I can’t tell what’s funnier: the hilariously random bear dance, or the cynical note at the end.

Parkour, or l’art du déplacement, is the embodyment of freedom of both the mind and body, and having great spatial awareness. This is not to be mistaken with “free running” which differs in just trying to look flashy and possibly break a few bones in the process. Parkour is a technique that focuses more on efficiency, getting from point A to point B, in order to reach a destination and/or escape from pursuers, as shown in this clip:

Assassin’s Creed is the portal for gamers to finally see what parkour is about, without the risk of injury.

You play as a young man trapped in a futuristic scientific laboratory, forced to lie on a virtual reality machine mysteriously dubbed “The Animus”. Through the Animus, you are transported to yet another sub-universe; the universe of the character’s ancestor, Altair, in the year 1191. Frankly I just couldn’t figure out what Ubisoft was trying to accomplish by creating a world-within-a-world plot device, except for a way to introduce a “you’re not really dead, just de-synchronized from your character” concept, but since when do we really need to be reminded that when we die in a videogame (or any virtual world for that matter), it’s not real?

While we’re on the subject of the small flaws of the game, let’s move onto the actual core of the gameplay. You’re presented with various modes ranging from pickpocketing, eavesdropping(ooh, sitting on a bench and listening to npc’s, how fun), easter-egg flag hunting, saving innocents, climbing to designated “perch and brood” spots, and finally, assassination. The PC version even adds two new experiences in the mix: rooftop guard killing, and merchant shop wrecking. With the exception of eavesdropping, all of these game elements seem perfectly sensible for immersing players into the assassin’s shady world view. The reality? Well, visually, nothing could look better than it does in-game. Once again we are reminded that a pretty package doesn’t amount to very much if it has no substance.

Although these elements translate well visually, they don’t translate as well physically. Whether you’re doing fantastic parkour stunts, or fighting guards or pickpocketing, a lot of them simply involve holding down two buttons at the same time (up arrow and the action button, for example) and hardly much else. The challenge only lies upon timing, and frankly for a stealth action game, we’ve seen better sources of challenge from such big titles as Metal Gear Solid, or even Ubisoft’s other game, Splinter Cell. They involved complex mechanics to go about your missions, whereas in Assassin’s Creed, you are left with various small objectives across the map, each with what feels like very shallow gameplay. Almost all of them involve no active thought, and it seems that casual gamers would have a field day with this one. Due to this, the game only feels like it has a handful of gaming to offer divided into A,B,C,D,E, and it doesn’t matter whether you do the tasks, or which order you do them in. This creates a lack of advancement into new gameplay elements and makes one despair at the notion that this is all this beautiful looking game has to offer in the experience department.

If only the developers had the time and resources to fully flesh out the gameplay a bit more, this could have been a grade-A game.

On a brighter note, the presentation still stands strong despite the boring gameplay, and if one allows it, it can easily suck you into its immersive and expansive world. The storyline is also interesting enough to keep you going on, and uncover the mystery behind the Animus project and what it has to do with your alleged ancestor’s memories, so all is not lost in the grand scheme of things.

With all due respect to Nintendo trying their own “thing”, this video perfectly encapsulates what it all amounts to.

Props to sarcasticgamer.com for creating this humorous take on the recent phenomenon.