Assassin's Creed - Xbox 360

I'm not normally a fan of stealth action or platform games - Assassin's Creed wasn't on my shopping list until Gabe at Penny Arcade convinced me otherwise.

It is a truly beautiful game. The first sight of Damascus is breathtaking. Player character animation is fluid and graceful. Climbing (one of the key mechanics) is simple to control but still a joy to behold. Horse riding is also well implemented. However combat from the saddle is generally short lived (is there a market here? Sparhawk anyone?).

For me, most scenarios degenerated into sword-fights. Admittedly by "degenerate", I mean morph into beautifully choreographed, visceral steel-play - and I prefer the direct approach anyway. Knife fights can be *very* satisfying, especially on rooftops. :-) [The one-context-sensitive-button approach bugs some players, see below].

The futuristic bent on the medieval theme works surprisingly well. It also serves as a useful plot device for fast-forwarding directly to the action. The story fizzles a little at the close of this installment as the sequel directions are left wide open but I was four-armed [sic] and forewarned about that.

The pseudo-interactive cut-scenes also serve their purpose admirably - presuming that purpose is:

• look very pretty.
• provide further (brief) insight into a character who normally doesn't have a long life expectancy.

'Creed is not perfect e.g. making collectible objects (flags) look like graphical glitches isn't a good call unless the game is completely free of graphical glitches. A Crackdown-like aural cue when the player is close to such objects would have been a welcome addition. On the topic of sound, the NPC dialog can be repetitive, especially for tasks should as "Save Citizen". The combat-camera logic can also be a little unhelpful - it would be nice if it put it back where it came after it temporarily wrests control from the player.

On the whole, I'm glad I bought it. Thanks Gabe!

PS This is a big step closer to fulfilling the Quake to Half-Life 2, Crackdown to ???, "prophecy". Maybe the sequel(s) will reach those heady heights. ;-)

PPS Zero Punctuation takes a stab.