proud 9rules member
/images/9r_leaf.png "9rules Network")
A friend sent me a link to a video (seen here) of a program by a bloke called Ariel Shamir that provides a unique and new way of resizing images, keeping their quality and important features such as faces and people’s bodies. I believe I have seen something similar very recently but it obviously wasn’t that memorable. This however just struck me as cool.
I’ll come right out with it: Assassin’s Creed has to be one of the, if not the, best video games I’ve ever played. I’m usually content with flash-based games or the occasional gracious defeat in Command & Conquer 3 but Assassin’s Creed has given me a new taste for video games and a renewed faith in the video game industry that new IP can be, and is being, successful.
You, the player, take on the persona of barkeeper Desmond Miles who in turn is kidnapped by a group of scientists. They make you enter a machine called the Animus which extracts genetic memories from your DNA. Stay with me. The premise is that your DNA holds memories of your ancestors which this machine can access. Your player, Miles, is the distant ancestor of an Assassin; Altaïr - “The Flying One”.
This machine lets you take control of Altaïr as he completes missions throughout 4 [said to be] historically accurate cities, 3 or which are highly detailed worlds in themselves. As the game unfolds, you discover that the people you are charged with assassinating are actually Templars with the goal to unite humanity. The scientists are found to searching through these genetic memories to seek the location of certain artefacts which can help them revive the Templar mission and unite humanity under one cause.
I knew very little about Assassin’s creed before it was released. I had followed a few articles that Digg gifted me with and a few discussions on the Xbox.com forums and was partially excited by the rumour a major theme of the game would be time travel. Although this particular rumour isn’t technically the case, the game does live up to the hubbub surrounding it pre-release; albeit that some of the hype was unfounded.
The games industry is always hungry for a new concept and new ideas but at the same time are weary of the claims that are made about them. Assassin’s Creed was no different and the eye candy and demos Ubisoft provided created high expectations of the game. The tid bits of information that Ubisoft trickled out to technology blogs and journalists certainly caught peoples’ attention and the end product didn’t fail to impress in most areas. The battle system and basic character interaction system has improved much since the last demos which many are thank full for.
You play the vast majority of the game as Altaïr in the delicately crafted cities of Jerusalem, Acre and Damascus as well as Masyaf which is the assassins’ stronghold. I play the Xbox 360 version of the game so I don’t know whether the Playstation 3 version has different textures but what I can say is that the textures and the graphics in general are just beautiful. 
You feel you’re in those towns in that time because the look and sound of the cities is immersing.
It may be because my computer is rather lacklustre in the graphics department but the graphics Assassin’s Creed provide are nice, at least from my viewpoint and considering it’s a games console and not a PC. Shadows, textures, buildings, hay, horses and character models are really detailed and look beautiful.
The game is very easy to play and the control system becomes second nature after you’ve played through a few memories. Engaging enemies and scaling the scenery is quite exciting and although escaping enemies becomes rather easy, it still remains rather thrilling finding a pile of hay or a rooftop hide to disappear in. You’re able to disappear into the crowd as it were in a number of ways. Firstly, you can just blend in by pressing a button but for short-term anonymity you can sit on a bench or for long term anonymity you can join a group of scholars who are dressed similarly and walk around the city unnoticed, but very very slowly.
Assassin’s Creed is a wonderfully crafted game but it’s not perfect. If the developers had spent as much time as they did on making it look as good as it does on game play and the story line, it would be one of the best console games ever. The world is huge and patience is a virtue that one must learn as quickly as possible if you’re to stay under the radar and keep to the creed.
You develop a range of weapons and skills during the course of the game which aren’t exactly put to good use except for the main kills you have to make. Silly side track missions such as ‘interrogation’ and ‘pick pocketing’ deter you from what you really want to do - 
explore the cities and be able to assassinate your targets in a number of different ways (which are limited still by the paths you can take and the weapons available to you).
I hope that rumours of it being the first in a trilogy of games is true but now it has been released, this seems less likely. This game is a great buy and the ability to complete it a number of different ways and the atmosphere the graphics and sound makes will make sure you really get into it. The mystery surrounding the characters (which I’ve probably spoiled if you bothered to read above) and their intentions is exciting to unravel and learn for yourself. I would like to see more Assassin’s Creed games and if the idea of a film becomes reality, I wish everyone involved well and good luck.
We’ve known Super Mario Galaxy has been a long time coming and although the hype surrounding it may have only been contained to a small circle of Nintendo and Mario faithful, the game has certainly made a splash since being released in an unprecedented way.
Super Mario Galaxy is the latest instalment in the Super Mario game series and brings the traditional quest to rescue Princess Peach from his evil nemesis Bowser. This new title takes place in a series of galaxies within each is a series of planets and other objects like asteroids and space ships (among the other usual objects you associate with Mario). The object of the game is to collect stars which further your reach into the Universe allowing you to reach ever distant galaxies and eventually harder and harder enemies.
I’ll admit to you now that the only Super Mario game I’ve played before was Super Mario Sunshine, on the GameCube, which didn’t really create any buzz within me. This game was an impulse buy because my Wii was starting to gather dust and I wanted it to have some company.
Xbox 360, Playstation 2, Playstation 3 and PC gamers don’t have a reputation of praising the graphical power of the Wii. I myself am the owner of an Xbox 360 but Super Mario Galaxy produces some of the best graphics I’ve seen on the Wii. Whether or not it is the case, it seems to me that anti-aliasing has been turned on and textures look really nice. Water and ice effects are used heavily throughout the game - at least throughout the part I’ve played - are are put to good use.
This title makes use of the Wii’s motion sensing capabilities in a number of ways. Throughout the game you use the Wiimote to point at the screen and collect gems, or star bits, as well as some other novel uses. These include ray (as in sting) surfing and a hamster ball-esque riding mini-task. Basic controls are well layed out and intuitive enough that as you learn them you always remember them. For example, spinning Mario to disorientate enemies or break up crystals to free your friends is initiated by flicking the Wiimote from side to side. It is surprisingly good at differentiating unintended flicks from intended.
From what I’ve played so far, there is a small amount of puzzle solving (as you would expect) that you experience on your adventures. So far they’ve been simple but still manage to make the game fun. Unless you play the game non-stop, you can expect to get some pretty decent time out of this game. When you’ve completed the game - spoiler alert here - you get to play it all over again but as Luigi. Luigi acts and behaves differently to the environments so you’ve got to play differently. I would say that you could play many levels over again, just for fun.
Throughout the game, Mario is able to transform into things that provide helpful skills that allow you to complete the level. For example, there’s Bee Mario which can fly, Rainbow Mario which is invincible, Fire Mario which uses fire and more.
I would say the game is perfect but not for a few niggles, as with any game. The camera can be controlled to a limited extent in limited parts of the game. Sometimes this is understandable but other times, such as when Mario becomes upside down, it becomes rather uncomfortable tilting your head to see where Mario is going.
Super Mario Galaxy is a truly awesome game and a must-buy for all Wii owners. I think that this game could just be a game on its own and do just as well on sales and rankings - it doesn’t need to be under the umbrella of Super Mario to share the same success. There is a lot of playability to this game and many levels could be played again and again and still be exciting.
If you’re a Super Mario fan, buy the game. If you’re not, buy the game anyway. Either way, you won’t be disappointed.
/images/feed.png "Comments RSS Feed")