Assassin's Creed

Desmond Miles suddenly found himself becoming the specimen for a search of the Pieces of Eden. Abstergo Corporation is using Desmond's genetic memories to reveal what had happened to his ancestor Altair ibn La-Ahad. Altair is a member of the Secret Order of Hashshashin. Looking at his genetic memories was made possible by the use of the machine called Animus. Desmond was taken back to the time of the Third Crusade and takes control of the actions and memories of Altair. Assassin's Creed is a game that will teach you how to master the art of killing.

The first scenes show that Altair was trying to stop Robert de Sable from taking an artifact known as a Piece of Eden. But in doing so, he broke the rules and even put his comrade Malik in danger. Altair was stripped of rank by the leader Al Mualim. He now has to complete nine assassinations in order to get back everything he has lost.  In time he learns that there is a tension between the Assassins and the Knight Templars and that his missions involved eliminating nine of them.

He learns with each assassination that his targets were all looking for the same artifact that Robert has tried to steal. He doesn't know what the nature of the items are however, and Al Mualim only tells him that the men have to be stopped. Altair has to travel through the Kingdom to reach one of the three cities, Acre, Damascus and Jerusalem, to reach his targets. He also has to report to the headquarters in Masyaf from time to time.

When he finally came face to face with Robert once again, it was revealed to him that Al Mualim is just like the nine people he has assassinated -- a Templar. He hurries back to Masyaf only to find that the residents are already under Al Mualim's control using a Piece of Eden. He found Malik and a few other assassins who are not yet under the influence of the artifact. They held off other attacks while Altair went looking for his master.

After beating Al Mualim and seeing the artifact for the first time, Altair finds that he could not destroy the Piece of Eden. As he stared at it, he sees a projection of the Earth with dots indicating the locations of the remaining Pieces of Eden. Then Desmond was brought back to the present. 

Abstergo will use this knowledge to find the remaining pieces. Desmond now knows that Abstergo is composed of Templars. And that they will use the items to control people and to stop the end of the world.

***

I like this game because of several references to history. It is something I've never played before too. I like the intelligence gathering missions because I can actually learn more about the story, the city and the person I'm about to assassinate. In this game, you have to eavesdrop, pickpocket, interrogate, save citizens, kill Templars and collect flags before you can eliminate the target.

Walking through streets surrounded by different people and avoiding suspicion was something I enjoyed as well. It also becomes a bit more tricky when attempting later assassinations. The drunks and mentally-challenged people and even the beggars are annoying but that makes things more interesting.  It is like a combination of Prince of Persia and Grand Theft Auto. I can do whatever I want (if it is available) and whenever I want to. I can climb walls and run around the city unseen through roofs. I spent a lot of time looking around in the Kingdom while looking for vantage points and Templars. 

I think hiding in the haystacks and rooftop gardens is clever and funny way when trying to lower the alert level of guards. What are those little rooftop gardens for anyway?

Another thing I have noticed is that the horse-riding experience is almost realistic. You can feel the horse's responses when you're steering or jumping. The timing of its movements look quite real.

Altair doesn't have an accent like the other characters though and it's weird. But overall it's a great game. It's easy to play and the story isn't a typical save-the-world plot although I admit it is too ambitious. I'll give it a 9 out of 10 rating.