I Played Assassin's Creed 1 In 2023... Here's my thoughts (Review)

Summary

This video script reviews the original 2007 game, Assassin's Creed, discussing its foundational role in the series and its shortcomings such as repetitive gameplay, a bland color palette, and bugs. Despite its weak story and lack of depth in gameplay mechanics, the game is praised for its combat system and is considered worth playing for those seeking a deeper dive into the Assassin's Creed franchise, especially if acquired at a low price.

Takeaways

• 🎮 Assassin's Creed 1, released in 2007, is the original game that started the franchise and focused on assassinating Templars.
• 🔍 The game received criticism for its repetitive structure, bland color palette, and bugs, but it laid the foundation for future titles.
• 🕵️‍♂️ The protagonist, Altair, is an arrogant assassin seeking redemption and relearning his abilities throughout the game.
• 📚 The story is considered the weakest part of the game, with a lack of engaging themes and memorable side characters.
• 🗣️ Voice acting and sound design were criticized, particularly for Altair's character, with the original actor not returning for later games.
• 🤺 The combat system in Assassin's Creed 1 is praised for being more engaging than in later entries, with a mix of light and heavy attacks, dodges, and counters.
• 🏰 The game's open-world exploration and climbing mechanics were innovative at the time but may feel dated compared to newer titles.
• 🔪 Stealth mechanics are basic, with players primarily walking slowly and stabbing enemies in the back to avoid detection.
• 🎯 The game's missions are repetitive and scripted, offering little choice in how to approach assassinations.
• 🏹 Side activities in the game are limited, with players finding flags and completing challenges, which some may find boring.
• 💰 For those interested in the Assassin's Creed series, the original game might be worth purchasing for a low price, but it's not essential for those who have played the sequels.

Q & A

Is Assassin's Creed 1 still worth playing in 2023?

While the original Assassin's Creed has been criticized for its repetitive structure and bugs, it is still worth playing for those interested in the series' origins or who have never played it before, especially considering its foundational role in the franchise.

What were the main criticisms of the original Assassin's Creed game?

The original Assassin's Creed was criticized for its repetitive gameplay structure, bland color palette, and bugs, particularly on PC where Altair could lose momentum and fall to his death.

How does the story of Assassin's Creed 1 compare to its sequels?

The story of Assassin's Creed 1 is considered weaker and more repetitive compared to its sequels, with a focus on Altair's redemption and regaining his abilities, and lacking the depth and character development found in later games.

What is the main character's name in Assassin's Creed 1 and what is his journey about?

The main character's name is Altair. His journey in Assassin's Creed 1 is about redemption, learning from his mistakes, and relearning his abilities after being shunned by other assassins due to his arrogance.

How does the combat system in Assassin's Creed 1 compare to later games in the series?

The combat system in Assassin's Creed 1 is considered stronger than in Assassin's Creed Odyssey and the Kenway Saga, offering a mix of light and heavy attacks, dodges, and counters, despite being described as 'Bare Bones'.

What are the main activities in the cities of Assassin's Creed 1?

In Assassin's Creed 1, the main activities in the cities include finding flags spread across the map and completing occasional eavesdropping or free wound challenges, which some players may find boring due to the lack of variety.

How does the reviewer suggest playing Assassin's Creed 1 to enhance the experience?

The reviewer suggests treating Assassin's Creed 1 like a Hitman game, focusing on the assassination of targets with no choice in how it's done, but appreciating the interesting ways each target can be approached.

What is the reviewer's opinion on the voice acting and sound design of Assassin's Creed 1?

The reviewer criticizes the voice acting for Altair's character as terrible and the sound design as being of 360p quality, which contributes to the game's dated feel.

How does the reviewer describe the stealth system in Assassin's Creed 1?

The reviewer describes the stealth system in Assassin's Creed 1 as 'Bare Bones,' involving basic mechanics like walking slowly and stabbing people in the back, with limited options for player creativity.

What is the reviewer's recommendation for those who have played previous Assassin's Creed games?

For those who have played previous Assassin's Creed games, the reviewer suggests that there is little point in playing the original game unless they are seeking more of the series' content despite its repetitive nature.

What is the reviewer's suggestion for the price to consider when buying Assassin's Creed 1?

The reviewer suggests buying Assassin's Creed 1 for around ten dollars or less, considering its age and the availability of more advanced sequels in the series.

Outlines

00:00

🎮 'Assassin's Creed' Original Game Review

This paragraph reviews the original 'Assassin's Creed' game, discussing its place as the foundation of the series despite its flaws. The game, released in 2007, is criticized for its repetitive gameplay, bland color palette, and bugs. However, the reviewer argues that the game's story of Altair's redemption and the freedom it offers in terms of climbing and free-running make it worth playing, even in 2023. The narrative is considered weak with forgettable side characters and poor voice acting, but the game's cliffhanger ending suggests potential. The combat system is praised for being surprisingly robust, despite the game's age.

05:01

🕹 Gameplay and Nostalgia in 'Assassin's Creed 1'

The second paragraph delves into the gameplay experience of 'Assassin's Creed 1,' highlighting its simplicity and the lack of player choice in mission execution, which is likened to the 'Hitman' series. The missions are described as scripted and repetitive, yet the method of assassination for each target is noted as interesting. The stealth mechanics are basic, and the cities, while interactive, lack depth in terms of activities. The combat system, however, is considered strong for the game's era, with a mix of attacks, dodges, and counters. The paragraph concludes by reflecting on the game's dated nature but acknowledges its value for those seeking more from the 'Assassin's Creed' series, suggesting a purchase price of around ten dollars.

Keywords

💡Assassin's Creed

Assassin's Creed is a popular video game franchise that started in 2007. The series is known for its historical settings, open-world gameplay, and a narrative that revolves around the conflict between the Assassins and the Templars. In the video, the original game, 'Assassin's Creed 1', is being reviewed, highlighting its significance as the foundation of the series.

💡Open world

An open-world game is one where players can roam freely in a virtual world, exploring various locations and engaging in activities at their own pace. The video script mentions that 'Assassin's Creed' offers this type of gameplay, allowing players to climb and free run on almost anything within its cities, which is a key feature of the game.

💡Combat

Combat in video games refers to the act of fighting or engaging in battle, often involving physical attacks, dodging, and using weapons. The script discusses the combat system of 'Assassin's Creed 1', noting that it has a mix of light and heavy attacks, dodges, and counters, which is considered a strong point of the game despite being basic.

💡Stealth

Stealth in gaming involves the use of strategy and tactics to avoid detection by enemies. The video mentions that 'Assassin's Creed 1' has a basic stealth system where players can walk slowly and stab enemies in the back, which is a fundamental mechanic in the series.

💡Bugs

In the context of video games, bugs are errors or glitches that cause unintended behavior or issues. The script describes a specific bug in 'Assassin's Creed 1' where the character Altair loses momentum and falls, leading to death or frustration, indicating a negative aspect of the game's design.

💡Story

The story in a video game is the narrative or plot that drives the gameplay and provides context for the player's actions. The script criticizes the story of 'Assassin's Creed 1' for being repetitive and lacking depth, with a focus on the redemption of the protagonist Altair.

💡Voice acting

Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs for characters in video games. The video script mentions that the voice acting for Altair in 'Assassin's Creed 1' is terrible, with the actor not even returning for a later game in the series, which affects the overall quality of the game's narrative.

💡Gameplay mechanics

Gameplay mechanics refer to the rules and systems that govern how a game is played. The script notes that 'Assassin's Creed 1' has recognizable mechanics that were built upon in subsequent games, but it also points out that the game is bare-bones in comparison to later entries in the series.

💡Repetition

Repetition in gaming refers to the recurrence of similar tasks or missions without significant variation. The video criticizes 'Assassin's Creed 1' for its repetitive structure, where players perform similar actions throughout the game without much thematic exploration or variety.

💡Bare Bones

Bare Bones, in the context of video games, refers to a basic or minimal version of a game that lacks additional features or complexity. The script repeatedly uses this term to describe 'Assassin's Creed 1', indicating that while it has the foundational elements, it does not offer the depth or variety found in later games.

💡Redemption

Redemption in a narrative context is the act of making up for past wrongs or mistakes. The script explains that the story of 'Assassin's Creed 1' revolves around the protagonist Altair's journey of redemption, learning from his past arrogance and regaining his status among the Assassins.

Highlights

Assassin's Creed, released in 2007, is the original game that started the franchise, focusing on assassinating Templars in an open-world setting.

The game was criticized for its repetitive structure, bland color palette, and bugs, but it laid the foundation for future sequels.

Assassin's Creed 1 is considered the weakest in the series due to its simple gameplay mechanics and lack of depth in story and characters.

The protagonist, Altair, embarks on a journey of redemption, learning from his mistakes and regaining his abilities and equipment.

The game's story is repetitive and lacks interesting themes, with a plot that only thickens towards the end with a few twists.

Side characters are mostly bland and forgettable, with only a few, like Elmo Alim and Robert, leaving any impression.

Voice acting and sound design are criticized as being of poor quality, detracting from the overall experience.

Despite its shortcomings, Assassin's Creed 1 is appreciated for being a short game, avoiding the bloat of some sequels.

The game's foundation includes core mechanics that would be expanded upon in later titles, making it recognizable to series fans.

Assassin's Creed 1 offers basic gameplay elements such as free running, parkour, and stealthy assassinations.

The missions are scripted, limiting player choice in how to approach and complete objectives.

The combat system in the first game is considered surprisingly strong, with a mix of light and heavy attacks, dodges, and counters.

The game's exploration and climbing mechanics were innovative for their time but may seem dated compared to later entries in the series.

Assassin's Creed 1 is recommended for those seeking a more basic and bare-bones experience in the series, especially at a lower price point.

The reviewer suggests that if you've played previous Assassin's Creed games, there may be little reason to revisit the original.

For those interested in the entire Assassin's Creed series, a new series covering every game is being produced, inviting viewers to subscribe.

Transcripts

should you buy Assassin's Creed in 2023

Assassin's Creed 1 is the original

Assassin's Creed the Assassin's Creed

that spawned countless sequels improving

upon its foundation eventually losing

any resemblance to this 2007 open world

Assassin's Creed game about

assassinating Templars Assassin's Creed

was criticized for its repetitive

structure its Bland color palette which

is pretty much Brown and gray and

finally for its bugs but is Assassin's

Creed still worth playing in 2023 after

all of the sequels that released and

many of them are considered better than

the original so let's see if it's worth

playing I mean that's why I'm here

welcome back to Jack's game reviews and

if you're new just welcome hi how you

doing hope you're having a good day

foreign

became about gods and Spartan kicks and

all that jazz it was a simple game about

assassinating targets while giving you

the freedom to climb and Free Run on

almost anything set in an open world

with a few cities split between load and

screens Assassin's Creed has a big focus

on close range combat and stealth while

trying to convey a story that just isn't

that great it's a great Foundation but

here's why it's the original and

arguably the weakest Assassin's Creed

game and why it does get some

unjustified hate let's go the books

first off aren't really that bad at

least on PC anyway the only bug I

consistently got which annoyed the crap

out of me was a bug where if you jump

too far Altair the guy you play as will

literally lose all momentum and just

drop resulting in death or just a

frustrated sigh you know it's just a

waste of time that's pretty much the

only bug I had during my play time this

year apart from you know like weird

ragdolls but I don't really count them

as books they're just hilarious

I did as I was asked no you did as you

pleased the story of Assassin's Creed 1

is in my opinion the weakest part of the

entire game and that's saying something

because it is really repetitive at times

but you know I'll get to the gameplay in

just a minute Assassin's Creed 1 is

focused on an assassin called Altair

Altair worked his way up the ranks of

the Assassin since he was a child but

remains extremely arrogant causing a ton

of mass due to his actions which leads

to a character death and essentially

being shunned by other assassins the

story is about his Redemption learning

from his mistakes while relearning his

abilities and regaining his equipment

and that's about it I'm not lying that's

pretty much it of course the plot

thickens towards the end of the game

with a couple twists but that happens

about 95 of the way through of

Assassin's Creed 1 so you're literally

doing the same thing over and over again

without really exploring many themes or

you know anything that's interesting

story wise it's a really lackluster

story and it clearly was not the focus

of development time but it's clear

Ubisoft knew they had something things

special due to the Cliffhanger ending

most of the side characters are bland

and forgettable I mean the only

characters I actually remember is Elmore

Lim Elmo Alim I always I always ruin his

name Elmo Alim Altair's master and

Robert or something he was the main

villain I generally could not tell you

who any of the other characters are

outside of those two from on the top of

my head whereas Assassin's Creed 2 free

you know etc etc I could do all that in

a heartbeat you know hey from uh

Leonardo Mario Claudia Rodrigo Borger

cesare Borgia Charles Lee you get the

point Robert de sarbavi say his name is

a really weak villain he kind of just

stands around and screams for a bit and

then disappears at the start of the game

then you never see him again till the

very end of the game so yeah I mean I'm

repeating myself here at this point but

he's weak like the rest of the story

which just makes me value the newer

games slightly more it's not helped by

the straight up terrible voice acting

for Altair's character and the 360p

sound design for most aspects like the

amber events in the open world Etc sound

design is still pretty bad in Assassin's

Creed 1. I mean it's always been pretty

bad on Assassin's Creed games but it's

never been as bad as Assassin's Creed

Odyssey but I'm not going to get into

that because someone's gonna be the

ghosts

I mean the actor for Altair didn't even

return for Assassin's Creed Revelations

because he was that bad or he just

didn't want to return or something but I

just I just thought he was terrible the

new actor in Revelations did a much

better job with less screen time so the

story is far from a mess but it's just

extremely boring and even I have to

admit it might be the weakest story in

the franchise yes even weaker than

Assassin's Creed Valhalla but at least

Assassin's Creed 1 is short and not 60

hours long

all this time I never told you I was

sorry too damn proud as I said in my

previous Assassin's Creed review about a

year ago Assassin's Creed 1 is the

foundation for everything that was built

in Assassin's Creed up until Assassin's

Creed Origins back in 2017. if you

played any Assassin's Creed game between

2007 and 2016 you'll probably recognize

a ton of gameplay mechanics but notice

that it is fairly Bare Bones when

compared to them don't worry you're not

high you're right Assassin's Creed 1 is

just the most basic Assassin's Creed

game you can play today you free run

parkour fight stab explore and stealthy

way through Assassin's Creed for about

10 hours depending on how much you

decide to explore I always say the best

way to play Assassin's Creed is to treat

it as a Hitman game specifically Hitman

Absolution since you have no real choice

in how you tackle and kill all of your

targets you literally have no choice

apart from how long you take to kill a

Target it's extremely scripted making

the actual missions pretty disappointing

the whole point of Assassins is to

assassinate things so if you can't get

that right in your Assassin's Creed game

you're in for a tough ride when it comes

to reviews that being said I still

enjoyed assassinating targets they give

you no choice on how it's done but the

way you have to assassinate many of your

targets is genuinely interesting

bringing a new idea to each Target

sometimes you'll be forced to stealthy

way through or you'll have to fight off

20 other people to get to your target

which is pretty cool I do think it's a

little unfair for me to compare it to

the Hitman Games The Hitman games are

just the Ultimate Assassin experience I

don't think most people disagree on that

but it's still clear that the repetitive

main missions and lack of player

creativity combine to create a pretty

mind-numbing experience unfortunately

the stealth is really Bare Bones but

this is the case for almost every

Assassin's Creed game you walk slowly

and stab people in the back and that's

about it you can hide in certain areas

to end chases and things like that but

it's just once again it's super Bare

Bones I'm honestly surprised that the

majority of people give Assassin's Creed

a pass for its stealth system in every

single Assassin's Creed game Ubisoft

made Splinter Cell man I know they can

do better but they just choose not to

listen I don't hate it but it does lack

something that other Assassin's Creed

games have

foreign

the most irritating part to play in 2023

back in 2008 I'm sure people were Amazed

by it it was fantastic we'd never seen

the level of interactivity you could get

from Assassin's Creed one when it comes

to exploring and climbing everything in

sight but today it's obviously going to

be lacking the cities look boring

there's nothing to really do in those

cities apart from finding Flags spread

across the map and doing the occasional

eavesdrop or free wound challenge which

is well yeah it's pretty damn boring but

the most surprising part and it always

surprises me every time I come back to

play Assassin's Creed 1 is the combat

system I actually think this combat

system is stronger than Assassin's Creed

Odyssey and the Kenway Saga you get a

mix of light attacks heavy attacks

Dodges and counters and daggers and

throws and while there is a limit to

what you can do I genuinely think it's

one of the stronger combat systems in

this series animations look clean and

work most of the time and they all blend

in well not causing any issues like

clipping or anything like that but once

again that's it as much as I like the

combat system it is Bare Bones they

should call Assassin's Creed one The

Bare Bones Edition because it's Bare

Bones there's not much to it there's no

customization there's no mix-up of

animations you probably see the same

animation over and over again and I'm

not knocking it I mean this is 2008 or

2007 whenever it came out but it's dated

that's the reality man it's dated at

this point I still think it's better

than the Kenway Saga the Kenway Saga you

just you press counter and you kill

that's literally the entire combat

system you don't get heavy attacks you

don't get light attacks you just Spam

Square which is really annoying but I'll

get into that when I reach those games

in this brand new series where I'm going

through every single Assassin's Creed

game so if you're interested in that you

should hit subscribe just to see more

content like this Assassin's Creed 1 is

very Bare Bones it has a great ideas but

it fails to really capitalize on those

ideas until its sequels released a few

years later it's a great Foundation but

if you've played previous Assassin's

Creed games then there really is no

point in you playing Assassin's Creed

one but if you're looking for more

Assassin's Creed for some reason and

you've never played this one you just

want more and you want more you don't

care how repetitive it is yeah it's

probably worth buying I'd buy it for

like a tenor or less I think now but

then again I'm not really after more

Assassin's Creed I've got to play the

entire series again so you know take

that with a grain of salt thank you for

watching and if you enjoyed the video

smash that like button I really

appreciate it and maybe even subscribe

thanks