by Brayden Small
Assassins Creed: Rearmed is the new mobile app only available on iPhone, iPod, or iPad that brings the fun of the Assassins Creed unique multiplayer experience to your mobile devices. Does Assassins Creed: Rearmed successfully make that mobile switch or is this game better left at home?
PRESENTATION: Obviously the mobile Assassins Creed is going to have worse graphics and design than its console counterparts but it doesn’t stand out in the mobile app world either. Throughout the entire game you are always looking at the sprites through a bird’s eye view perspective. This perspective can make it difficult to tell if you are walking on level ground or jumping onto a building, which can really ruin your disguise as a NPC. The levels you play on get boring quite quickly because of their similarities. The animations of your sprite killing another assassin are poorly executed and the blood is so bad I would have preferred it left out.
GAMEPLAY: The gameplay is quite simple but it works. You chose your sprite and then your weapons. More sprites and weapons, just like in the console versions, become available to you after levelling up. You level up by competing in their multiplayer games through Wi-Fi or 3g network. The game can host up to four players at one time and tries to match you up with people the same or close to your current level. I have found in the past that apps that try to host multiplayer don’t do it very well. Rearmed, though, performs an exceptional job with keeping everyone connected. When you enter a game with your chosen sprite you will notice a circle around your character. When you click once outside this circle your character will move to that location. Click twice and your character runs. When you believe an enemy assassin is close by get him into your circle and tap him once to perform your execution. Simple, but it works – most of the time. At times it can be extremely hard to target the character you want because all the sprites are quite small and someone with bigger fingers will have difficulty selecting a certain one sprite. This can mean the death of your character as you think you click the guy you want only to find out your sprite killed a poor, innocent NPC. You begin to shout vulgar words of disgust as you helplessly see the target you tried to kill turn around and pick you off clean. The gameplay overall has its moments of frustration but is very enjoyable.
SOUND: The sound for the game is ripped right off of the console versions, and who’s to blame them? Each of the maps you play on have a different soundtrack which is incredible, but unfortunately some of the music is too quiet for it to be noticeable. If you haven’t played the console versions and are unfamiliar with the Assassins Creed soundtrack, this game will give you a nice taste of the well made music.
PRESENTATION: 3
GAMEPLAY: 6
SOUND: 6
TOTAL: 5
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