Assassin's Creed Review

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(More customer reviews)This is on of the most anticipated games to be ported to PCs. For this, the Director's Cut edition was produced, adding some content over the console versions (mostly rooftop action missions), and care was taken to make the gamepad to keyboard/mouse-transition as seamless as possible. For the most part it was successful.
This is a TREMENDOUSLY BEAUTIFULLY GAME. The first thing that grabs you is how REAL the city environments feel. The graphics are just OUT OF THIS WORLD! You will need a very good PC to enjoy their full potential (minimum requirements provided below), but real skies, dynamic shadows, facial expressions and realistically flowing robes are only beginning to describe it! Run on a roof and the other citizens will gather around and comment on your crazy behavior! Throw someone on a vendor's cart and he will come after you complaining about his ruined produce! And the city is alive well beyond your character. If only BIOWARE could take some lessons for its next BALDUR's GATE...
Adding to this is the wonderful sound! From the crowd murmurs and the NTCs cries for help, to the whistling of the wind and the well-chosen background music, a good sound-card and speakers set is recommended to truly enjoy this game. If you have a 5.1 speaker system (I do not) I can imagine the experience to become even more immersing.
As to the gameplay, you control Altaïr ibn La-Ahad ("The Flying One, Son of None"). He is a member of the Assassin Brotherhood that sides, well, with both...sides, during the 3rd Crusade. In a story twist, he is also your ancestor, the game being your/his flashback memories. This is a twist I could do without, but I would guess it lays groundwork for the sequels.
The Third person perspective works beautifully and will never loose your interest. Most missions require sneaking and murdering in the shadows. Others will have you eavesdropping for passwords or pickpocketing documents to gain access into target buildings. Some will have you sharpen those sword skills. Still, the game does not avoid its share of stupid "keep this...suicidal character from getting killed" missions. Keep in mind though that ASSASSIN's CREED is rather a strategically thinking action TPS, not a hack&slash fast-paced one.
Controlling your character with a keyboard/mouse takes a lot of getting used to as you have to manage running, climbing, fighting as well as modifying your actions from low to high visibility. The keys are remapable but their complexity will never let you forget you are playing a game. Now for some bad news.
These are the official MINIMUM Requirements:
* Pentium D 2.6GHz (YES, Dual Core!) (or AMD equivalent)
* 1GB RAM (WinXP) or 2GB (WinVISTA) (3GB RECOMMENDED!)
* nVidia 6800 (or Shader Model 3.0 compliant or ATI equivalent)
* Dual-Layer DVD-ROM (or BluRay disc)
* 12GB HDD Space (although my install folder was no larger than 7GB)
As one can see, this is worse than CRYSIS! What I cannot get is how on earth ASSASSIN works on only 512MB of RAM of the XBox, yet it is recommended to have...3GB of RAM on a PC! Sure, the extra content is nice but who did the porting, unpaid interns? Has ANY PC optimization been attempted at all?
Keep also in mind that (as with CRYSIS) in order to fully enjoy the game, barely meeting the minimum requirements means you will barely experience the game. I refuse to deal with WinVISTA so, obviously, this review pertains to DirectX-9. The game is also DirectX-10 compatible, something I cannot comment on though. And now for some good news.
UBISOFT has been recently hit with a $5million class-action suit for hardware (OK, "allegedly") damaged by StarForce bundled with its games. Since, they have announced to be abandoning its StarForce partnership - so let's all rejoice: unlike other UBISOFT games, ASSASSIN's CREED does NOT sport StarForce! Instead, a much milder SafeDisc is used.
It is a pity it took litigation to finally listen to their own customers (suing StarForce would make much more sense, but try finding them in Russia!), but let's count our blessings.
So, overall, this is a well made and beautiful, immersing (although quite short) game that needed more work in PC optimization (where it looses 1 star Overall) and character control (where it looses 1 star for Fun).
As Altair himself would have put it: "Nothing is true. Everything is permitted."
Well, not everything - and certainly NOT StarForce.

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Prince of Persia: Sands of Time Review

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(More customer reviews)Let me start off by saying this is one of the best games I've played in a LONG time! I thoroughly enjoyed it and I beat it within a few days because I couldn't stop playing it. And I barely ever take the time to finish games. ;) I never played any other Prince of Persia games, so I don't know how true it is to the previous versions.
I played the PC version, which took a little getting used to. The controls are a little awkward, but once you figure them out it's easy enough. The only time I had real control issues was during battles. I tend to use the "W" key the most to move, but when the camera angles suddenly change, "W" doesn't go the same direction it did before causing some frustration during tough battles!
There is a battle early on in the game which is EXTREMELY difficult. I had a horrible time beating it, I probably replayed it 60 or 70 times before I got it. The bad guys in this game are especially tough because first you have to kill them with your sword, then you have to stab them with your dagger (if you don't, they come back to life). They also teleport, so if you try to run away, they just teleport to where you are. My strategy during a lot of battles was to run away until one teleported to me, kill that one, then run the opposite direction and repeat. After beating that tough battle though, the rest of the battles in the game seemed almost easy. I guess that battle is like a learning experience. ;)
Most of the game is made up of puzzles and boobytraps you have to figure out and get around. Intermixed are a few battles here and there. The storyline is really cute, I loved it. Normally the storylines in these types of games are pretty cheesy, but I really got in to this one. :) The graphics are pretty good, though I did crack up a little when one of the characters would be talking and whenever they opened their mouth, you could see the wall behind them through their head. ;)
The one disappointment I had is that the end is very anticlimactic. The big bad guy is someone you fight all alone and he's incredibly easy to beat. I beat him the first try in only a few minutes. Other than that, I really enjoyed the game. It's been a long time since I've enjoyed a game this much! And this is only the second or third game I've ever played through to completion. I'd LOVE a sequel or expansion, because while the game was great, it's not as fun to play again when you already can answer all the puzzles. ;) 5 stars though, despite a few minor faults it's by far one of the best games on the market right now.

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In my quest for redemption...not even my death canstop meProduct InformationIn medieval Persia Earth’s mightiest and most mysterious kingdom a kingand his son defeat the powerful Maharajah and kidnap his daughter looting hispalace of priceless treasure including an extravagant hourglass and amysterious dagger. What the Prince does not realize is that these twoobjects can turn their possessor into an immortal god and give him control overtime itself. Tricked by a dying Vizier bent on harnessing this terrible magicfor himself the Prince releases the sands of time destroying a kingdom andturning its populace into ferocious demons. Only the Prince the Vizier andPrincess Farah the kidnapped daughter of the Maharajah remain unchanged. Nowit is up to the young Prince of Persia to call upon every resource and ounce ofcourage he possesses to save his kingdom and redeem his fatal mistake.The Sands of Time is a strange and mystical force that allows players toseamlessly bend the fabrics of time granting them a number of astoundingpowers. In terms of gameplay these powers grant The Prince the ability tofight harder fight fearlessly and fight with more strategic flexibility.There are five known powers of the Sands of Time:The Power of Revival: Face danger with the ability to journey backin time. The Power of Delay: Slow the passing of time The Power of Restraint: Freeze enemies in time while you remainmoving. The Power of Haste: Accelerate the passing of time and slashenemies at the speed of light The Power of Destiny: Behold startling visions of the future Product FeaturesA technological masterpieceWitness some of the most advanced programming in gaming history pushing thelimitations of consoles and raising the standards of games in all areas ofproduction: physics lighting graphics animations and more!An unmatched heroWielding powers of mythic proportions the Prince returns toaction-

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