One of the year’s most highly anticipated games has finally positioned for the kill in “Assassin’s Creed” for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.

But this is one game that is not what it seems.

Although early previews of the game portray a young assassin traversing the streets of ancient Jerusalem, the game begins sometime between the current era and near future.

You begin as young man named Desmond Miles and you are held hostage by a mysterious pharmaceutical company for “research.”

Two scientists named Dr. Warren Vidic and Lucy Stillman force Desmond to lay on a device called “the animus,” which retrieves and record memories from an individual’s ancestors.

These memories are of Altair – the fellow you see on all of the commercials.

As Altair, you prey on the historic cities of Acre, Damascus and Jerusalem during the period of the Third Crusade – in the year 1191 AD.

You navigate these cities in real-time gathering the information you need to identify the “mark” for your next beautiful assassination.

And beautiful this game is.

Every city is designed as close to the specifications of these ancient realms as possible and are masterfully crafted with visual textures and lighting. Everything from clothing textures to intricate shadows creates an authentic experience unparalleled within the genre.

These visuals flow seamlessly at a high frame rate, but experience some slowdown in situations where Altair is moving quickly through these stunning environments which may sometimes cause the game to freeze: a cardinal sin.

The ability to scale a high steeple, survey the stunningly well-crafted realm, and lunge in a breathtaking “leap of faith” into a pile of hay is an experience “Assassin’s Creed” can call its own.

The free roaming environments are well done.

One only fears that the repetitive task of investigating and assassinating could become monotonous and gameplay freezes could hinder the timely progression of the game.

Four out of five stars.

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