Unhandled Exceptions

It’s not often that I choose to post any review, good or bad, for video games. I usually let you know what I’m playing, and that’s about it. Since I purchased my PS3 in November, I had been solely playing Call of Duty 4. I finished the single player pretty quickly, and I’ll jump on from time to time to get in a few multiplayer games.

Through my son’s fascination with Lunchables, I got a free month of GameFly. I was going to use it to demo a bunch of games. The first two I got were Assassin’s Creed and Unreal Tournament III. I ended up playing just one: Assassin’s Creed.

You can read numerous reviews from several different places. Some point out the graphical “glitches,” some point out the repetitive game play, and some point out the anti-climatic ending. The first two were noticeable, but not so much as to ruin the experience. There are a hundred positive aspects to this game, but I can sum it up in one word: different. It’s stealth, but not so much stealth that it takes you an hour to cross the city. The game itself has a plot, and every main action has a purpose. Most importantly, it’s not a “shooter.”

That’s right… Sometimes it’s nice to go from “aim and fire” to “dodge and parry.” As an “aging” gamer (hey, I’m almost 30, that’s like 90 in gamer years), the difficulty was spot on: difficult enough to keep my attention, but not so hard as to dissuade me from picking up the controller. The historical context, while obviously doctored, was a fun connection.

This game is definitely worth the price of admission. I beat the game in 3 weeks, but I’m still considering buying it. But then again, GTA IV comes out next month, so my money may be otherwise appropriated.