PREVIEW: Assassin’s Creed

Developer / Publisher: Ubisoft | Format: Xbox 360, PS3, PC

Previewer: Cian Ginty

There used to be a bit of magic or mystic that surrounded the worlds of old 2D games, your imagination governed what laid in the world outside of your mission path. The advent of 3D games — and 3D games which tried to be too much — somewhat killed this. Assassin’s Creed is one of those games that brings you back, while keeping the gameplay at the edge of today.

As the name should suggest, you play as an assassin. It’s set in the Holy Land in middle east in the year 1191 AD, but there’s futuristic hints around the game - from the menu and loading systems to graphics which appear around some enemies.

“And it’s about this science company trying to, Matrix-style, go into peoples brains and find out an ancestor who used to be an assassin, and sort of locate who that person is” actor Kristen Bell, in this case voice actor, let it slip to US games site IGN.

Some type of Timecop theme? However, when we went to see the game recently at Ubisoft offices outside London, they were remaining tight-lipped, saying they want some things left as a surprise, only elusively saying it’d be revealed at the start of the game.

Assassin’s Creed is set in a free roaming environment with four main areas — three cities, the assassin’s enclave, and the open lands and paths of the ‘the Kingdom’ in the middle. There’s freedom of which city
to go to first, and there’s freedom to jump wildly across city rooftops or to slowly walk among the people.

In the backdrop is a Crusade, the third one we’re told, and in a hidden group of assassins you’re sent on missions to kill members of both sides of the conflict for the greater good. Nevertheless, as cut scenes
just before assignations will tell, moral conflict might ensue as things aren’t all that black and white.

In gameplay, there’s basically you, the civilians, the guards, more cutely aware groupings such as patrols, and your targets. Guards will for the most part ignore you unless you act up — for example, jumping around rooftops isn’t normal and the archers will literally draw their attention on you. You can attack back with throwing knifes, your sword, or your assassins’ blade — unfortunately no archery of your own.

The developers have tried to balance thing out, picket pocketing or messing around with civilians won’t get you too much trouble. The levels of danger can be lowered by, for example, hiding in plain sight in your monk-like robes, among monks or not. Patrols on the other hand may be actively searching for an assassin.

You could say the game is Hitman meets the speed and building jumping and climbing of the revived and critically acclaimed Prince of Persia games, with a dash of horse riding and open environments of Shadow of
the Colossus. Although, that’s a bit of a mouth full and Assassin’s Creed should stand out on its own. It’s not a bog standard stealth game, you’re not a prince, and your targets are not Colossi (at least not in size). It’s a unique and immersive game.

Assassin’s Creed is out in Ireland and the UK on November 16 on Xbox 360 and PS3, the release date for PC is yet to be finalised but is due before the end of the year.

REVIEW: Blue Dragon

Reviewer: Craig Gallagher Looking
at the line of games all ready available on the 360, it’s surprising
how few RPG there are. In fact, bar Enchanted Arms it’s difficult to
come up with any other examples of traditional Japanese RPG’s on the
console. Thankfully Blue Dragon is here to fill that void.

Our tale begins in the small village of Talta, where every ten years an
evil land shark returns to wreak havoc upon the town and its folk.
Having grown father frustrated with the land shark and accompanying
mist which surrounds the town during this period, our hero Shu decides
that enough is enough and decides to end the sharks reign of terror.
It’s here where Blue Dragon really comes into its own, story wise.
After fighting the shark, Shu and his friends are abducted by an alien
space craft, given their shadows and informed that they must stop an
evil alien called Nene from destroying their world.

Bar the slightly unorthodox set up, Blue Dragon isn’t exactly ground
breaking in the story department. The story is basically two separate
half’s. The first part allows players to familiarise themselves with
the world, while the second concerns its self with the termination of
Nene’s evil deeds. This never quite gels and gives  a disjointed feel
to proceedings.

The gameplay will be familiar to anyone who has ever played an RPG
before. During combat, you take it in turns to attack one another.
Players have the usual array of options at their disposal. They can
attack, use magic, or flat out run for their collective lives. Attacks
are performed by the players shadows, after which the game is named.
None of this is exactly groundbreaking, in fact so far it’s pretty bog
standard. The most noticeable addition to the formula is the formation
manipulation system, which allows players to change how things unfold
during battle. Changing a players position can drastically increase
their stats. This gives combat a more intellectual feel, more akin with
a traditional game of chess than. When it comes down to it the battle
system in operation deserves to be applauded. Few other RPG’s offer
such an enthralling and easy to pick up and play system.

The biggest change to the RPG formula is that Blue Dragon contains no
random battles. Players can pick whom they wish to fight and where said
fight will occur, opening the game up to gamers who would normally run
for the hills at the mention of RPG.  Before you get too relaxed, the
enemies you choose to battle will chase you across the land in a bid to
end your quest, so it’s best to e ever watchful and on alert.

Blue Dragon is one of those rare occurrences where a game will appeal
to non-fans of a genre as much as it will hardened genre fans. The
intelligent and somewhat original twists on age old ideas keeps the
game feeling fresh.

REVIEW: World in Conflict

It’s the end of the world as we know
it, and if World in Conflcit is any indication as to how that will go
down then it should be a hell of a lot of fun. Set in an alternate
1980s at the head of the Cold War. The Reds invade half of Europe
before launching a full scale attack upon American soil. As is to be
expected, the Americans don’t take this well and retaliate.

 

Players take on the mantle of Lt.
Parker, who has in the past fought across Europe and must now defend
his country’s freedom. One of the most impressive attributes of the
game is how it addresses that there is no right side in war. Most
games have good and evil, with no real examination of the horrors of
such conflicts. The adult manner in which World in Conflict examines
this makes it a far more adult and interesting game, than the usual
run of the mill RTS.

The biggest differance between World
in Conflict and other RTS games is that there is no resources
management system in operation. Instead, gamers are allocated a
number of points which they can utilise to purchase additional units.
This manipulation of age old ideas, puts far more pressure upon the
player  to spend his points wisely.

Occupying areas is also rather
differant to what most gamers will be used to. Instead of simply
killing of the enemy, you must deploy troops to specific points in
the surrounding area. These points are usually so far apart that
diverting troops to fortify one area, leaves another vunreable.
Strategy really is key to succeeding in World in Conflict.

Multiplayer differs from the
traditional aspects of RTS by forcing players to choose a specific
role. Players can choose to specilise in Armor, Infantry, Air or
Support. There is a far greater level of cooperation between players.
It also raises the challenge up a notch.

World in Conflict is the pertfect
blend of strategy and fun. The only real drawback to the game is that
at times, it can get a bit too crazy. The rest of the game more than
compensates for those few ocassions, when you have to turn the game
off and take a breather.