Horde3D

There is currently a new game in development by the Prince of Persia crew that is really impressing me. It is called Assassin's Creed and offers some nice innovations.



The story takes place in the Middle East during the Third Crusade and puts you in the role of an assassin. One really cool thing is that you have complete freedom. The team has reconstructed several famous cities like Damascus and Jerusalem that you can explore. An innovative input system helps you to climb up on every building that has some grip.

But the best of all next to the great graphics is the crowd simulation. The developers have put much effort in making the world vivid and believable. When moving through the streets you can push away people who are in your way which appears as an impressive interaction. You can even use the crowd for hiding when approaching to your victim, what is called "social stealth". This is a really cool feature and as far as I know, it is the first time that a commercial game uses crowds as a gameplay element.

For more information on the game and some nice videos see the following site:

http://pc.ign.com/objects/839/839699.html

I've been looking at this game for a while now as well. GameTrailers released a review about it, you should check it out. The game seems really innovative graphics and movement wise. To me the game looks like a great sum of elements combining games like Hitman, Metal Gear Solid and GTA. Reviews talk about NPC brain deadness, but that's kind of a two-edged sword - it's hard to please everyone, especially in the world of games.

I bought this game for XBox about a week ago.
The number of characters on-screen and the way in which your character interacts with them is really, really impressive. Also, once you get used to the controls, the way in which you can traverse the cities (which are really huge) is amazing.

This is a very inspiring game (from a developers point of view)! I'd really recommended anyone with a 360 or PS3 give it a go. Hopefully there is a PC-port soon