Whenever Assassin's Creed drags its collectable-packed frame over to the bedroom mirror, and mournfully contemplates the sagging, sweaty blob of game types, trivia, plot twists and digital initiatives it has become, I like to think a portrait on the wall behind catches its eye. The portrait of a younger, leaner man with an Aquiline nose, lips that bear the hint of an aristocratic sneer, and eyes that are all roguish twinkle and boyish charm. I like to think Assassin's Creed sighs deeply at this point, assesses its monstrous gut in profile, glances back at the portrait and says to itself: "Look at you. Look at who you used to be."
Tracing Assassin's Creed's ancestry hardly takes a genius, once you see it in motion. Ubisoft's improbably nimble blueblood taught Altair, Ezio and Connor everything they know about movement on the vertical plane, and for all the new systems, the younger franchise's chart-topping gambit remains the application of its forebear's slipshod acrobatics to a larger canvas. Assassin's Creed's bustling, raucous cities may look disorganised, but they're all composed of secret chains of handholds, vantage points and runways akin to classic Sands of Time levels, threaded over and around one another so densely that a trip to the tailor's becomes a breath-taking feat of ostensible improvisation.
But that DNA is getting harder and harder to disentangle, lost beneath the flab that appears necessary if the latest blockbusters are to justify their existence. Though entertaining enough once it gets going, Assassin's Creed 3 is loaded down with inessential experiential trinkets, its founding principles relatively unchanged but suffocated by the dross. A cynical inner voice suggests that this is the fate of all successful Ips, past a certain point, particularly given the industry's recent re-envisaging of games as "services" - enormous buffets of rich, texture-less "content" tied to persistent online revenue systems, that players then arrange for "personalised" consumption.
6 comments so far...
PonderingWalrus on 19 Jan '13 said:
I still wish they would release a sequel to the 2008 game.
fracturedrich on 19 Jan '13 said:
Ime not sure but i thought there was going to be one, and the rumour i heard was that one of the ac revelations devs was going to be involved,but again ime not sure.For me though sands is my fav game of all time,that was for me,all the years of gaming had finally arrived.The 2008 effort just goes to show that power is not everything,I really liked the second one,but it was all downhill from there,i think they should leave the prince in the past and concentrate on new ip
msbhvn on 19 Jan '13 said:
Prince of Persia: Sands of Time is one of the all-time classic adventure games. The other two last-gen PoP games were pale imitations. 2008's cel-shaded Prince of Persia was pretty good, except for the almost insulting inability to die. Forgotten Sands was aptly named, because I can't remember a thing about it, other than swinging on frozen water spouts.
SadCheesecake on 20 Jan '13 said:
I still wish they would bring out Worrier Within and Two Thrones out on 360. Sands of Time is the only last-gen PoP that works on 360, and playing PoP on PSP is a VERY VERY bad idea, I almost rage destroyed my PSP because of the frustrating controls. For a while on the Game website the HD trilogy was available for pre-order for 360, but then they took it down. Does anyone know about it being released? As it is the 10th anniversary this year my fingers are crossed.
ItchyRash on 21 Jan '13 said:
The 2008 Prince of Persia gets a bum deal. It was great adventure game, good story and looked fantastic. The whole not dying complaint is harsh. Bioshock had Vita chambers that removed the fear of dying and no one seems to have complained about them. Except me actually. But I'm yet to play a game that actually ends when you die. All the 2008 PoP did was remove a reload checkpoint screen and kept the action flowing. It wasn't a great decision by the designers but it wasn't awful or game breaking. And the ending in my opinion is superb. I know some people felt the opposite though. Would love to see a sequel to it.
I missed out on Sands of Time when It came out and really regret it. I remember it getting rave reviews but I just ignored it.
CunningSmile on 21 Jan '13 said:
Was it Ubi Singapore that made the Lairs in Brotherhood? Because they looked stunning, more so than most of the rest of the game, and from the first time I played they just felt like a studio desperate to make a PoP game. I'm hoping that their abscence from AC3 hints at them making something bigger.