6 transcends the conventional stealth formula with sharp gameplay facets, solid controls, and breath-taking graphics.
Although the game is pitted in the Holy Land during the period of the Crusades, the story's outline is set in the present. A man named Desmond Miles is abducted by a whacko doctor and his assistant and is forced to access his own memories. Once you enter your own mind, you can assume the role of your ancestor, Altair. Your missions include anything from eavesdropping, pick-pocketing, interrogations, and pure 6. In order to complete a significant 6, you'll need to exhume information about the whereabouts of your target, what he does for a living, and other meaningful stuff that helps you uncover the culprit's background.
You'll get to travel through three distinct locations: Acre, Damascus, and Jerusalem, as well as your personal neighborhood of Masyaf. In each city, you interpret your central mission by following the blinking icon labeled on your map. The icon could be any sort of required mission that aids you in your quest to snuffing out the main bad guy. On the other hand, you can also take part in free missions, such as saving citizens from pesky guards, distinguishing your surroundings by utilizing towering view points, or simply free roaming or looking for flags dispersed across the area. As a whole, the missions serve into perspective some state-of-the-art intelligence and great player coordination. Some missions will have you pick-pocketing vital information from thugs, while others may have you physically interrogate a knowledge holder in an empty alleyway. These situations come together very well, but the downgrade is the redundancy and repetition at hand. Nine targets are scattered throughout the game, and you'll do the exact same required missions over and over again. While it doesn't necessarily get boring, it does lack originality and diversity between gameplay.
One of the most appreciable aspects of the game is its combat system. While you don't acquire very many abilities or weapons from the beginning, the formula works amazingly in every sense of the word. Locking onto a guard initiates your momentum as you draw your sword, dagger, or throwing knives. The block button serves as a layer amongst numerous other attacks. With the proper timing, you can counter an enemy's attack and implement a savage and fatal blow. You can also commit combo moves, which can be done by repeatedly pressing the attack button. Again, timing issues the entire combat system, whether you're breaking a grab from a guard, blocking oncoming attacks, or impeding blows from behind.
Of course, combat isn't always your only option. You can also flee from fights or from suspicious guards that decide to chase you. The more suspicious your character acts, in such cases as knocking people down, running, climbing atop buildings, or drawing a weapon, the more weary the guards grow on your presence. If they do give chase, your suspicion icon will turn red and you can either fight or run. If you choose to run, you can hide in many different areas, such as hay bails and rooftop gardens. However, you aren't safe to hide unless your suspicion icon subsides to a yellow color, meaning the guards are still following you, but the line of sight has been broken.
As one might guess, everything you do is littered with personal choices, making the entire presentation a truly fantastic experience. The game might play out rather strictly, but the freedom of choice allows you to participate in many things without getting caught. At the same time, the game isn't so light on punishment that lets you get away with anything you want. This diversity really pans out well in the artificial intelligence of the residences. Although a lot of characters' voices sound identical, nearly every person looks different, and they're not all just muscular, fit people. They range in all kinds of shapes, sizes, and origins, and surprisingly, they all commit different actions. Sometimes you'll see a citizen wiping his or her face, or swatting at a bug, or sneezing, or even humming to him or herself. But above all else, the interaction with the citizens really separates 6 from other free roam games. You can actually nudge your way through a crowd of people by softly pushing them aside.
One of the flat-out coolest parts of the design is the ability to perform the leap of faith. You can do this wherever you find a band of birds at the edge of a roof. This indicates that there is a pile of hay you can safely land in upon jumping off the structure. These leaps are very graceful, but also very breath-taking, especially the really, really high ones. They never get old, and they are always fun to use when trying to escape from large groups of guards.
Aside from a few complaints, such as the repetitiveness of missions and occasional control instabilities, 6 is one of the best games of 2007. It transcends the conventional stealth formula with sharp gameplay facets, solid controls, and breath-taking graphics. In addition, as the story slowly unravels, you'll find yourself taking the time to pay attention and gather in the essentials. It's not a drama of a story, and it doesn't contain the best gameplay or voice acting, but there's no reason why 6 shouldn't be on your list of games to check out this year.