Assassin's Creed, or "The Difference between Exploring, and Sight Seeing"
The present time lab, living the past in memories, all wonderfull ideas.
Outstanding graphics, great sounds, %100 true atmosphere... this game should be perfect.
But it isn't. It is just a small step, towards what future games should be: stories we live in.
Assassin's Creed is like a new born baby in this new trend it tries to create:
everyone will like it by principle, but there will be no intellectual satisfaction.
Assassin'c creed is not about an exploration. It is a sight seeing, a demonstration of how games could be.
actions are greatly rendered, everything runs smooth, but all that for the prize of lowering the control over the character.
The lack of RPG elements, and choices are tried to be hidden by long boring monologes, and "neo-matrix" like questions: "why I do that? who are those people? where am I? who are you?" etc..
the most simple way to try to insert a story line and crumbles of conspiracy, where the interaction fails.
It doesn't work. Assassin's Creed could have been a 10 min game, with only one mission, without any dialog, and it would still be the same.
the sword fights, are ok, but with time, lack creativity, and freedom. the assassinations, are well presented, but still miss variations and again freedom.
Buy the game, play it, look around, and box it. that's is in short what you should do with that game, until the sequels arrives with more rpg elements, and a deeper game play.