By now we've all read the 1up review of Assassin's Creed and cursed that website up and down.

But sinse then we've seen the exact same score from Eurogamer and gamespy, with only slightly better reviews from several other sources. the 360's version has a score of 81% on Gamerankings with 14 scores in. The PS3 version is sitting with a slightly higher 84.3%, but that seems to be attributed to different sources more than a difference between versions.

When we consider what was said and believed about this game before it's release (remember all that "This is the first true Next Gen experience" stuff?), are we about to look at a major failure? Most reviews agree that while the game itself is lacking, the living city and free climbing are incredible experiences, the likes of which have never been seen in another game. Is that enough? Will people take the good with the bad? Or will the inability to live up to what was promised effect this game's opinions and sales?

 Fable is one of my favourite games on the Xbox, but a lot of people think poorly of it because it didn't life up to the insane expectations that were foisted upon it. 

 Is this game the real Fable 2?

discuss? 

This is what's ruining gaming, nitpicking. It was over hyped by it's still an amazing game. Above average reviews are not something to scoff at.

Lair says hi.

Assasins Creed may be the second next gen disappointment, but I doubt it will live up to the huge crashing and burning of the first.

Uh, well, I'd call Lair the first, but I don't know...I don't like the term "next-gen" anyway. This is a Prince of Persia-esque genre game, with new features, new graphics...not a bad thing, but I don't know what really qualifies as "next-gen"...

I never understood the title - I thought LAIR was the first next-gen disappointment. AC just seems to be mixed - around half the players love it (including the Penny Arcade boys).

All things in time.

Many games borrow elements from one another.  They take what is good from one game and pass it along to future games.  Assassin's Creed may not be the "true next experience" people are looking for, but aspects of it are interesting and well done.

Perhaps it won't be the greatest thing since sliced bread, but it is a stepping stone on the path toward something better that developers can learn from.

Right now, people are in too much of a hurry to find that latest greatest game to set the gaming world on fire.  Likely that's due to poor sales on the PS3, but one must remember that Rome wasn't built in a day.  The games people are looking for will come eventually. 

Still, to be fair, a few of those truly amazing games may already be here.  Only time will tell.

I just went with the title because I remember numerous sources stating that Assassin's Creed was going to be "The First Truly Next Gen Game" many many months ago.

@ Montana - Like I said, I loved Fable despite a lot of people complaining that it didn't live up to what was promised. But then again, the reviews so far suggest it's a bit more of a problem than just not quite reaching impossible goals.


As for Lair, I don't think that game ever quite had the same level of hype, though I could be wrong. I personally thought most people considered it to just be the next rogue squadron game but with dragons.

I know at least 3 people that canceled their preorders for AC and decided to rent it first because of the recent reviews. (Keep in mind every one of them are college kids with low funds and a gamefly account.) I don't encourage this kind of behavior which is why I rarely preorder games before I see reviews.

Actually I think Fable is a brilliant comparison for this game, a good game with some really cool ideas but in which they absolutley screwed up some things.

In Fable it was the 'openness' of the game for me, in a game in which you are meant to chose your own path the game was as linear as a ruler.
In AC it seems to be that the combat is stuffed.

Assassin's Creed has got one of the strangest review histories ever. With it being such a high profile title, you'd expect a little less variety in the scores. It's hard to say whether it's a disapointment or not, since we're looking at scores starting at 7's and ending in 10's. Usually, more obscure cult titles get this sort of differentiation, not big budget releases like this.