Assassin's Creed is a video game being developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. The game is due for release in November 2007.[1] On September 22, 2007, Ubisoft announced the PC version has been delayed until early 2008.[3]
The game takes place during the Third Crusade, in the year 1191. The player assumes the role of Altaïr ('D7'&1, Arabic, "The Flying One"), a member of the Hashshashin sect (the original "assassins"), whose objective is to slay the nine historical figures who are propagating the Crusades. As the player finds and kills these targets, their conspiracy is unveiled. The player will be able to travel through three cities: Jerusalem, Acre and Damascus.
The environment is completely interactive, from the people to the historically accurate cities. These cities are populated by many people, and the way the player controls Altaïr affects how the bystanders around him react to his presence. For example, when going through a crowd, if the player lightly moves someone out of the way, it will not have a significant effect. However, if the player throws someone to the ground and kills them, the crowd may unite against him and he will then have to find a way out. Similarly, if the player shoves a person aside, they may shove him back. If he climbs walls, civilians will gather around, attracting unwanted attention from guards.
Gameplay
The player will be able to grab onto and climb almost any aspect of the environment, which means exploration will be possible to a greater degree than in most other games. Ubisoft boasts that any object that stands out more than two inches will be interactive.
The control scheme in Assassin's Creed will be significantly different from that of the typical game. Rather than explicitly specifying what actions Altaïr will take, the player presses buttons corresponding to his various body parts and the game attempts to figure out what action should be taken. For example, running toward a wall and pressing the "legs" button will cause Altaïr to jump over a wall, while pressing the "arms without weapons" button will cause him to vault it. Virtually all movement through the environment can be done with just the left thumbstick alone, including walking, running, climbing, jumping, and swinging from poles. The only movement exception appears to be sprinting and starting a wall climb, which requires one to be sprinting first. Also, at the E3 2007 playable demo, pressing the R1 button will switch Altair from free-running mode to fighting mode However, when moving through crowds at a run you will stumble over anyone you run into, so you can also shove people aside as you run past to move faster and avoid tripping. It has not been revealed what the control scheme will be for PC users.
A major selling point is "social stealth": the ability to blend in with a crowd (as opposed to simply hiding in shadows) by performing actions that would be socially inconspicuous; for instance disguising the character among a crowd of monks, as was shown in the trailer.
It also appears that the player will be able to battle many historical figures, including the Order of the Knights Templar.
Background
News has also circulated about a "sci-fi twist", due to information from developer interviews, and some effects visible in trailers of the game. It is theorized that the historical setting may be a simulation, or perhaps some sort of genetic memory, for purposes of training or other gain, being undertaken by an unknown group in the present or near future. During a trailer shown at E3, the screen would glitch and go fuzzy at times, and at one point where Altaïr is killed, the screen fades to black and then shows a head's up display with the words "computer offline" with a woman in a labcoat behind the display. Trailers shown at E3 07 reveal further evidence of this, such as a futuristic looking health bar, effects resembling readouts surrounding locked-on enemies and a rather lengthy conversation with a dying enemy surrounded by a white background. Ubisoft has confirmed that Assassin's Creed will be part of a trilogy, and has also stated that one or both of the sequels may have a futuristic setting.[citation needed]
In support of the idea that it centers around genetic memory, structural formulas for nucleic acids, apparently arranged into a strand of DNA, can be found in the background of the official website. [5]
On September 28, 2006, in an interview with IGN, producer Jade Raymond confirmed that Altaïr is "a medieval hitman with a mysterious past" and that he is not a time traveler.[6]
The producers of the game take pride in its historical accuracy. The locations in the game are distinctive models of the cities. All of Altaïr's targets are also historic leaders who died or disappeared in the year 1191 (though not necessarily assassinated).
Source: Wikipedia
So what are your thoughts?
England; time setters for the entire world.