If At First You Don't Succeed

Try, try again... It's been a rather long period of radio silence from me. Let's say I was busy preparing for Operation 5 and during the course of the operation, had no inspiration to write. Losing 5 kg is no mean feat. To make things worse, the bet had a time limit attached. 1 week! Let's just say that once the dust settled, I didn't succeed in accomplishing the operation, despite trying so so many times. But I did accomplish my real goal. But just to keep the suspense, I won't say what I got as a reward for my "hard" work (though the hint is on my msn nick)... However, it was a tough and gruelling fight to the finish. 2km run and 6 pull ups daily. That might not sound like much, but it is a hell lot to me, given the fact that the last time I did the exact same was in Feb. 9 months of inactivity was given the boot in 1 bet. And suddenly the gears were moving (or rather creaking) again. In the end, it was not the Ominous Green Organisation that got me scrambling. It was the reward. Plus a few laps of swimming and I suddenly found that penchant for running and swimming again. That fondness that was taken away, no, seized from me by the OGO in an attempt to bind me to their will. And that was why I refused to do their bidding. Which led to an excess (You guessed it, 5 kg) that I have to account for right now, given my new found interest in these activities again. What a difference freedom makes.

So it was fitting that I tried a few times before succeeding in meeting the minimum requirements for pull ups. Other applications include completing Halo 3 on Heroic, Crysis on Hard and COD IV on Veteran (the hardest difficulty setting!!!)... It really takes a lot of tries and skill and luck and whatever to complete those games... Oh and not forget Assassin's Creed too.

Assasin's Creed puts you in the shoes of Desmond Miles, who is abducted by this Pharmaceutical company run by the Templars. Desmond is one of the descendants of the Assassins. The templars are desperate to find the "Holy Grail" so they abducted him and strapped him to this machine that taps into his ancestor's memory using his DNA. Whatever. The game starts as you controlling Altair, a super duper Assassin who's more pro than Spiderman himself. Pity he can't shoot web from his hands. However he can run, jump, scale walls, do crazy acrobatics, leap and practically fly. Unrealistic yes, but nonetheless fun. Coupled with gorgeous visuals of Jerusalem, Arce and Damascus, it really feels like you are in the city mingering with the crowds. As the name of the game suggests, your objective is to assassinate 9 people. Of course if you like action, you can just fight your way through to the boss. The fighting mechanism is unique and the combos look realistic with all the blood spraying around. The sound of swords clashing enhances the game's feel. The crowds will scream and disperse, alerting more guards in the process. If you find yourself in hot soup, you can run and push against the crowds, effectively making them obstacles to the pursuers. However they can also act as an obstacle for you. Alternatively, you can sneak up on the boss and assassinate him. A sensor icon will appear to tell you if you are well blended or not, à la spidersense! This requires lots of patience and lots of tries to time it right and stick the guy with your hidden blade. MMmm one hit KO!!! In order to do that, you gotta blend into the crowds, or blend into a group of monks. Very original, except that the sword holder is sticking out of the clothes and the guards are stupid enough not to notice... All in all, Assassin's Creed is a must have for the X360. It shows of one of the best graphics so far and looks photo realistic on a HDTV. The blend of action and stealth allows flexibility and replayablilty. And the story has an explosive twist at the end. Just don't expect webs flying but daggers flying instead.

• Overall: 9.0/10
• Graphics: 9.5/10
• Gameplay: 9.0/10
• Sound: 9.0/10
• Music: 8.0/10