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If Jade and Patrice had a baby, would it be this awesome?

Traversing the rooftops of the Third Crusade era Holy Land is a beautiful sight to behold. Looking down at the crowded street below, people of every creed and color make their way to their destinations without a care, despite living in one of the most volatile areas of the world. The clear air and sunshine allow churches, mosques, and synagogues to be visible from miles away - a surprisingly perfect playground for one inclined to climb. But there is nothing holy about Altair's task; the road to hell is paved with good intentions and it just so happens he's here to do the devil's work. Whether anyone will know he was even there, however, is entirely up to you.

After Bioshock and Uncharted, it's hard to imagine a game having an even better setting, but Assassin's Creed seems to have pulled it off. Most surprising is that, where the other two games used fictional locales as their backdrop, Assassin's Creed takes place in a historically accurate recreation of the Holy Land during 1191 AD (or at least that's what Ubisoft claims.) The areas in which the majority of the game takes place are the cities of Acre, Jerusalem, and Damascus, all of which are rendered with impeccable detail. As you approach each city for the first time you're given a panoramic view which spans to the far reaches of the entire district. And yes, you can go all the way over there.

As with most amazing stories, the characters involved are just as unique and exciting as the tale they're involved in. While the main character of Assassin's Creed, Altair, starts out as an arrogant and egotistical pupil, he quickly learns humility when he fails an assignment of the utmost importance. Now he is tasked by his master to assassinate nine, seemingly unrelated figureheads as penance for his brash behavior and to try and set things right.

When it comes to assassinating these targets, you generally have to follow the template of first gathering information, then returning to the local Assassin Bureau with it, before going out to perform the actual assassination. Information gathering takes on four forms - interrogation, eavesdropping, pickpocketing, and informer missions. Doing two or three of these per target is necessary, but they don't take too long. Furthermore, they give you opportunities to explore the city you're in, allowing you to find more view points or rescue citizens. While it may same repetitive it's actually not boring because of its sandbox style gameplay. As a result of this openness the progression and pace of the game are put into the player's hands. Knowing your goals early (e.g. you need to kill nine people) allows you to choose how you'd like to play. Chances are you'll want to extend your play through as long as possible, as nine main targets aren't that much. Gameplay time is roughly 8-10 hours, but it would take twice that to complete all the side stuff.

If the ability to go just about anywhere wasn't enough, the game's graphics really bring everything to life. Sure the animation is awesome, but we've come to expect that from the team that did PoP. The real highlight of Assassin's Creed's visuals is its lighting system. Whether it's a key aspect, like self-shadowing, or something comparatively minute, like the sun being blotted out by arro... err, clouds and the shadows they make on the land, the lighting has a special kind of potency. It's when you notice it that you realize how impressively natural it actually is.

Vast draw distances are shown off through the use of one of the game's more subtle gameplay mechanics; viewpoints. Rather than give the player a detailed map of the area with mission objective locations, Altair must make use of his climbing capabilities to scale to the top of tall structures in order to gain a bearing on his surroundings. The buildings he needs to ascend are made evident by large eagles that circle above them, which can be seen from a long ways off. Another instance where a subtle gameplay mechanic is showcased can when resupplying Altair with throwing knives. Here, instead of just buying them or finding them in crates scattered throughout the city, you have to pickpocket them from thugs. Cool! Kind of like Gears of War's active reloading, these neat little gameplay touches add to the experience in spite of seeming tedious.

While free running and sword play are unbelievably fulfilling, the sense of power the game instills is magnified exponentially when you pull off a completely undetected assassination. Sifting through a crowd, stalking your prey, unleashing the fury of your hidden blade, and then silently slinking across roofs like a stone skips across water, is pure magic. When it works, it really works. Pulling off a perfect run all the way back to an Assassination Bureau is fun to watch and extraordinarily fun to play.

Assassin's Creed is as much about patience and timing as it is about action and brute force. Better yet, you can mix and match the experience if your original plans get botched - if you intend to be 100% stealth but accidentally alert the entire Kingdom, because of Altair's mastery of the assassational arts, you can most likely still kill the target and get away without so much as a scratch. On the flip side, if you go in with swords'a'swinging, you can just as easily sprint/climb out of sight, hide for a few seconds to defuse the situation, and then hightail it back to the Bureau immediately after sinking your blade into the flesh of your intended victim. It's brilliant.

That isn't to say Assassin's Creed is easy. As mentioned, you'll have to wait for Altair to rank up a few levels and gain access to other weapons before you're able to take on any situation. One of the toughest aspects of the game to understand is the combat system. What makes it so difficult is that, on paper, the button presses are so simple, but the timing seems to be very picky (or inconsistent.) When you accompany that with how simple the running and climbing controls are the combat can be kind of infuriating in the earlier segments of the game. At its worst, you could end up holding the defensive button and doing counter-attacks the entire game. It's not as glamorous or as fast as getting aggressive on adversaries but it can still be just as rewarding to witness.

Any criticisms Assassin's Creed receives are incredibly minor compared to what it offers. The combat takes getting used to and could be a little looser in terms of timing - on par with the simplicity of free running. If you focus solely on the missions and don't want to experience what makes the game awesome than it could get repetitive. The story's ending is so-so, but only because it leaves you wanting more. None of these things hinder the game's climbing and assassinating experience, which is precisely why it's so damn fun.