Assassins Creed Daily: 5

Here Comes The Choo Choo Train!
Today was all about making up for lost time and covering ground. The pressure to get the review finished this week is purely internal but necessary. I managed to tackle two missions this session and unless I am wrong there are only two missions to go before I can retire this game for good. There have been good times and bad times, today's escapade was no different. A mixed bag for a game many consider to be a modern classic.

Altair better not get caught climbing this dome or he will have big problems with the faithful

Just Gimmie A Gimmie
The escort mission has to be the easiest mission type available it's the first time I have played one of these but it's a cakewalk. All you have to do is walk through the city and womp every guard you come across. This is something I have been doing since day one, but for those who enjoy stealth it may be a challenge. Combat before gaining ranks was relatively easy now with most of my equipment and tactics unlocks I am a whirlwind of death!

Just a quick slice through the light armor then breast bone and his goose is cooked!

The Exhiliration Of High Alert
Theres something exciting about taking out an assassination target and then fleeing from dozens of armed guards. The church bells of the city start ringing and everyone is on high alert looking to capture Altair. The panic is real as you are forced to leap from roof to roof in search of a safe hiding spot. In the later missions it's not as easy as before to get away, fear of having to repeat the mission is enough inspiration to make sure an escape route is always at hand.

This view from the harbor tower lets me know my ass is toast, no easy way out of this one!

Those Damn Cut Scenes Aint All Bad
Initially I was put off by the cut scenes. This is something that seems to be more of an issue with the type of game Creed is rather than a fault. Console games by default try to be one part good television and one part good gaming. The work of artistry as a whole is what developers would like us to consider. PC gaming on the other hand is usually fast paced with constant interaction. Though I still feel there should be a way to skip them completely since there are redundant systems in place to get mission objectives, sitting through cutscenes does not seem necessary.

I know your an evil bastard please explain why before you die, I care and I have time to share!

Dissapointing Cinematics But Interesting Story
The Story Is Interesting Despite my constant complaints about the quality of the cinematics. The opening movie at the start of the game just makes you wan't to see more of them. But the plot never the less is starting to grow on me. Secret societies battling it out to control the world is not a new concept. However, If you are a casual conspiracy theorist the theme while certainly draw you in.

Best Trained Horses Ever!
Nothing beats a horse that following you around in case you need a quick escape. Except perhaps a horse which follows you around biting your enemies. The later is not to be found in Creed but your obedient steed tags along wherever you go. Which is good because there is often trouble in the Holy Land. Horses are exceedingly difficult to fight from and foes from the ground are excellent at knocking you off from them. Plus you cant ride a pony in the city, it's forbidden by ordinance A-115687 (OK that's not the reason but it might as well be!)

Altair keeps apples and carrots under his tunic to insure his horse stays close at all times.

Someone Alert The Guards They Suck
Before entering the city I killed dozens of soldiers on the way here, unfortunately word hasnt got back to the guards in the courtyard. These safe zones provide for what I consider an exceedingly easy gameplay. Unfortunately there is no difficulty modifier, however there are several options to improve the appearance of the game itself. At a certain point the skills to take down the entire town guard are heaped upon Altair. The kills are easy but the combos provide for some good looking camera angles. Graceful slicing and dicing is what follows and the bodies hit the floor in great numbers.

These guards look relatively calm considering I just slaughtered a dozen men outside

Pesky Archers
During the later parts of the game the cities are getting wise to my ill intentions. Sentries now line the roofs of the cities buildings. These guys can do anything from knock you off of buildings to attempting swordplay. All are easily dispatched with using stealth kills. Throwing knives are of particularly good effect as well. As a rule of thumb kill them on site! You just don't want those pricks in the way when it's time to run for it!

What this man needs is a concealed dagger lodged through his throat and thorough bleeding!

The Great Race
Another new information gathering mission was unlocked today, racing from roof to roof killing sentries and catching up with an informer at a designated point without alerting the guards. This mission was enjoyable it's a beat the clock silent assassination quest. Nothing too hard for someone that's logged as many hours into the game as I have.

Stealth Pays But It's Tedious
One of the things you don't want to do as an assassin is to attract attention. The benefit of being undetected relates directly to how fast the game progresses. Some people will want to avoid fighting the entire town garrison others will want to jump in head first and make them bleed. However if you stick to only killing your designated targets the game becomes a bit less interesting. The real joy of creed is in watching the fighting sequences unfold and beating the crap out of a bunch of toy soldiers.

That's a big can opener in Altair's hand and hes got plenty of metal clad men to slice into!

Water Instadeath
The lowest low point of the game has to be the insteadeath from water. Certainly this man wearing light armor and light equipment could easily swim enough to save his life. However if he even falls into the city fountain he is a dead man, what's worse is that it's not a bug "it's a feature."

Altair cant swim if he puts even one pinky toe into this shallow pool he will literally drown to death!

No YMCA In Acre?
For some reason Altair never quite took to water. Perhaps there was no YMCA for him to attend youth swimming seminars. But for whatever reason the only way he can cross any amount of water is if there are stable platforms for him to leap from. For a moment it's as if your playing Super Mario brothers jumping from those platforms in the sky. The Acre assassination mission plays out like this and it's annoying. For such a quirk to be masqueraded as a feature is an imaginative way to gloss over a glaring game flaw. Altair practically flies for goodness sakes!

Come to think of it I don't think Mario can swim either?!