-----Assassin's Creed Hype Thread------

[Newport420]

Well I searched the forum for an Assassin's Creed thread and noen came up. So here we go. I preordered the limited edition of this game today at Best Buy. Comes in a standard 360 disc case and details the list of extras in the limited edition which I have included below.

Collectible 3-inch Altair figure
Penny Arcade comics
Mini strategy guide
Bonus Disc with: Assassins-themed short films / Making of Assassin's Creed / Developer Diaries / Trailers / Producer Interviews / Downloads / And more!



Anyway just curious how many others here are planning on picking this game up?

[Hunter]

I am getting this for sure, and I might get the LE just for the figurine.

[NeoZeedeater]

It looks awesome although I don't like how they said they aren't going to make a demo for it.

[Bruhaha69]

I'm hyped. In fact, I think I will preorder to get that art book. Only thing that sucks is I'll have to go to the mall to do it. Then again, I could get it shipped to me online but then have to wait 5 extra days. If it's as cool as the PoP Warrior Within art book, I'll be happy.

[Hunter]

Bru hyped? I'm not sure if that's a good sign or a bad one . . .

[Bruhaha69]

It's a good sign. I have faith in Ubisoft Montreal for this one. I knew I'd like it from the first news, screens and vids they started putting out. Historically, I find the games that get me pumped usually turn out to be great games.....I trust my instincts on games. It'll kick ass.

[The Skies]

I had that thread awhile back for the new trailer, but thats all the talk i've seen about it, i've been in a community site for the game to do stuff for the game. So you hear alot of whats new with the game. Anyways, before joining that, had little interest, after joining that, very interested. :D

[shinjirod]

i have the LE preordered and fully paid, and cant fucking wait.

[The Skies]

Oh! Can I have recept? I'd get alot of points for that! :p

Screen cap works. :p

[DarthArcturus]

I had that thread awhile back for the new trailer, but thats all the talk i've seen about it, i've been in a community site for the game to do stuff for the game. So you hear alot of whats new with the game. Anyways, before joining that, had little interest, after joining that, very interested. :D

and thats the whole point. Owned by ubisoft whoring you into an advertising machine ;)

[lordsnarf]

Oh I am definitely picking this up on day one, a rarity on my part. I've been paying it off slowly over the last month. I had no idea about the LE. I think I want that version, not sure. I have a bad habit of losing all those little extras, but if they all fit in a standard case, minus the figure obviously, maybe.

[Newport420]

I decided to switch my preorder from BB to Gamestop when I realized that EB/Gamestop had the art book as an exclusive.

They didn't have them in hand yesterday but they expect to get the art book sbefore the game arrives. So get to steppin people! :)

[Hunter]

BTW, this just went Gold.

[Bruhaha69]

I'm gonna be way behind on games soon. So many games I've bought and so many left to play. Just got Wartech and Tomb Raider Anniversary for 360 today.

[Newport420]

Wartech won't exactly add a bulk of "play time" to your list. Its more of a fighter and good in quick doses. Don't expect it to suck hours of time.

TR: Legend is still a gam eI want to pick up. I have very fond memories of the first game when I played it on my Saturn. Man that really hurt my finals that year at college! :p

[Bruhaha69]

Yeah, Tomb Raider on Saturn made me a fan. The only main console game in the series that I haven't owned is Last Revelation.

Legend is a bit more graphically impressive than Anniversary, even though it's older. It's looking like they built it (anniversary) on PS2 and just rezzed up the graphics for PC and 360. On Legend, they had all kinds of nice bump mapping and effects.

[Newport420]

The glowing reviews of Legend and its return to the series roots is what has me excited. Well that and its only 29.99! :p

[shinjirod]

Please dont derail this thread. Its for your own safety. Altair might kill you.

[Bruhaha69]

I think I posted that comment in here by accident. Must have been drunk. Anyway, yay for Assassin's Creed

[jp]

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/834/834676p1.html


Ouch...

[shinjirod]

Fuck IGN. Gamespot gave it a 9.

[Frogacuda]

Apparently the embargo agreement for this game was such that only reviews 9.0 and above could be released before launch. Hence the sudden downturn in scores now that it's out.

Shame, I thought it looked great. I will try it when the PC version is out. I can enjoy a flawed game if it does something special.

[shinjirod]

Its PoP on steroids. i know im gonna love it, but people who dont really enjoy PoP should stay far, far away.

[jp]

Fuck IGN. Gamespot gave it a 9.


Well... to be honest, most other places gave it in the 7s.


I don't know. I was on the fence, but when I read these two things:
1. You don't actually control the platforming, you just hold down a button.
2. The gameplay gets repetitive.

Then... that pretty much made me totally not want it...

[Bruhaha69]

They gave Shinobi for PS2 somewhere in the 7's and that game was easily a 9, in my opinion. I'm still looking forward to it......although, I usually like his reviews more than the other IGN editors. I hope I like it more than he does.

[Frogacuda]

Its PoP on steroids.
Doesn't sound like it. It seems like the platforming is very streamlined, and you pretty much make jumps automatically, and it's more of a mission based sandbox structure.

[DarthArcturus]

Too busy playing mass effect :D

I'll ask it for xmas most likely, although the reviews are not sounding as good as I thought. Fuck IGN though

[lordsnarf]

Hearing the reviews of the game recently had lowered this game's status for me from Super-Psyched-Day-One-Purchase to rent-it-first.
I still think it has potential, but there are plenty of other ways to spend 50-60 bucks if this game comes out mediocre or worse.

[Newport420]

Well in a few hours I'll have my copy. I think I will enjoy it, but maybe not as much as I had hoped. Like Shinji I am a PoP fan and I think this game will still manage to scratch that itch for me.

I'll post some first impressions tomorrow.



Oh and one last thing............ FUCK YOU IN THE WHITE ASS DARTH!

[Bruhaha69]

Mine is shipping ground....Gamestop informed me that the art book will come later due to circumstances beyond their control. Fuck that. They stock it and ship it, they control it, the fuckin assholes.

[DarthArcturus]

Well in a few hours I'll have my copy. I think I will enjoy it, but maybe not as much as I had hoped. Like Shinji I am a PoP fan and I think this game will still manage to scratch that itch for me.

I'll post some first impressions tomorrow.



Oh and one last thing............ FUCK YOU IN THE WHITE ASS DARTH!


:wtf::wtf::wtf::wtf:

[bahn]

Doesn't sound like it. It seems like the platforming is very streamlined, and you pretty much make jumps automatically, and it's more of a mission based sandbox structure.

The "platforming" is a bit well, underwhelming to be blunt. Moves like the "leap of faith" is triggered by a set of buttons hit in sequence, followed by the animated jumps. You'll do a LOT of this for achievement sake -- which doesn't bother me much at all. Based on what I've played so far, it's mixed with a bit of Hitman, PoP and sandbox elements. But do I dislike the game? Heck no. I am loving it so far! :D

[Bruhaha69]

That's what I like to hear. Hopefully I'll have my copy by the weekend, but it's more likely I'll get it next midweek.

[Hunter]

Yeah, I actually like the way it's handled, I'm sure it will elminate a lot of frustration and makes sure you always look badass. The presentation is just so good in this game. So far, I'm having fun, but I barely started.

[Newport420]

Well I played a good 4 + hours last night and have the impressions below...

So first off you'll be a bit confused by the story but your supposed to be. Its one of those things where a mystery is afoot. Its probably ok to say the following as it happens at the start of the game. Basically the initial set up is quite like the matrix or the 13th floor. You are present or near future approximately and you hook up to a machine and enter another world.... the game world. But after a healthy dose of the past you get brought back to present where you unplug and get a bit more of the story revealed in a semi interactive way. Its interesting so far but seems unneeded at this point IMO... why not just let me believe I am Altair and let me spend my time in the past? Oh well here's to hoping that they actually do something useful gameplay wise and/or meaningful story wise with it.

There is also this presentation style of making levels "memories" and one slightly annoying thing to me is that they jump around a decent bit in the beginning making it difficult to really get into it and understand whats up fro the first couple hours. This also fragments the experience of the game. As an example you are having a jolly old time running around saving citizens, finding watch points and jumping from roof to roof and you even get to slay some guy... then the escape comes (one of my favorite parts of the gameplay) and just as you turn to start running... BAM! They suck you into this ethereal dream world where some body less voice barks some hint or story blurb at you and then on to the next memory. Its basically a loading screen and its LAME!

Good news is that when they let you do your thing and it is a very large percentage of the time you play the game, it can be quite fun. Part of the fun comes from the streamlined nature of the controls and their focus on being context sensitive. I think it was a stroke of genius how they handled the controller with low profile moves being switched to by holding one trigger, these are moves that don't attract attention. The other trigger being high profile moves, things that do cause attention to be drawn to you. This allows you to be a stealthy assassin much easier. However the streamlined platforming elements take a lot of the fun out of the experience IMO. I don't need things to be complex, but when all you need to do to scale one of the fairly tall watch towers is simply to hold up, a trigger and the A button its simply gets boring after the 15th time. Sure the animation is great and the level design detailed to the point where cleverly placed hand holds abound just about everywhere... again making it all to simplistic. In Crack Down the climbing mechanic was just as simple but the design of the building was such that it really did require a bit of thinking to scale large buildings and even more for the sky scrappers. AC simply does not have this level of complexity.

Keep in mind that the cities, which are quite large house three districts each. Poor, middle and rich. So far I have traveled to both Damascus and Jerusalem but I have only been in the poor districts. Perhaps the middle and rich areas will offer more challenge with regard to maneuvering around your environment. When I mentioned traveling earlier I mean it. This game shares more than a couple things in common with Crack Down and thats teh size of the levels and the draw distance. This is where the game really shines. When you "synchronize" your gps at the first watch tower you will understand what I mean. Its not just the cities either as there is a VERY expansive world outside the city walls. This place feels very large and riding your horse around is satisfying in a way that Oblivion just didn't deliver. Again as with crackdown searching reaps rewards in the form of collectible flags that I believe unlock extra memories/levels. There are an assload of these things and given the expansiveness of the world it will be quite a challenge to get them all.

Simply put Assassins Creed is the bastard love child of Crack Down and Oblivion birthed in the Ubisoft Montreal studio. Its not a bad thing either. I just wish there was a bit more Sam Fischer complexity or PoP platforming.... which might still be in my future once I get deeper in the game, but for now its quite fun if just a tad shallow. 7.5/10. (I can see this improving to an 8 or 8.5 if the complexity pics up which it should.)

Oh and the limited edition collectors edition is mighty fine looking but unnecessarily large. Its one of those over sized tins like Gears of War had only when you put them both side by side, AC's is not only taller by about almost an inch but wider by about a half inch. Its decent though in that you can fit everything... including the art book inside. Yeah I got it! :p

I plan to play more tonight so hopefully things will get harder and more complex as the game progresses. I'll post more as I get through the game.

[Newport420]

Anyone else playing this game? I missed playing yesterday as I was doing a few Halo 3 score runs with CJG and then multiplayer once my addicted roomate got home. But this weekend will allow me plenty of play time.

I'm curious to see what others think about the game after getting some solid playtime in. Anyone?!!!!

Shinji?????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Hunter]

I played a liitle more. Horse riding is awesome. The degree of control you have over your horse. Thats how it SHOULD have been in Two Worlds.

[Newport420]

AND OBLIVION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It would have been cool if they would have specific animation for making jumps from roof tops straight to the riding position on your horse. I have sorta done it, but a clean cut specific animation would have been shhhhhweeeeeeet.

[shinjirod]

Havent got mine yet. The store where i preordered should get them on the weekend or next week. fuckers.

[Bruhaha69]

I got mine, complete with a broken off foot on my little Altair figure.....Gamestop tells me Ubisoft is my only resolution on that one.

Game-wise, I think it's alright so far. Not that things control badly, but I think it'll take some getting used to before I start really enjoying it. The camera seems to point itself too lowly, though. I keep finding myself pointing it up. I haven't played enough to judge it fairly, but I think I'll like it. I've only just completed my first real mission segment.

[lordsnarf]

I got mine, complete with a broken off foot on my little Altair figure.
That sucks, are you going to try talking to Ubisoft? Not to be a pisser, but I doubt they have extras floating around.

[Bruhaha69]

Yeah, I'm waiting to hear back from their online support. If that fails, I may still have a number from back when they had the Rayman 3 competition. I don't know that the same person will answer the phone, but somebody might be at that extension. If they've got none left, they might toss something else my way......hopefully.

The figure isn't that great, I just don't like the idea of having a broken piece of my limited edition copy.

[Advocate]

LOL.

NSFW!!! (http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/attachment.php?attachmentid=28754&d=1195306107)

Then UBISOFT'S lawyers got involved.



Ubisoft letter

Quote:
November 15, 2007
VIA EXPRESS MAIL AND EMAIL
Attn: Richard Kyanka
webmaster@somethingawful.com (webmaster@somethingawful.com)
RE:
Infringement of ASSASSIN’S CREED Mark and Jade Raymond’s Personal, Privacy, and Publicity Rights

Dear Mr. Kyanka:

We are counsel to Ubisoft Entertainment S.A. (“Ubisoft”), publisher of the popular video game ASSASSIN’S CREED and employer of Ms. Jade Raymond (“Ms. Raymond”). Ubisoft is also the owner of the following U.S. trademark applications for the ASSASSIN’S CREED mark (the “Mark”): Serial No. 78850944; Serial No. 78866696; and Serial No. 78850968. In consequence of Ubisoft’s extensive efforts and expenditures, substantial goodwill has been built up for Ubisoft and the products and services sold under the Mark, and the ASSASSIN’S CREED game is one of the most widely anticipated games of the year.

Ubisoft has recently learned that the extremely offensive pornographic image (the “Image”) accessible at http://sabretooth.mirror.waffleimag...dd47ceb2a5.jpg (http://sabretooth.mirror.waffleimag...dd47ceb2a5.jpg/), a copy of which is attached hereto, is being used on your website located at http://www.somethingawful.com (http://www.somethingawful.com/) and/or other related sites, including, but not limited to, http://forums.somethingawful.com (http://forums.somethingawful.com/) (collectively, the “Site”). Such Image and misuse of the ASSASSIN’S CREED mark constitute trademark infringement, dilution, and unfair competition in violation of common law trademark rights, the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. §§1125(a) and 1125(c), and state law.

Furthermore, the Image’s blatant, vile, and unauthorized misappropriation of Ms. Raymond’s name and likeness, and your conduct in using the Image on your Site, have caused immeasurable harm to Ms. Raymond’s reputation and career, and constitute an egregious infringement of Ms. Raymond’s personal rights and privacy rights. The Image and your conduct also constitute an egregious unauthorized commercial exploitation of Ms. Raymond’s rights of publicity in violation of, without limitation, her common law rights of publicity and California Civil Code §3344, which provides in relevant part:

“Any person who knowingly uses another’s name, .., photograph, or likeness, in any manner, on or in products, merchandise, or goods, or for purposes of advertising or selling, or soliciting purchases of, products, merchandise, goods or services, without such person’s prior consent…shall be liable for any damages sustained by the person or persons injured as a result thereof.”

It is well established that a person who commercially exploits the name or likeness of someone without their consent is liable for all of the damages caused thereby. Additionally, the Image and your conduct in using the Image on the Site constitute unfair business practices and false advertising in violation of the California Business and Professions Code; intentional infliction of emotional distress; a violation of the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. §1125(a); and harassment, which is a criminal offense.

Please also note that any failure to comply with applicable privacy laws may result in direct action against you by the Federal Trade Commission, in addition to other litigation.

Ubisoft hereby demands that you immediately: (1) permanently remove the Image from your Site, databases and servers and prevent any further uploading or display thereof; (2) permanently cease and desist all unauthorized use and hosting of images using the ASSASSIN’S CREED mark and Ms. Raymond’s name and/or likeness; (3) provide us with the name and contact information of the person who originally created and/or posted the Image; and (4) complete, execute, and return to me the enclosed Declaration by November 16, 2007 to confirm that you are complying with Ubisoft’s demand.

While Ubisoft hopes to resolve this matter quickly and without resort to further legal action, Ubisoft reserves all rights to seek appropriate legal relief, including attorneys’ fees, injunctive relief, statutory damages, costs, and enhanced damages.

Sincerely,

David Anderson
for Nixon Peabody LLP

Dave Anderson
Nixon Peabody LLP
555 West 5th Street, 46th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90013
(t) 213-629-6095
(f) 866-532-8491
dlanderson@nixonpeabody.com (dlanderson@nixonpeabody.com)


Somethingaweful's reply.


Somethingawful reply
From: Rich "Lowtax" Kyanka (webmaster@somethingawful.com)
Sent: Thursday, November 15, 2007 9:06 PM
To: 'Anderson, David'
Cc: A BUNCH OF FRENCHIES
Subject: RE: NOTICE: Infringement of ASSASSIN'S CREED Mark and Jade Raymond's Personal, Privacy, and Publicity Rights

Please let it be known that hereforth I have read the express mail and email sent thereforth by Famous Lawyer David Anderson of the Famous Lawyer Law Business of Nixon Peabody LLP, and furthermore a declaration shall be expressed on the part of Internet User Rich “Lowtax” Kyanka that thatforth herethrough I have conducted rigorous tests implemented through a vigorous barrage of legal studies, and furthermore hitherthrough these rigorous tests have therefore proven Famous Lawyer David Anderson of the Famous Lawyer Law Business of Nixon Peabody LLP shall be recognized as a man of the fag persuasion.

Pursuant to the United Dairy Council

Rich “Lowtax” Kyanka
Internet


LOL!

[jp]

Advocate, none of us can access that part of TNL, so what on earth are you talking about?

[Bruhaha69]

That fucking something awful guy is great. Still, where's the picture?

[James]

http://chugworth.com/crap/jadecomic.jpg

Comic in question. Not to my taste (stupid and unfunny, honestly), but the legal response of attacking someone who had nothing to do with it and the deserved reply are classic. :lol:

James

[Bruhaha69]

His reply is incredible. All of his replies to lawyers are pretty funny.

[Frogacuda]

The comic was linked in Ad's post, and it's NSFW.

[Advocate]

do you guys need me to make the link BIGGER? I mean its linked. I've linked a ton of images from TNL.

THE IMAGE BELOW IS NOT SAFE FOR FREAKING WORK!

DOOOOOOOOOOOO NOOOOOOOOOOTTTTTTTTTTTTT LOOOOOK IIIFFFFF YOUUUUU'RRREEEE THERE!!!! KKKKK!!!!!?????!!!!!

COOOOLLLLL!!!

[Hunter]

Im almost done with this game. So far, gotta say, it rawks. I love it. I get the repetitive complaints but it doesn't really bother me at all.

[Bruhaha69]

Yeah, it's pretty good. The more moves you re-unlock, the more fun it becomes. I enjoy saving citizen's asses and climbing up the view spots. I'm pretty sure I won't go flag searching, though.......not unless I get really, really bored beyond the usual boredness. I'm sick of these "find the 1000 items" games. If I'm gonna go find something, give me a real prize/unlockable, not a useless achievement.

[Newport420]

Yeah the more you re-unlock the more satisfying it becomes. I doubt I'll get all the flags and hopefully you get something for getting like 25% or 50% or whatever.

Didn't play this game too much as I spent a majority of the weekend playing CoD4 becuase of the contest and give-aways they were doing. With a long weekend ahead of me CoD4, Assassin's Creed, Mass Effect, Rock Band and Mario Galaxies will be getting HEAVY play time! :)

[Bruhaha69]

Well, I finished it yesterday ( I think). Disappointing end.

So basically, it was a little bit of a letdown, but I still enjoyed it.

The formula is this:

Talk to the Altair's boss to get an assignment, go the city where the target is and talk to that city's Assassin bureau, climb high places to view the area and see where missions are, save citizens (optional, but helpful), eavesdrop, pickpocket people with ties to the target, beat information out of people with ties to the target, help shoddy assassin's do their job within time limits while not alerting guards, kill the target, escape guards back to speak to the city bereau, get next assignment from Altair's boss. You do this for each target and that's pretty much the whole game.

I think the main problem is that they created a nice big open bunch of cities without much for you to do. Climbing buildings and hopping on rooftops is good fun. Eavesdropping, interrogating and pickpocketing.....not quite as much. It's too bad, because that's a large chunk of what you do. I decided to complete all of these missions on my first run, but the game doesn't force you to, which is a good thing, I guess. Everything just ends up feeling hollow. It had the potential to do a lot more than it does.

Combat isn't too bad. Once you get the hang of it, it feels good fighting large groups of enemies. Of course, the way you can kick ass in the game, there's no problem just walking into an assassination and killing everyone without being stealthy at all. It's more fun going for the good kill, but you really don't need to. You can easily stand still and kill a good 30 guys without trying to escape.

Well, those are my quick thoughts. I'd say the game deserved more along the lines of an 8.0 - 8.5. Looks nice, sounds nice, controls nice, has nice environments but comes up feeling a bit empty due to an extremely basic formula used for every mission.

O yeah, I dunno what the fuck IGN was talking about when they mentioned 5 minute load times. There are absolutely NO 5 minute load times. 30 seconds at their worst. They must have used a bogus 360 for the review.

[Hunter]

I pretty much agree with Bru. I am on the final mission, but couldn't finish because Mass Effect came out. I wanna finish it soon.

However, I have to say, I very much enjoyed the segments where you are outside of the animus. Very nice change of pace. All in all, it's still very fun. I just wish there was more to do. Although it's fun to kill rooftop guards or random people and get away with it.