Product Reviews

Set in the Holy Land during the Crusades, Assassin's Creed places you in control of Altair, a disgraced assassin who must slay a series of high-profile targets to regain his status. The setting makes a nice change from the usual sci-fi and fantasy offerings, but the plot is bogged down by a lot of tiresome dialogue.

Once the talking stops, the game really comes to life. Altair is among the best animated game characters we've ever seen. He's incredibly agile - scaling walls with ease, bounding from rooftop to rooftop and swan-diving into hay carts from incredible heights.

The

ADVERTISEMENT

four cities are highly detailed, and each has its own character. You must climb the highest towers to gain information important to your mission. The views are jaw-dropping, and you can explore everything you see without experiencing a single loading screen.

Before you can kill each target, you must gather intelligence on their movements and weaknesses. However, these recon missions are limited in scope and variety, despite extra types being added for the PC version. Each mission is of a strictly defined type - pickpocket, eavesdrop, kill rooftop archers - and we quickly tired of the limited selection.

Approaching your prey is more interesting and varied, whether you're scaling the walls of a castle or stealthily boarding a ship. Despite your efforts at subterfuge, though, a swordfight is often inevitable. There's a disappointing lack of imaginative methods, such as poisoning, with which to dispatch your targets.

Despite its failings, it's hard to dislike Assassin's Creed. Altair's free-running grace is addictive, making exploration of his world a joy. Just make sure you have a suitably powerful PC and a decent joypad.