Assassin's Creed Xbox 360 Review Washington DC

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It's always great to see new intellectual property in the gaming market - additions to long standing series are fine, but when a new name with new characters and new ideas comes along it's good for the industry and good for the gamer. Perhaps the most hyped and anticipated of the newly created gaming IP's for 2007 has been Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed, promising gamers a 'never before seen' type of experience in the shoes of a deadly ancient Assassin, which is a welcome shift from today's overriding focuson modern shooters. This much touted title is now available and while some of the pre-release expectations are met in full force, other aspects of the game don't manage to deliver quite as well.

Set in the year 1191 AD, Assassin's Creed tells the story of a dedicated group of assassins trying to squash the hostilities between the Christian Europeans and Muslim occupiers of the Holy Land during the Third Crusade. It is the Creed's duty to try and create peace amongst the people by all means necessary, which includes assassinating corrupt leaders and influential figures fueling the Crusade's war path. Controlling the character Altair - a highly skilled assassin but also one who can't helpbut think for himself - you must reaffirm your loyalty to the Creed and what it stands for through the elimination of nine key figures in the Third Crusade's cause on both sides of the conflict across various cities and locations spanning the Holy Land.

This is not the full story, however. In fact, when you're playing as the character Altair there is a major twist in the very reason why you're even controlling this guy that you wouldn't have seen coming a mile away and it adds another layer of depth to what would have already been a rich and engrossing storyline. Without acting the spoiler, it involves the shifting of time back and forth (although there is no time travel directly involved), the introduction of a secondary main character, and, believe it or not, the shady worldof aspiring global domination by a multi billion dollar corporation.

Even though the sections of the game which are focused on Altair and his 1191 AD world are not the only point in time this game covers, this is where Assassin's Creed spends the vast majority of its storyline and hence gameplay. Being a single player only game, the storyline is of huge importance to keep you going and it does a great job of telling a rather interesting and unique story that makes you want to keep playing. Even though the game is obviously based on real world history to an extent, the story focuses more on a character to characterlevel rather than a grand scale level so Assassin's Creed is not a game which will be spoiled in any way by knowing how history actually played out.