Assassin's Creed I: 17 Years Later

Assassin's Creed is one of my favorite games and has been ever since I played it the first time back in 2019. The game was originally released for PC, XBox 360, and PlayStation 3 back in 2007 and has been a fan favorite ever since. Gamers loved the dynamic crowd and satisfying action elements, but where did Assassin's Creed come from and, perhaps more importantly, is it still worth your time?

Well, that's what we're going to discuss as we look at Assassin's Creed.

The Prince of Persia Sequel that Wasn't

The way I understand it, Assassin's Creed was developed by Ubisoft Montreal as a spiritual successor of sorts to their popular Prince of Persia series. The game was titled Prince of Persia: Assassin and the idea was to have a new protagonist - an assassin - who would interact with the titular prince. Of course, that meant that you wouldn't be following the prince's adventures anymore so it wouldn't really be Prince of Persia.

Ubisoft, probably realizing this would be a bad move for the Prince of Persia series, scrapped the idea and instead opted to create an entirely new property. The team had been doing research on the Ismaili Order of Assassins and the shift in focus brought about a name change - Assassin's Creed.

The developers expanded on certain aspects from the Prince of Persia series, opting for an open world approach to environments and adding larger, more dynamic crowds, extra missions to complete and a lot of parkour. Yes, you read that correctly, your assassin character is doing parkour, leaping up walls, across rooftops and off high ledges; and yes, it's just as cool as it sounds.

Assassin's Creed cost around $20 million to make and was released for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2007 with a PC release the following year in 2008. The game was generally well-received with praise levelled at the presentation of the story, the visuals, music, and the parkour system. Of course there was criticism too most notably for how repetitive the mission structures were (more on this later), and the combat controls.

The Story

The story of Assassin's Creed has two parts. In the first part, the modern storyline, a bartender named Desmond Miles is being forced to undergo scientific experiments by the Abstergo company. These experiments involve spending long periods in a machine called the Animus. The Animus is, as explained in the game:

"A projector that helps render genetic memories in three dimensions." - Warren Vidic, Assassin's Creed (2007)

In the animus, you take control of Altair Ibn La'Ahad, an assassin ancestor of Desmond's who, in the midst of the 3rd Crusade, is sent to retrieve a strange artefact. After the mission goes south, he is stripped of his rank within the Order of Assassins. To get it back, he has to eliminate nine targets from the Knights Templar. Of course, there's something not quite right about the whole thing. Each man that falls, justifies their actions to a degree and hints that Altair may not have the full story concerning the artefact.

So, What Works in Assassin's Creed?

There's quite a lot that works in Assassin's Creed. For starters, the game's visuals still hold up well 17 years after its release. The music, composed by Jesper Kydd (of Hitman fame), is phenomenal and often gets the blood racing!

The combat is really satisfying as well. Much of the criticism around the combat was that you only fought using one button (your armed hand). I can understand that critique, but I don't really mind the combat controls; it's easier to fight when you only have to worry about one button.

I also really liked the story - specifically the historical stuff with Altair. It's presented well. I enjoyed the historical storyline, but the modern one was just not interesting to me. Whenever the story switched to the modern timeline, I just wanted to skip it and go back to the Altair story - which I found to be more engaging. All that said, there are a few great dialogue exchanges between the modern characters.

One of my favorite exchanges has to do with how what Desmond is seeing in the animus, and how it doesn't line up with what he's been taught. He brings up the fact that there are records from the period, and Vidic - quite rightly - points out that anyone can write a book and put whatever he or she wants in it. The doctor even throws in a not-so-subtle jab at religion:

"I believe there was a book that claimed the world was created in seven days. Best-seller too!"

The best part about that line is that you can't even be mad about it, because he's got a point. Anyone can write whatever they want, if enough people believe it, it becomes fact. So, how do we KNOW that the religious texts are true? Well, we don't - then again, I guess that's the whole appeal of them, the mystery of it all.

What Doesn't Work in Assassin's Creed?

Okay, let's start with the pacing, it's all over the place at times. The mission structure is repetitive, with each city containing the same types of investigation missions (eavesdropping, pickpocketing, flag retrieval, etc.). It's not really a problem, but it can drag the game out a bit.

As nice as the cities are, there's very little variety in them. A lot of the buildings look the same and the colors do have a sort of washed out look; it didn't really bother me, but it may be off-putting for some players.

Desmond Miles is also just...irritating to me. I know he's a prisoner and probably scared out of his wits but he behaves like petulant child for a lot of the game and it makes him very hard to like.

So, How well does Assassin's Creed Stack Up?

Now, we reach our key question: is Assassin's Creed I still a worthwhile adventure? Yeah, I think it is. Whether you like or dislike it, the first Assassin's Creed was new and interesting when it was released and it changed the gaming space significantly at the time.

Yeah, the colors are a bit bland, but they work; the music is great and the story is well done - even if it is just your stereotypical redemption arc. Overall, as long as you don't mind the repetitive mission structure, Assassin's Creed I is great fun and it's a game that, even after 17 years, is worth a shot.

I hope you all enjoyed the review, this is one of my favorite games to play because there's always something new to see and I look forward to exploring the series further. With that, I turn it over to you, my lovely readers, to share your own experiences with Assassin's Creed I in the comments.