Assassin's Creed®: Director's Cut

There is a current issue with both the steam version and now the GOG version where the game consistently freezes for at least 5 seconds every couple of minutes (even shorter intervals if you happen to be particularly unlucky). According to what I have investigated about the game, this is because it is trying to ping a now defunct server because they used to use the server to track user statistics. As such, it seems like this is going to be a problem forever now because the ones currently in charge of the game 'don't have enough time' to spend on fixing their mistake. Thanks Ubisoft, for somehow ruining a single player game made all the way back in 2007.

This, right here, is Assassin's Creed at its purest. Far too many people tend to overlook the first one because it's just so different from subsequent entries. Sure, it's repetitive as all hell sometimes, and its age shows in that regard, but I still consider it to be my absolute favorite in the series. As for this port, it comes from that age where PC ports were an afterthought handled by the B team, but I think it's pretty alright, all things considered. This is the only game where I'd recommend turning V-sync on, because the physics are tied to the framerate, and for some reason, switching on V-sync fixes a lot of annoying issues in that regard. As for the controls, it plays surprisingly well on mouse and keyboard to the point where I actually kind of prefer it over a controller, provided you rebind your keys to your liking. I'd also recommend turning off your HUD and using headphones. Final verdict: You should absolutely give it a shot, but get it on sale.

Even though I did not finish the game I decided to write this. For the time of its making the game looks very nice and it introduces very interesting concepts of using the space. Meaning; climbing, running on buildings, horse riding etc. Whole idea of the game is also nice and the feeling of medieval middle east and views are great. But after completing first part in first city it somehow becomes same. Honestly after about 30 climbed towers, I did not want to do it any more no matter the view. The same for saving citizens etc. Combat mechanics are weird. You can watch yourself massacre hords of enemies, but actually what you do is hit them three times, fourth kills (quicker later on). When you are dealing with one, other enemies mostly wait to die afterwards rarely approaching to hit you. Overall, good game, and probably very good reason for parkour to get super popular, but I had no patience to go through all the things over and over again.

Yes, the missions leading up to an assassination are repeated time and time again. Yes, the guards mark you for death as if you had a neon sign attached to your back saying "I'm an assassin, Shhh". Yes the flag collecting and minor-templar killing are entirely pointless. Yes the plot goes a little wonky towards the end. Yes the last half hour has a ton of unavoidable swordfights. Yes the final boss is a pain in the ass. But the atmosphere is perfect, the free running and jumping is incredible fun, the sword fighting is perfect (A minority opinion I know, but I took fencing, trust me on this). Most of the plot is gripping even if it does get a bit weird. But most important of all are the assassination missions themselves. They can be a little too scripted, especially if you get noticed, but there is nothing quite like killing a man on high alert on a ship in the middle of a harbor with close to 100 guards without him seeing you before it's too late. And on almost every mission, if you plan and time things right, you can pull off a perfect kill. But if you don't plan quite enough, if you fail to take out one of the archers guarding him, if he sees you before you get quite close enough; You know it was your fault. Now you half to chase him down, or take on him and his guards in a straight up fight. This can be thrilling too, but the knowledge that you could have done better is what makes this game unique. This is what it's sequels failed at. The simple idea that now you have to do things the hard way and it's your own damn fault. And that is why I love this game, despite it's faults, even more than it's (also excellent) sequels.

No DLC, No Microtransactions, No Inventory, No Gigantic Open World with a ton of empty space, No RPG Elements, No Bloat. True Assassin Action This game still feels good to play after all this time, The cutscenes are done excellently You can turn off all the HUD and still be able to play without problems Main complaints are the crazy Pop-In / LOD, everything will just appear right in your eyes when traveling even on max settings. There is no solution (yet) Repetitiveness / Easy. The counter and blocks are overpowered, making combat a cakewalk. The same NPC dialogue is heard ALL the time, it gets annoying really, and the act of doing certain actions over and over again... I recommend installing the EaglePatchAC1 to get the most stable experience, Including fixing a gameplay issue and a freezing issue