[Editor's note: Justice takes a look at Assassin's Creed and gives us his take on how he would go about improving the series it as part of this month's Monthly Musing. -- CTZ]
I know a lot of people didn't really care for this game and/or didn't enjoy it much at all when they played it. But for some reason, the game appealed to me quite a lot. I enjoyed it the whole way through except for the crappy ending.
However, I did notice a lot of faults in the game (as did many other Dtoiders), and these are the main changes I would make to the game. Hit the jump to read on.
Also please note that the game is the first in a series, and so these changes can be seen from one of two points: how to change the first game, or what to add in the sequel (which is supposedly set in Japan).
Add variation to the landscape
One thing annoying about Assassin's Creed for me was that although the landscape was beautiful, most of the buildings looked the same. I know the buildings may not have been that varied back in old Jerusalem, but surely they were more varied than how the game presents them.
Add night and day effects
The entire game is set in daylight. Not once did I see a hint of sunset, sunrise or night. It never even rains! How on earth do the people go to sleep and not die of thirst! It would be good if night and different times of day were added in to add variation to the game. The buildings would look different in the light and dark too (think GTA IV). Perhaps certain buildings would only be open at certain times in the day.
Add more variation to the missions:
In Assassin's Creed, apart from assassinating people, the player has to gain information on targets through a few different types of missions: eavesdropping, interrogation and pick pocketing. There are also a few other missions such as assassinating a few people for a brother within a time limit and taking out a few people hassling a civilian in the city. It's nice that these were added but it's too much of the same thing. Plus, when you help a civilian out they'll say something like I wish my sons were as great as you or I'll make sure my husband hears of your kind service and repays you kindly. Yet for some reason, this husband never repays the favour, and it doesn't benefit me at all helping these people (unless you're an achievement whore).
How about some missions that actually pay off, like smashing up some bazaar that belongs to an enemy of the brotherhood so that he knows the brotherhood is not to be messed with. Then the main character could be repaid in money or with +5 aggression points or something.
Add more customization
The only thing that you gain throughout the game is more abilities (mainly for fighting) and your weapons back. How about the main character not have superhuman strength that allows him to hang from high places for unlimited amounts of time? Instead, the player gains grip points the more he trains hanging from places. The same goes for his speed and balance based on a points system, rather than having him being able to run at the same speeds the entire time.
The main character (Altair) never really changes throughout the game. How about he has choices in clothes that allow him to blend in with different types of people, rather than getting sweaty since he's in the same clothes the whole time.
Add more weapons
Throughout the game you gain back your weapons, which are: a small knife (perfect for slitting necks), a long sword, throwing knives and your fists (perfect for knuckle sandwiches). This is all well and good but it's not enough variation really. Where is the bow and arrow?! Where is the torch that you can light up that lets you set people on fire?! There could have been so many more weapons.
Change the fighting system
Fighting is pretty damn easy in the game. You can block and punch and all that, but it's easier to just tap the X button (square on a PS3 pad) when someone is about to attack you because it initiates a combo kill. Taking out a group of 20 or more isn't really a problem. The system should be re-worked so that combo kills are harder to execute, and punching and blocking are actually worthwhile.
Let the main character swim
The guy can kill a man with his bare hands, but if he touches water he drowns straight away? That is so Vice City. Give him the ability to swim, and make areas of the levels only reachable by swimming there.
Make free running useful
It's all well and good that if I want to get from point A to point B, I can take a different route every time. Other than that, it hasn't really got much use (except for escaping and reaching look out points). Add some chase missions against free-running thieves that give you a run for your money (C WUT I DID THAR?!) Or chasing a cat to return it to an old woman who pays handsomely.
Change the cover system
To escape pursuers, you usually have to run and hide in some hay, or in these booth atop most buildings without being seen going into them. To me, this isn't very imaginative, especially when you just narrowly manage to get into a booth, followed by your pursuers walking around the top of the building and checking everywhere on that building (the ceiling is flat for goodness sake) EXCEPT THE BOOTH. The only thing on most buildings is the damn booth. Either these guards are the offspring of a cow and a goldfish, or they've fallen from buildings so many times that their only brain cells left only understand one command: hit with sword.
I understand that attempting to keep it fairly historically accurate produces limitations but I still think most of my points could be implemented without changing history too much. What do you think?
Contest:
3:50 PM on 05.20.2008
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I really like the idea of missions that incorporate more free running
It's because I wrote the article in MS Word before pasting it here. Thus the apostrophes in Word and different to the normal apostrophes (which I commonly forget).
I would change it to the normal apostrophes but I can't see where to edit the blog with this new layout (dammit!).
I too enjoyed Assassins Creed up until the shitty ending. in fact, thats the only thing I'd like to add to the list.
SPOILERS
In the end when the doctor and his female assistant just leave the room and they expect you to walk into the bedroom to view the credits I was seriously like WTF?! Altair's ending was weird yet satisfying but the "real world" ending was such a letdown. I was playing, playing, playing then BOOM game over. It hit me like a brick in the face. So my improvement would be to wrap up the OTHER storyline a bit better than they did.
And the hype.
Yeah, it annoyed me how the ending seem to be built specifically to open up for sequels.
@ DynamicSheep
Are you using a mac?
Also agreed with your points. I'd also make it more beneficial to do more of the information gathering missions. You can do 3 of them and jump straight into the assassination and there was no real benefit to doing the others. Also when you get a map of the guard patrol routes, how about showing it to us so we can see where they will go! Maybe by gathering more information you can take out other key individuals and make the target more vulnerable.
Also don't have so blatant cliff hanger endings and get rid of the fucking beggars and lepers!
Yeah, they certainly did that but I hesitate to call Ubisoft out on that because honestly, what game doesn't leave a little room for a sequel. AC definitely took it to another level though.
In addition to more varied missions, there should be a reason (aside from collecting flags) to keep playing after you've beaten the game. Giving players randomly generated peasants to save from guards/brutes would be a nice start, but something more varied would be required to really allow a player to continue to get enjoyment from playing.
Another small element that would help is allowing us to view the tops of the towers in the same cinematic fashion as you would throughout the missions.
Giving at least some of the buildings genuine interiors would also improve replay value in that the game is no longer the same free-running over and over.
Haha kidding, i really liked Assassin's Creed, apart from the ending. Your criticisms are well placed, great write up!
Also, love the pics they made me lol.
Good write up man.
Sure it started out pretty simple, with counter-attacks accounting for 9 out of every 10 of my kills, but it gets pretty deep towards the end. Counters, evading, grappling; it was pretty tough.
Did anyone play both the console and PC version? Did the extra investigative objectives help at all?
NO.
Otherwise, great write up. I too loved AC, but it would definately benefit from the changes you've mentioned.
In my review of the game on Dtoid here I mentioned a lot of what you said but you had some great points, too (especially swimming and extra weapons and such).
My biggest gripes were the weapons and dumb enemy AI. I wish they gave you the ability to kick down ladders from rooftops while people were climbing them and have some humorous enemy chatter. I wanted to strike fear into the hearts of my enemies but no one was ever really scared of me, which they rightfully should of been.
Which brings me to my next point which was that I also found it unrewarding that I, as a master assassin of the highest order, was commonly chased AT A FASTER SPEED by enemy guardsmen THAT COULD SCALE BUILDINGS JUST LIKE ME. Why exactly was I so special if every other random guy on the street could pull off the same moves AND run faster than I could? It just didn't make sense to me.
I sorta wished they made Altair weaker in one-on-one (or ten) combat prowess but made him faster and more agile so as to promote stealth and escape instead of just standing and countering everyone who approached, thusly killing them in a single blow. The whole game is based on a character who is supposed to be some shadowy assassin/ninja type dude and yet the best way to resolve problems was to murder dozens of guards in the middle of broad daylight in the streets. Not so secretive if you ask me.
Something for you to consider when you talked about adding variation to the rooftops. The pic below is a rooftop shot of old Jerusalem, as you can somewhat see the roofs aren't really all that varied, at least in this shot. While some variation might help for navigation sake, I think I still prefer something more accurate in real world terms.
The combat system was lame. Why bother running away from guards when my character can slaughter them by the half-dozen? It was deep enough, I suppose, but I always felt that my character was overpowered. Likewise I always felt like everyone in old Jerusalem (and the other cities) must be complete fucking idiots not to recognize my character after I had just finished killing 5 guards in the street after a long rooftop chase. All that stuff just compounded to ruin the immersion and make the whole experience seem dumb.
Then the game kicks you in the balls at the end by making you wait for AC2 to find out what's really going on.
Also, when you rescue a villager and she says "I'll see that my husband/sons hear about you." Typically that means it generated Vigilantes near her. Presumably her husband. If you're being chased they do repay the favor by blocking guards.
I also don't like the idea of hobo-peasant Altair. I personally like the assassins robes, but I can't really argue the fact that it could use some customization. Altair COULD use a disguise here and there.
On swimming, I don't know. I'd rather exclude water levels entirely. I have a hard time believing that in the middle of the desert the order of assassins has found the time and area to train in the art of swimming. If you MUST include water then I suppose arguably your character should be able to swim, though.
On the weapons. I feel like THIS is where the customization should start. You could pick your own fighting style and advance in it. Maybe you like the sword? Maybe you prefer the dagger? Maybe you're a brutal hand-to-hand expert or a marksman. Each should have its own unique advantages. Perhaps dagger gets combo kill early but loses counter and has lower guard rate. Perhaps hand-to-hand is faster and could disarm and stun at lower levels. I honestly feel like having customizable fighting styles/trees would be awesome. Maybe even advance your eagle vision and gain other super-natural benefits like seeing suitable hiding spots glow red or routes to the target glow green.
All in all, its a good write up. I like some of your changes like day and night but disagree on where the customization should start. Hopefully UBI will do SOMETHING to change the game. I loved Assassins creed but it could've been SO much better.
You make all the right points about changing the game(and, yes, more variety would be nice). But you really didn't like the fighting system? I thought it was a pretty elegant change of pace: counter kills are all about perfect timing, and racking up combos require far more skill than in any number of more repetitive hack and slash games. To me, it seemed like Ubisoft had watched the phenomenal success of the rhythm game genre( Guitar Hero and Rock band are all about rhythm and timing) and applying to a fighting system. Totally out of left field and great.
Perhaps the most interesting possibility for a sequel is the time period it takes place in. The ending of the game(another cliffhanger) doesn't necessarily give the player a good idea where the sequel would take place. It might very well involve a similar free running system of gameplay, now in a future setting.
In which case: Totally on board.
Great Writeup, and grats on Front Page!
Nice write-up though!
Its a shame nobody has mentioned your pictures yet.....
They Be Rockin'
helping shouldnt be just restricted to save them from the soldiers but different things too (i.e Raping, theft). different type of buildings . stealing infos souldnt be only restricted to , stelaing them from the street, also from the owners home or its destination(if it fits the stroy).
different faces would be nice too. more options to disguise (hiding in a garden or balcony, get lost in a crowd in the basaar, and on and on and on)
i liked the fighting system, but the idea with different strenght of weapons is also nice. i have a lot of other ideas , but to tired now.^-^
The archetype was set with Hitman. Freedom is the name of the game and I should have the FREEDOM to assassinate someone anywhere I damn please. Why is it that every hit I make has to end with a brilliantly timely monologue? Sure it advances the story, but the point of being a silent killer is to do so without being noticed/seen/caught.
Hell, if the point was to just take out the main guy in front of the largest audience possible, then why hire the Assassin's Guild? Why not just hire any moron with good aim or a trusty sword?
If there are people out there who actually enjoyed hearing the Assassin boss repeat the same 5 minute speech to you every time you killed someone or the Assassin guy in each city give you the same 5 minute speech, more power to them. But the other 99% of us didn't care. It was some of the worst writing in any video game. Far worse than kiddy stuff or badly translated stuff because this was trying to be serious and intellectual! And the cut scenes in the future? What the hell was the point of those? So I could twiddle my thumbs for 10 minutes before walking to the bed?
Oh yeah, the game itself was maybe a 6/10 at best to begin with. But the cut scenes dragged it down incredibly.
wrong.
I think the ideal direction for Ubisoft to take is drop off their free-running system on Bethesda's doorstep and let them use it to make Elder Scrolls V. Taking the good points from both would result in the greatest game ever.
Also, I disagree on most of your points. The only thing I think would be better is if you AREN'T able to take on entire squads of enemies. First, it looks stupid. Why wouldn't the six guys behind me swarm me? And second, it's really unrealistic in a game that grounds itself in realism.
My MAIN gripe like many others is the repetition. But I felt that (at least in the PC version) the gathering information videos felt fine. The only things that were repetitive were A) The AUDIO and B) The Rewards.
A) The Audio: It's guaranteed that on YOUR FIRST MISSION, you're going to hear civilians repeat the SAME exact lines. Hell, they even had different voice actors record THE SAME LINES. This gets REALLY repetitive and tedious.
The worst IMO is the dude's that are standing around giving speeches. Not the ones that are for the interrogation missions, but just the normal npcs. THEY ALL HAVE THE SAME SPEECH. HOLY SHIT. It's so annoying hearing the same crap over and over again.
Ubisoft, spend a little more time on recording more audio this time. I've been playing GTA4 for two weeks and I can't think of an instance where I've heard the same thing said twice.
B) The Rewards: The rewards for completing assassinations are fine. Those are great. The rewards I despise are the Vigilantes. Seriously, this is your reward for almost every save a citizen. WTF. First off, it's not even useful. Why the hell would I be running when I can just defeat a squad of 30 with my sword? Second, when I AM running away, why would I be running on the streets? I'll be on the rooftops being a badass, jumping from roof to roof.
Personally, I felt the story was too dense and hard to follow, and it felt really contrived. It would have been stronger had they focused more on the themes of stealth, assassinations, and old Jarusalem, and not gone and make it all sci-fi'ish. It took me completely out of the game every time it flashed forward to modern day or the future, whenever that was supposed to be. They should be looking at GTA4 now for a prime example of much better story telling for a open world game. They already have a unique setting and wicked stealth assassination mechanics, they just need to capitalize on those themes for the game's story, and it could be a really memorable story.
I would also like to see more non-linear gameplay elements that capitalize on the sandbox nature of the game (side missions), and some sort of reward system to make it worthwhile (Like money to purchase new tools or weapons, etc..). I enjoyed exploring the cities for flags, but got bored with it after a while because there was no real payoff for doing so (not counting achievements). It would also be cool if there were some good secrets worth exploring the world for. For me, exploring is really fun in games when theres a payoff for doing so. This game was almost begging for a few RPG elements...
Make me press "the feet button" when I'm jumping from something to something.
Make me press "the feet button" repeatedly when I'm trying to run wall up, or even when I'm just trying to run faster (like in GTA IV, for the running bit), not just one more button down.
Make me press "the feet button" (again, I know :( ) when I land a jump/drop to make a roll and keep momentum, if I was running. (like in Mirror's Edge, or so they are saying)
Make me press "the hands button" when I'm trying to catch a ledge.
GIVE ME CHALLENGE!
This kind of game screams for platform game's kind of challenge yet they delivered none of that. Just that automated bullshit.
@jakebattey
Cheers!
The landscape was changed when the swimming was cut.
The extra weapons were shaved off because of the amount of animation required versus time, as well as the the whole pickpocket money + economy thing for extra gear was cut too.
Extra missions had to be cut because they couldn't be code-supported, the programmers already had too much on their plates.
All in all, approximately 15% of what we wanted actually remained in the game. Too much time was spent on basic stuff that comes with developing a new engine and stuff. It's a pretty safe assumption that since this whole back-end stuff has been dealt with already, a sequel would probably re-integrate a lot of the originally-planned, missing stuff and generally be kickass.