MaximumPC 2008 06

IN THE LAB^

REVIEWS OF THE LATEST HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE

T

he death-defying urban acrobatics of free
running—seen recently on the big screen
in the Casino Royale remake, The Bourne
Ultimatum , and Live Free or Die Hard —are
replicated to great eff ect in Assassin’s Creed,
an action-adventure console port that puts you
in the nimble shoes of a 12th-century assassin.
Light feet and tremendous upper-body strength,
rather than overwhelming fi repower, are your
greatest assets as you scale walls and barrel
across rooft ops in one of the most refreshing
games we’ve played.
As the assassin Altair, you are charged
with executing nine high-profi le targets spread
across three Middle Eastern metropolises.
Hunting down these ruthless slave traders and
hedonistic rulers is no easy task—you must
fi rst complete a series of mini-quests to acquire
information about your target. Eavesdropping
and pick-pocketing missions test your patience
and ability to blend into dense crowds, while
eliminating tower guards and racing across
rooft ops challenge your ability to vault across
the tops of cities with fi nesse.

We were en-

tranced by the free-

running aspect of

the game and spent

hours exploring the

highly detailed open

world. Climbing the

tallest peaks of each

city let us survey

breathtaking vistas—gorgeous visuals justify the

game’s high system requirements. Mouse and

keyboard control let us deft ly navigate the world

with ease, but we found the gamepad to be more

intuitive when complicated sword fi ghting was

required. The story—an unraveling conspiracy—

featured enough twists to keep us interested but

became secondary to the unrelenting action.

It’s not oft en that we come across a

game that not only introduces revolutionary

gameplay mechanics but does so without

compromising a sense of fun. Assassin’s

Creed does for action-platformers what

Grand Theft Auto III did for driving games—

infuses a wondrous sense of exploration and

open-endedness into the genre. We can’t help

but admire its ambitious design and adore its

killer execution. - N O R M A N C H A N

Assassin’s Creed

All hail the honorable hit man

+ -

VERDICT

$50, http://www.assassinscreed.com, ESRB: M

9

The massive open

world is a joy to

explore.

Side missions

repetitive. High

system requirements.

FREE RUN

ASSASSIN’S CREED

FACE PLANT

Even eight-on-one fi ghts aren’t dire if you perfectly time your counterattacks.