New Assassin's Creed Screenshots

[JamieSI]

Strategy Informer has released 10 new screenshots for Assassin's Creed from the Xbox 360 version.

http://images.strategyinformer.com/screenshot/00229855.jpg

See the rest of those here (http://www.strategyinformer.com/xbox360/assassinscreed/screenshots.html).

[NationalKato]

Other than Game Informer's 9.5, has anyone seen any more reviews?

[Resarf]

Other than Game Informer's 9.5, has anyone seen any more reviews?

Famitsu 360 gave it 37/40

[karak]

Other than Game Informer's 9.5, has anyone seen any more reviews?
Some dude on the Neogaf forum who played a preview copy from a friend of a friend who was a developer but no longer is and now works at fast food, says its "cool"
Ya...sure he played it.

[AgtFox]

Other than Game Informer's 9.5, has anyone seen any more reviews?
Reviews are most likely embargoed until a given date. My guess as to why GI had the first review is they were the one to give AC its world premiere.

[Food Nipple]

Reviews are most likely embargoed until a given date. My guess as to why GI had the first review is they were the one to give AC its world premiere.

Reviews are under embargo until Tuesday, don't expect the other reviews to be as glowing as the GI one, at least not 1up's.

[CptTripps]

Must play AC......

[Wackman3000]

Any chance of this game making it over to the PC? I was a little upset when I heard that it wasn't being released on PC, since I am still without a next gen console.

[Deadend]

Know what those horses need?

Armor.

[Codicier]

Reviews are under embargo until Tuesday, don't expect the other reviews to be as glowing as the GI one, at least not 1up's.

What'd 1up give it?

C'mon, you can tell us, no one else needs to know...

[AgtFox]

Reviews are under embargo until Tuesday, don't expect the other reviews to be as glowing as the GI one, at least not 1up's.
That wouldn't be surprising given what EGM said in the last issue that I brought up in another thread (http://www.evilavatar.com/forums/showthread.php?t=38496).

[Atorak]

Know what those horses need?

Armor.
Horse Armor Addon for Assasins Creed
Cost: 500 Microsoft Points
Description: Sponsored by Bethesda

[EvoG]

Dunno...my 'gamedar' says its going to be incredible...I'm rarely wrong, but that only really benefits me. In other words as long as I like it, thats all that matters. :D

I'm looking forward to interesting control on top of the fact that its open world that Looks. Like. That. *points to screenshots*

[Gorvi]

I have no idea how to feel about this game. I want to say it looks fantastic, but I've heard enough negative about it to be very wary. I'll be very curious to see how the reviews look come next week.

[karak]

One thing that makes me happy about it. It hasn't suffered the graphics degradation that other games are suffering from lately. COD 4, Lair, Halo 3, Uncharted, all started to degrade as movies and pics showed later and later development. This and maybe...R&C are two that seemed to deliver. This one is even more impressive due to the more detailed environments and people on screen.

[Kweli]

Huh?
I cant speak for all of those games... But CoD4 looked amazing in real time (beta) and Halo3 pictures only got better from the original picture releases...

[Mr.Green]

I'm gonna try it tomorrow at the Festival Arcadia (http://www.festivalarcadia.com) in Montreal. Can't wait!

[UnderHero5]

I think this game looks to be awesome. Only problem is that I don't have the money for it. I unexpectedly bought CoD4 this week, and I'm not buying any more games until Mass Effect.
This game is going to have to wait, for me. It does look great, though.

[Epix]

Any chance of this game making it over to the PC? I was a little upset when I heard that it wasn't being released on PC, since I am still without a next gen console.

It was originally going to come out for the PC at the same time, but got delayed to next year.

[Harv]

I pre-ordered it, which I haven't done for most games, so hopefully the dice roll on this one is not snake eyes.

[Durka-Dan]

I don't get how he can easily be lost in a group of praying monks. Let me help those angry guards out by pointing to the only monk carrying knives and a short sword on his back.

edit: pre-ordered it at the same time as cod4. I wish gamestop was giving out free posters with pre-orders.

[menage]

I fucking hate review embargo's. Remember the time when reviews where in magazines 2 months ahead of time or even more. Then I could actuallly plan my finances (well, sort of, I didn't have many finances back then). Now I have to wait until tuesday and not buy other shit. Go figure.

[Kweli]

Given the control scheme i've been hearing... I dont know how well it will be for a mouse/keyboard.

[Ink Asylum]

I don't get how he can easily be lost in a group of praying monks. Let me help those angry guards out by pointing to the only monk carrying knives and a short sword on his back.

edit: pre-ordered it at the same time as cod4. I wish gamestop was giving out free posters with pre-orders.

He has the same ability 47 has to escape detection with a change of clothes despite still being a tall bald man with a barcode on the back of his neck.

[karak]

I am just hoping for one thing. Mass enemy attacks during the swordfights. The fucking 1 guy attacks while others chop in place like fat teenage football players has no place in my fantasy of an excellent game.

[UnderHero5]

Given the control scheme i've been hearing... I dont know how well it will be for a mouse/keyboard.

I know it's unheard of, but PC's recently got the ability to use controllers!

20 years ago! I actually have no idea when the first controller was compatible with a PC, but you get my point

[Harv]

I know it's unheard of, but PC's recently got the ability to use controllers!

20 years ago! I actually have no idea when the first controller was compatible with a PC, but you get my point

:eek: OMFG!!

[NationalKato]

I am just hoping for one thing. Mass enemy attacks during the swordfights.

Have you ever been in a swordfight? I mean, sure, game mechanics mandate you don't have 20 guards attacking at the same time, but in real life - you know, where honed steel cuts flesh and life is precious - people don't just run headlong towards two guys swinging sharp blades around. Don't be ridiculous.

I know it's your fantasy - but they've repeatedly said they've tried to make it as authentic as possible, while taking liberties. This is one liberty they chose not to take. Had they thrown 20 guards at you at once you'd probably be complaining about how Altair manages to survive.

[Kweli]

I know it's unheard of, but PC's recently got the ability to use controllers!

20 years ago! I actually have no idea when the first controller was compatible with a PC, but you get my point

Yah i know.. but if your using a controller on your PC... well.. why not just buy the console version?? - Plus you get to play it months in advance

Most of the PC vs. Console arguments are on the precision you get with keyboard/mouse... Im just saying, this game doesnt seem to benefit the PC in that argument

[karak]

Have you ever been in a swordfight? I mean, sure, game mechanics mandate you don't have 20 guards attacking at the same time, but in real life - you know, where honed steel cuts flesh and life is precious - people don't just run headlong towards two guys swinging sharp blades around. Don't be ridiculous.

Yes I have actually. Well at least when I was taking my stripes in Kenjutsu or teaching it to my students *daily* which I have now done for over 23 years so yes...yes I have. And you are flatly utterly wrong. Many arts including old European sword forms practiced side by side, 3 on one or Four Winds styles which all involved multiple opponents attacking one person and the defenses needed. As well as defending against many opponents all wielding a various assortment of "honed steel".
So your attempt is nullified.

[Ink Asylum]

Have you ever been in a swordfight? I mean, sure, game mechanics mandate you don't have 20 guards attacking at the same time, but in real life - you know, where honed steel cuts flesh and life is precious - people don't just run headlong towards two guys swinging sharp blades around. Don't be ridiculous.

I know it's your fantasy - but they've repeatedly said they've tried to make it as authentic as possible, while taking liberties. This is one liberty they chose not to take. Had they thrown 20 guards at you at once you'd probably be complaining about how Altair manages to survive.

hmmm...you make a good point.

Picture the low-paid guards. You've got five of your buddies with you, all wearing chain and wielding blades. Most of the time you're used to harassing peasants. Usually pickpockets and other mild criminals you encounter will quickly surrender against the odds when surrounded by a half dozen guards. If anyone makes a fuss they just get wrestled to the ground and beat down.

Now you've got some loon in a white hood spinning blades around. Everyone rushing in with blades swinging is probably a bad idea. The best you can do is form a tight circle to keep the guy from fleeing and hope to wear him down and keep him off balance long enough for someone to get a good slice and take him down.

If I wanted to make the threat more real, I would make it so Altair doesn't have an inhumanly large life bar. Couple solid hits and he's down if he can't escape and patch up. This would make the fighting more tense and encourage you to take down only enough guards for you to get away, rather than letting you hang around and kill every single guard in sight.

[Kweli]

Yes I have actually. Well at least when I was taking my stripes in Kenjutsu or teaching it to my students *daily* which I have now done for over 23 years so yes...yes I have. And you are flatly utterly wrong. Many arts including old European sword forms practiced side by side, 3 on one or Four Winds styles which all involved multiple opponents attacking one person and the defenses needed. As well as defending against many opponents all wielding a various assortment of "honed steel".
So your attempt is nullified.

I think you both have a decent argument...

Im sure you guys didnt train with real weapons.. and when you did, werent they choreographed moves? Most of the martial arts ive taken (besides muay thai) have been somewhat scripted attack/defend maneuvers..

Throw them in a real situation, and its all out the window

[karak]

hmmm...you make a good point.

Picture the low-paid guards. You've got five of your buddies with you, all wearing chain and wielding blades. Most of the time you're used to harassing peasants. Usually pickpockets and other mild criminals you encounter will quickly surrender against the odds when surrounded by a half dozen guards. If anyone makes a fuss they just get wrestled to the ground and beat down.

Read my response above. And many of these men were NOT just random men given swords. They were well trained and even a fool knows how to swing a stick or even better stab a stick.
And normal close quarters sword exchanges are a stabbing affair and you run little risk of hurting one another. Even with the Katana which is a slicing weapon there are stabbing techniques due to the fact that this is the fastest way to deal death a closed environment or surrounding by people within your defensive zone.
I digress though. I just hope they do have more people attacking you than the one they showed in the video's.

[NationalKato]

Many arts including old European sword forms practiced side by side, 3 on one or Four Winds styles which all involved multiple opponents attacking one person and the defenses needed.

C'mon. We're talking about real-world situations. Training is all well and good, and I trust you know your forms well, but when the other person isn't just sparring with you but trying to gut you things usually are a bit different. I've seen that footage, post-kill, where Altair is surrounded by guards and they're taking turns. Guys behind him taking shots at him from his blind side, feigning, darting in and out, etc. It looks fine. What I don't want to see is some fantasy version where Conan goes batshit, flailing his sword all around and taking on 20 guards.

Just silly.

[Ink Asylum]

Read my response above. And many of these men were NOT just random men given swords. They were well trained and even a fool knows how to swing a stick or even better stab a stick.
And normal close quarters sword exchanges are a stabbing affair and you run little risk of hurting one another. Even with the Katana which is a slicing weapon there are stabbing techniques due to the fact that this is the fastest way to deal death a closed environment or surrounding by people within your defensive zone.
I digress though. I just hope they do have more people attacking you than the one they showed in the video's.

True, but when you've just seen some guy drop off a building and stab your boss in the neck, training or not, you'll probably fight him a bit more conservatively than you would your buddies during sparring. A lot of sword fighting, particularly when you're armored and wielding a heavy weapon, involves blocking and parrying while waiting for an opening.

[karak]

I think you both have a decent argument...

Im sure you guys didnt train with real weapons.. and when you did, werent they choreographed moves? Most of the martial arts ive taken (besides muay thai) have been somewhat scripted attack/defend maneuvers..

Throw them in a real situation, and its all out the window

Actually we do train with a dulled steel sword at higher levels. That is of course beside the point as this is a game and I completely understand that.
HOWEVER, As with most martial arts, forms are for beginners to understand all moves, to feel them and learn their rhythm. Then as you progress you break the forms down to their individual moves and begin to practice them so moves never combined in a form can be utilized. Basically Muay Thai skips all that somewhat like advanced freeform fighting. And basically work on short string combos.

[EvoG]

My vote is for one interesting engagment at a time, two at most for dramatic parries/counters. Unless you want God of War or as Kato said, Conan, its rather difficult from that perspective to have compelling 'mass fighting' without it turning into button mashing. As a game abstract, mass-fighting isn't conducive to engaging counter-attack combat, which I find more satisfying. No different than the new tactical style combat in our FPS's...today games like Halo3 feel shallow compared to games like Gears, GRAW, R6 or CoD4.

That and ultimately the pay off is incredible in Ass.Creed. With a singular focus, you get spectacular takedowns which they clearly paid much attention to and got VERY right. The visceral OOMPH I felt...like watching Maximus Decimus Meridius :p in Gladiator jacking homies, and you're there white knuckled ready to start swinging yourself, you're so pumped...thats what I'm talking about!

[karak]

True, but when you've just seen some guy drop off a building and stab your boss in the neck, training or not, you'll probably fight him a bit more conservatively than you would your buddies during sparring. A lot of sword fighting, particularly when you're armored and wielding a heavy weapon, involves blocking and parrying while waiting for an opening.
WAIT...you just proved my point. If you saw the guy do a flying leap off a building and HAD to attack him, the normal behavior would be to...wait for it...team up on him. In a game or in real life. And teaming up would involve attacking at the same time. Not watching Roger get slaughtered then Josh then Andy then decided fuck it I will try.
Again I AM the one saying I want it to be more guys attacking and more fun as a game that way. I never said I wanted 20 people.
It looks dumb by a design standpoint to me to have 7 guards not attacking. Thats what I am saying. If you have to have less guards with more hitpoints. But 8 guys doing the "ants in the pants" last generation dance just isn't cool thats all.

[NationalKato]

karak, I actually hope you'll love AC's combat, as from the developer video on the fighting (on GameTrailers) and other articles - especially how each face button is mapped to a body part (head, left arm, right arm, feet) - it sounds very free and customizable. As a trained swordsman, you might find it more complex than a one-button or clumsy right-thumbstick approach.

[Ink Asylum]

WAIT...you just proved my point. If you saw the guy do a flying leap off a building and HAD to attack him, the normal behavior would be to...wait for it...team up on him. In a game or in real life. And teaming up would involve attacking at the same time. Not watching Roger get slaughtered then Josh then Andy then decided fuck it I will try.
Again I AM the one saying I want it to be more guys attacking and more fun as a game that way. I never said I wanted 20 people.
It looks dumb by a design standpoint to me to have 7 guards not attacking. Thats what I am saying. If you have to have less guards with more hitpoints. But 8 guys doing the "ants in the pants" last generation dance just isn't cool thats all.

I don't know about that ganging up thing. In that situation the best thing to do, in my mind, is try to keep him focused on one or two guys that are fighting conservatively while the other guys take a swing at his back when they're sure he doesn't see them. That kind of looks like how they were fighting in the vids I saw. It's also how a pack of wolves bring down a much bigger animal. They don't all leap on him at once, too many of them will get crushed. They feint and harass from the front and lunge at blind spots from behind.

I would only do the "attack all at once" strategy if it were fist brawling or grappling. In that case numbers definitely increase your odds without creating unnecessary risk.

[karak]

It's also how a pack of wolves bring down a much bigger animal. They don't all leap on him at once, too many of them will get crushed. They feint and harass from the front and lunge at blind spots from behind.

They don't have metal sticks with sharp ends that can easily be STABBED.
However I digress. I am not here to argue how amazing 7 shuffling guards wheeling about without moving their feet will look while 1-2 are attacking as is the case in EVERY video released for this game. I will wait until someone figures out what I mean.

Which is. A more realistic group mentality of attacks OR less enemies on screen wheeling about like non-connected puppets.
And guys...I am stoked for this game. So don't think its cause I am hashing on it. But thats an old design that someone needs to fix. And can EASILY fix with some good design decisions.

[NationalKato]

No, I understand now what you're saying, karak. The original 'mass enemy attack' comment just threw me. It may end up just being a game mechanic where the developers want you to enjoy the game without too much frustration from those pesky swords stabbing you in the back every couple of seconds. That'd get old real quick...but I plan on running across roofs instead of playing Blademaster. ;)

[karak]

but I plan on running across roofs instead of playing Blademaster. ;)

IN all honesty
I do as well

[digitalErich]

I practice kendo (granted, it's more sport than utilitarian) but I'll be damned if I want a game where every fight is 1 or 2 moves before someone is defeated. I want my games to be as real as they can be without sacrificing fun. I'll reserve judgment on the game until I've actually played it (crazy, I know...but that's how I roll).

[president_fred]

It's funny but in the olden days before guns, soldiers would line up and fight each other one-on-one one pair at a time neatly sidestepping the whole group attacking-group/single person dilemma. True story.

[NationalKato]

Does anyone remember Die By the Sword (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_by_the_Sword)? I remember being jazzed for that game when it was announced: mouse-controlled sword fighting with specific contact control. I loved swinging my mouse to target the enemy's weapon arm and watching it lop off at the joint. Gruesome even with all the pixels, but really buggy. It did have multiplayer though...

The unique feature of this game is also the most widely praised. This is the ability for the player to fully control their sword arm, removing the need for pre-recorded animations and statistically-based gameplay. Instead, a physically correct model is used for each avatar and each weapon, and both movement and damage are calculated through forces.

Another innovation that added significant complexity and limitless possibility to the game was the ability to target, and eliminate specific body parts. A very well-placed swing to the head can in some cases instantly decapitate an opponent. Strong blows to the arms and legs can sever limbs, leaving the opponent with reduced mobility, or in the case of the swordarm, no way to inflict damage.

This system adds a surprisingly intricate element of strategy and tactics to an otherwise routine melee. It encourages the deftness of multiple repeated hits to a specific region on the body, thereby slowly dismembering the opponent, and reducing his effectiveness. Delicate locations such as the head and neck, while difficult to strike, offer a quick conclusion to those with the appropriate finesse.

[karak]

Does anyone remember Die By the Sword (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_by_the_Sword)? I remember being jazzed for that game when it was announced: mouse-controlled sword fighting with specific contact control. I loved swinging my mouse to target the enemy's weapon arm and watching it lop off at the joint. Gruesome even with all the pixels, but really buggy. It did have multiplayer though...
Loved that game. I couldn't control the sword worth a shit though and ended up spinning in place to kill dudes but it worked. Sometimes you would end up looking like a blind man trying to feel the world through sword point.

[president_fred]

Loved that game. I couldn't control the sword worth a shit though and ended up spinning in place to kill dudes but it worked. Sometimes you would end up looking like a blind man trying to feel the world through sword point.
Half the characters were like waist high goblins and such so you were crouching in addition to flailing like a blind guy. Few video game moments were more satisfying than a decapitation though, because you earned it.

[NationalKato]

Man, those controls were shit. The default was using the keypad for swings: 4 then 6 was a left-to-right swing. freakin' complex. I remapped to the mouse with a mod later on and it still was tough.

[Apex]

Ive been trying hard not to get excited about this game. Ive been wanting a good sneaky sneaky game for so long since thief.

Sneaky game + large world + non linear gameplay = me wanty

[EvoG]

Sneaky game + large world + non linear gameplay = me wanty

Yes please.


...and while we're at it can we have a THIS-gen Thief...pretty please?! :D

[Chameleo]

would be cool if the sword-fighting was something like bushido blade. bushido blade's fighting always seemed the most realistic to me. (cept when you hit the same injured area 5 times in a row and caused no extra damage)

[BalekFekete]

A few other previews/reviews for the masses:

5/5 from GamePro (http://www.gamepro.com/microsoft/xbox360/games/reviews/146308.shtml)

10/10 from Gamesradar (http://www.gamesradar.com/us/ps3/game/reviews/article.jsp?releaseId=20060502162716256014&articleId=2007110813222743003&sectionId=1000&pageId=20071108132828917003) - careful of last paragraph on first page...MAJOR spoilers.

[DaXIthR]

Great discussion, guys. Thoroughly enjoying it.

From a design perspective, if you've got three or more opponents attacking you at once, then being blind-sided is inevitable. You take unavoidable hits. Unless, it is that you've got a button masher spinning in the disc.

Look at Heavenly Sword. A button masher, unless you want to make it look pretty and cinematic. Look at games like DMC and DMC3. Look at Ninja Gaiden. These three are considered top-tier action games and they don't allow more than a certain number of enemies to attack your opponent at any one time. As I said, if enemies overwhelm you with their numbers, then camera issues and control issues are the least of your worries. The only way to balance that is to give your character an auto-guard feature that prevents blindsiding.

Have you guys played Mark of Kri on PS2? Or how about Eternal Darkness on GC? The latter had an absolutely horrid fighting system with even worse presentation. You held the right trigger to highlight which enemy you want to attack, and the enemy's torso begins to flash. You can then select a part of the body on that enemy to attack. Pushing down on the joystick targeted the legs, left and right targeted each of the arms and up targeted the head.

Basically, every single enemy was fought by targeting the head.

It's pretty clear we've come a long way. I have a hard time saying any design choice was "completely stupid" in any game. I'm not saying that's what is happening in this thread. Just saying that I try to make excuses for the designer by thinking about why they chose a particular approach or technique.

[digitalErich]

Balls, I never did get around to beating Mark of Kri 2. I was almost done, too.

[KingGorilla]

Spoiler, you are in the Matrix in this one.

[Inglorion]

http://www.strategyinformer.com/xbox360/assassinscreed/screenshot-viewer.html?id=171766

Dude, you get to kill Terrorist! Awesome!

[Squidbot]

Squidbot says YES.

[Callador]

Why oh why did they have to release this game so close to CoD4?? :(

[karak]

Why oh why did they have to release this game so close to CoD4?? :(

So you could see what a trully good game is like in the form of Assassins Creed. ;)

[H.Bogard]

Any chance of this game making it over to the PC? I was a little upset when I heard that it wasn't being released on PC, since I am still without a next gen console.

3-4 months after the console releases, in 2008.

[Silverbaine]

in my opinion the game still okks good. The more i see stuff for it, the better it looks. Can't wait.

[BlackPete]

Is it just me, or does that horse look stoned? I wonder what kind of grass they grow in that world :D