Why Can't I Enjoy Assassin's Creed? (by Carl B.)

October 17, 2011, by Carl B. - It would be a lie to say that everyone has to enjoy games that are critically acclaimed. There are always titles for each gamer that they don't seem to get – for me it's the Assassin's Creed series. The series has seen great reception, with the first game sporting an 81 average on Metacritic and the most recent installment, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, has a 91 average. Is there something wrong with me, or is Assassin's Creed incredibly overrated?

On the surface, Assassin's Creed is something that would be very appealing to fans of fantasy titles, such as myself. Each game features a large world and pseudo-timetravel – sounds pretty awesome already.


I played Assassin's Creed II extensively, but I didn't find the gameplay to be particularly engaging or even fun. The biggest problem with Assassin's Creed is that it masquerades as an open world adventure and plays as a linear, stealth based action game.

It wasn't necessarily stealth that was off-putting for me. Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a sandbox shooter/RPG with a heavy emphasis on stealth, and I couldn't love that game more.

I also felt like Assassin's Creed II held my hand way too much. Every game in the series is mission based and very linear – something I generally don't mind – but ACII went out of its way to tell me what I had to do, and punish me if I didn't do it exactly how the game wanted. This happened early on in the game several times, one where an angry mob attacks the player and one where players have to climb up a tower with another character in the game.

That's not to say that everything about Assassin's Creed II was awful. The combat wasn't intuitive at all, but the stealth sections and Grand Theft Auto-style police escape mechanic were pretty well done.


Maybe I was looking for a Zelda type experience on PS3, and I turned to Assassin's Creed to fill that void. Or maybe it stems from a dislike of the game's publisher, Ubisoft – as far as I'm concerned, the only good game they've released this generation has been Red Steel 2. I'm obviously a bit reluctant to give Assassin's Creed the praise that so many others have given it.