Assassin's Creep!

Every once in awhile you come across something in gaming that you really want to love, but can't due to all the shortcomings of the game. Maybe it's the graphics, or maybe the gameplay just doesn't feel "right." Could be a strategic element that doesn't fit or what have you. Whatever the reason, major or minor, it can have a devastating impact on the game for the player and completely ruin the experience.

Take for instance Assassin's Creed on the PC. Yeah, I'm having my issues with the game, but the stealth-action element is something I very much enjoy in other games like Splinter Cell. The problem with AC isn't the gameplay, not really. It's the wonky GUI and inability of the game to adapt to my personal gaming needs. The gameplay has some lofty goals, and again the stealth aspect to reach specific objectives in my own time really appeals to me but, well, the game is barely hanging on with the problems it's presenting me.

For starters, such an open-world feeling game has one of the wonkiest checkpoint save systems I've seen. Some checkpoints seem to be set at specific intervals in the space of the game world, and at other times they seem random (though I'm sure they're set to a timer). And the game saves a checkpoint every time you complete an objective, be it a necessary one for the completion of one of your assignments, or one of the myriad flags dispersed throughout the game world and optional objectives in the cities. What's wrong with that? IT'S A FUCKING OPEN WORLD! I don't like the idea that I can't save where I am in that world at will, instead I have to deal with when the game decides I've completed a milestone, and to top that off I have to deal with the game spawning me in a location that's often far from where I was when I closed the game off. For instance, enter a city and then leave the game and you spawn at your Assassin's Burea when you relog into the game.

Which leads me to problem 2: IS THERE AN EASY FUCKING WAY TO ACTUALLY EXIT THE GAME? If you want to leave the game that you're playing you have to (MILD SPOILER ALERT) exit the Memory you're playing, then exit the Animus machine, then exit the game, the RELOG back into your profile, where you can finally exit all the way out of the game. I've gotten now where I'll alt-tab out and use Task Manager to close the application. Saves me time and I'm not losing anything thanks to the wonky checkpoint system. I absolutely detest this system.

And then there's problem 3: Do anything like alt-tabbing out of the game, or have a windows message come up ( I had the sticky-keys annoyance come up earlier today from using shift too much in the game) and the game goes into windowed mode. Ok, no problem, I'll just go into the game and change the setting to fullscreen. Now where is that setting.... wait, WTF??? Great, no fullscreen mode change, and now the game isn't even centered on the screen... FML and kick random puppy.

Concerning the gameplay, the only real complaints I can level at the game on that end is the guards, even though they're in a stealth game, are all a bit too jumpy toward the main character to pass muster for the suspension of disbelief and there needs to be some way to check up on continuing side-objectives like the Flags in the cities and Kingdom.

All in all, I want to love the game. The story is interesting, the gameplay is pretty much right there and the graphics are spot on. But in the end, it's showing itself as a poor console port rather than an improved game coming over to the PC medium. I'm going to finish this one (compared to Dead Island, which I might finish) but I have to be able to do it in phases. With my life being what it is, not having the ability to just drop the game or at least alt-tab out reasonably is a huge drawback.