite hard to escape as I mentioned earlier because as you run more guards are going join in the fray. If you are clever though you can actually lead the guards to somewhere quieter and start your offensive moves there. Going back to the stealth element, it is possible to kill the tactical guards around the city as these won't respawn once killed; however there are other guards that will respawn if you wipe them out. The benefit of killing the tactical guards is the fact that it potentially can make your job easier.
Fighting is actually really satisfying although somewhat simplistic. You can enter a defensive stance (holding Right Trigger) which allows you to perform one touch counter attacks, which I found to be the best option. Your blocking is automatic in this stance although guards will attempt to grab you to break this. Countering requires pushing the X button just as an incoming attack strikes you and often results in flooring your opponent or if you are skilled allowing you to perform a one hit killing strike - the camera pans around in a cinematic manner when you are successful here. Attacking is simply a case of pushing a button and finding an opening in your opponents defense; you can also perform grabs of your own for those troublesome defensive opponents. What is good is the fact that you can attack any of the guards that surround you by facing them and means you should be able to fend off attackers from all sides. When you are hit your health bar depletes as you would expect, however it will replenish if you are not in combat. What is also useful is being able to use the interactive environments to aid you during battle which can be great for escaping (we've seen this in one of the trailers). However during my play time I didn't explore this element much and was too busy either fighting hard or just trying to find somewhere to hide. Hopefully the full game will make it much easier to find these interactive spots.
Using the d-pad cycles through Altair's weapons of which he has his hidden blade, sword and throwing knives and can use his fists (of which guards may ignore you fighting as no weapons are drawn). These are the only weapons you can wield as you cannot disarm guards and use their weapons. Altair can upgrade his combative skills although this is more subtle such as increasing his carrying capacity of throwing knives as an example.
I really liked the combat which remained tense and cinematic and even against unremarkable odds, it was possible to come out of encounters with multiple foes victorious. I think for players looking for more action this is going to be an impressive feature.
The Mission
Assassin's Creed features 9 main story based targets to kill, however each target has three stages. Firstly the Assassins Guild tasks you to find out information about the target, which means you have to find a specific person and either eavesdrop on a conversation or pickpocket a document from them. Using Altair's special Eagle vision people of interest are highlighted and so makes your job a lot easier rather than having to randomly search for the correct person. The pickpocketing itself is fairly challenging and requires you to lock onto the target using the Left Trigger (pressed once) and then moving behind them at the right distance before performing the steal. Again, people and guards can hamper this and so timing is crucial. The lock on feature is actually how these sub missions are activated and so the person you need to pickpocket won't actually be active until you do so. Once you have the required information you then have to return to the guild and present them your findings. From what I played, it wasn't a case of just getting one lot of info either, as there were several people that I needed to gather info from. The next stage is killing the target, which can be approached in whatever manner you please (stealth or action). Once the target is killed you enter a strange zone where the world seemingly freezes as your target's dying words tell more of the story before they enter their eternal slumber. The final stage is basically escaping and returning to the Assassins Guild to inform them that you have completed your task. It is here that things can get a little hectic, depending on how you carried out your mission and who is helping you or not. If you are being pursued the Guild doors remain firmly shut, so you can't simply try and out run your pursuers. As I said earlier there's a certain level of prep work you can do to make life easier (killing rooftop archers is a good place to start) and again these are things that are optional rather than forced. The free running element comes into play here as you either run away via climbing up onto the rooftops although you can merely try and blend into your environment, to let things cool down before walking away casually.
Aside from embarking on the 9 main targets there are going to be a number of side missions (around 100). Completing these can gain you many things including help from the people on the street. In one instance I saw a woman who was being harassed by three guards; by locking onto her I was then able to activate this side mission which meant killing the guards. By doing so, she was free and her group offered me their assistance - (I'm not sure whether killing people in this group would have a negative effect or not). The next time I got into a fray with some guards random people started attacking the guards also and thus allowed me valuable time to make my swift escape. These side missions are optional and I was informed that they do make Altair's job a little easier; considering there is no level of difficulty in the game, the replay value lies not only in how you tackle targets, but also by increasing the difficulty for yourself by ignoring these side missions.
I was told that the game isn't going to be easily completed in few hours and that one of the testers was able to finish the game in around 20 hours (he knew what he was doing). Playing the game for the first time, players can expect an experience way in excess of this and if you are an achievement hunter then add many more hours.
An Amazing Game?
I sat in Ubisoft's offices surrounded by other journalists who were also invited to see and play the game, yet at one point I was alone and engrossed in the on screen action as the world around me carried on regardless. Before I knew it, the room was entirely empty and it was time to be ushered out, much to my annoyance as I could have easily sat there all night playing the game.
Assassin's Creed is an amazing game and not only does it look excellent, it plays very well indeed. The stealth is captured well and the combat is fluid and intuitive despite its simplicity. I think gamers will need to spend a good half hour just getting to grips with the game mechanics before attempting to tackle the main story element proper and I can see myself spending hours upon hours merely exploring and interacting with the crowds and other features. Assassin's Creed is using a brand new game engine and I was told the team would be utilizing this potentially for other games. Perhaps we'll see more games in this series or other development teams could use it for similar titles. I think the biggest step forward with this engine will be the ability to experience it with more than one player in a similar manner to Crackdown. This won't be a feature in Assassin's Creed but it was obvious talking to the developers that it's something they would certainly be considering for future titles.
I think Assassin's Creed is going to be a hugely popular title and one that is played and talked about for quite some time. It's a new intellectual property and one that has obviously had a lot of passion and love poured into it. The game is due out on November the 16th 2007 and is quite simply a game you should be very excited about, as I certainly was prior to playing and moreso after hours of playtime. An amazing game, even in this early form.
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