Disclaimer: Ok, before I start, I just want to expand upon the title a little. As much as I would love to, I haven’t played every single (good) RPG ever made, so just bear with me a little.
A tale of three RPG’s. Part One.
There once was a publisher named Ubisoft Montreal, who one day decided – “hey, wouldn’t it be a great idea if we made a GTA/holy land/Ninja assassin crossover game?”. And so, the next day, after a lot of smoking and garlic-eating, Assassin’s Creed was born.
A little while later came along a young man by the name of Albert ‘PC OWNS CONSOLES ALL THE WAY’ Bezman, and he saw this GTA/holy land/ninja assassin crossover game and said
“Wow, this GTA/holy land/ninja assassin crossover game looks fun”.
And so he played as Altair, and these are his thoughts.
Assassin’s creed is a truly narrative driven game. If I had to sum it up in one word, it would be: different. This is because it removes many of the archetypal elements of RPG’s and replaces them with a focus on narrative. For example, the only way Altair can obtain new equipment is by advancing the story, and even then, there is no system to manually upgrade your gear, and you can’t pick up equipment either. This essentially has two influences on game play. One is that you aren’t going to be grinding the same old NPC’s looking around for gear to sell to a merchant NPC which will enable you to obtain that level 80 adamantium armour. This can be both a good thing and a bad thing, as lack of an item tree definitely makes this game feel shallow, and certainly impacts playing time and replayability. On the other hand, it keeps the focus on the action, and ensures that you are never bored. This is particularly relevant to big open RPG’s like Oblivion and Fallout, as often, scouring the land for bounty is somewhat a menial task. Another way lack of items alters gameplay is the gamer’s perception of the hero. A big selling point of RPG’s has always been customization. The fact that the player can make so many decisions has often emulated a kind of matrix for the player to interact with. Essentially, because the player is in charge of the characters actions, it feels like they are conducting them instead of a distant protagonist. And because Assassin’s creed has very little choice when it comes to gameplay, it feels like playing a movie, where every scene is narrated by an outsider, instead of letting the player call the shots.
Saying this, some parts that Ubisoft Montreal do are absolutely fantastic. One example is free-running. Without a doubt, after playing this game with so much freedom, I found other games limiting because I could not scale everything in sight. Before I had played the game, I thought that this was just a gimmick, but after experiencing it for myself I have to say that it is truly amazing and is as revolutionary to game-play movement as GTA 3 was.
Another awesome part of Assassins creed is the narrative itself. The story is fantastic, and the way it is executed is great too. The pace is well kept, with revelations and twists awaiting you at every turn. This makes this game a ‘one play through’ kind of game. However, I can guarantee you that this one play through will be fantastic!
One last thing that I will mention is the graphics. I played it on a mid-range DX10 PC with the graphics turned all the way up, and there was little lag with stunning visuals. Well done Ubisoft!
Stay tuned for next week’s article which will bring us into the mysterious (and freaking awesome) world of Mass effect.
That’s all for this week, B man signin out.
I don't think Assassin's Creed constitutes an RPG. In fact, your article has all signs pointing to it not being one.
ReplyDeleteThough I look forward to your impressions on Mass Effect since I haven't had a chance to play it yet.
I think I will have to disagree, I can't see Creed as a platformer as its not linear enough. You still have 'quests' that you can start at any time etc, and it does take place in an open world environment. However, its certainly a very stripped down RPG.
ReplyDeleteStephen- It is an RPG, but only just. It has platforming elements but you are playing the role of Altair. It is definately not a platofrmer because it has quests and is rather combat focused. Also the platforming is entirely optional
ReplyDelete@Albert:
ReplyDeleteAssassin's Creed may not be linear but it's not exactly an open world. I'll defend it as a platformer,though I tend to think of it generally as an adventure game.You can only visit certain sections of the cities after completing an assassination. Very much like a platformer where you may need beat one section of the level to move on to the next. Quests don't make a game an RPG. You have to do the quests to open the assassination. Which is like collecting stars to open a boss fight. As for collecting flags scattered around the world, that too is reminiscent of platformers. Theres almost always a secondary list of items to collect.
@Stephen:
Playing the role of Altair doesn't make the game an RPG. That's just silly. Every game has you playing the role of someone else. Ironically, most role-playing games have you play as yourself. Again, quests don't make a game an RPG. I wouldn't say the game is combat focused. Altair is supposed to rely on stealth, and fight as a last resort. Which is why there are numerous hiding spots, and when the city goes on alert, you have to run, only fighting if you're backed into a corner.Platforming isn't optional. If I remember correctly, it's mandatory to infiltrate some of the target's complexes.
@thrubeingcool133, the role of Altair bit was a joke :p. But still this game is not a platformer, it has platforming sections but the style of the game itself is nothing like any platformer ever made. Uncharted has platforming sections yet it is not just a platformer, rather a great action adventure game. Assassin's Creed does give you an open world where you can go to any city you like and there are even side quests, an RPG standard
ReplyDeleteThat was Stephen by the way ^
ReplyDelete