In this Christmas period you'll probably find yourself browsing the shelves of your local games outlet, wondering which out of the many hundreds of available titles you'll fancy enough to walk out with, clutching the delightful package, itching to get home. Close the door and reveal in the experience. But there's a problem. Unless you happen to be one of those rich types without a care in the world, there are just too many damn fine games available right now covering every possible genre there is. Well, to make things a tad easier, here's a choice: Assassins Creed. It's groundbreaking, it's imaginative, it breaks expectations and funnily enough, there are game play elements that remain consistently fun no matter the repetition.

From the French gods of gaming comes a game it seems everyone and their guinea pig has been chafing at the collective bit to play. If it was up to me, I'd simply say this was a cracker of a game deserving of praise, toss the keyboard away, pick up the 360 controller and play the damn game again. Where's my collective hive-mind/clone when I need one... If there ever was a title I actually felt obliged not to reveal any spoilers, it's certainly this one. Unfortunately, the methodology behind the game's story delivery is problematic to say the least, which begs an in-depth look. As a result, expect all to be revealed.

As mentioned, Assassin's Creed isn't a typical title. It's a bit of a bastard child, with so many influences thrown in that parentage isn't assured. In the first instance, it isn't typical for the amazing amount of historically based segments in the game; people, cities, buildings, and clothing – you name it, the screen will bleed medieval immersions and historical accuracy like a broadsword to the head. Another un-typical factor is the backstory; it's the 12th Century. You're a high ranking member of an assassins' order out to kill targets deemed threats by the order. Or you thought you were. In fact, you're Desmond Miles, an unassuming bartender held hostage by a nefarious organisation out to rediscover a secret lost centuries ago, one which when found will usher in a perilous new world order. But you're not just a simple bartender. Your resume contains a hidden entry which reveals you as a retired assassin with ancestral links to the very 12th century assassin directly associated with the secret himself. I'm assuming you haven't lost concentration yet, so we'll continue. In an effort to delve into Desmond's past ancestral memories, he's placed into the Animus, a machine which burrows into generational memories and presents the information within a virtual environment – hence the apparent time travel. Whether you'd be fond of re-tracing you're relatives footsteps is another mater but nevertheless, Desmond's assassin extraordinaire ancestor, Altair, holds the key.

Early on in the piece it becomes clear that Altair abides by no rule, particularly not the code of conduct by which every member of the Assassins guild must strictly abide by or face punishment. A fondness for breaking the rules and an unchecked arrogance lands Altair in trouble with the group's hierarchy, who promptly demote him back to the junior ranks. Recognised as a capable and very talented assassin, Altair is then given the ultimate task of assassinating nine key leaders within the Third Crusade - a job which sees you travelling across the vast Holy Land visiting cities such as Damascus, Acre and Jerusalem. Armed with throwing knives, short sword, long sword and a retractable blade, you'll quickly become intrigued by the varying structures, the warren of back alleys, main thoroughfares and side streets filled with an assortment of wary citizens and even warier soldiers found within each city. The level of detail within cities is immediately obvious, with each city coming alive with the activities of everyday life; merchants hawking their wares along the sides of busy streets, speakers soapboxing a mixture of public concerns, beggars harassing the common folk for coin, soldiers patrolling the streets for the public good and countless women juggling large urns on their heads.

Aside from the handful of side missions such as searching for flags or rescuing petty thieves from the merciless guards, which become too repetitive far too quickly, the assassination missions take centre stage as being the most interesting and rewarding. After gathering the necessary intelligence by either eavesdropping on certain individuals or stealing items from targets involved in the mission, it's time to kill. You get to determine your assassination style yourself, with the system determining outcomes on the style of kill. For instance, if you prefer a visible kill, you'll set off a stampede of peasants running away for dear life, meaning guards won't be too far away. Or you could do the more satisfying stealth kill, where timing and patience within crowds of people becomes vital to a successfully stabbed neck. The two styles of kills are treated in game as "low profile" and "high profile", both expressed as levels of awareness within the immediate area around Altair. This is indicated by a panel showing the levels of attention you're receiving at any given moment via a series of colour coded symbols within an 'awareness panel'.

Suspicious of everything and everyone, the ever vigilant guards are quick on the ball, ready to engage in combat if you were foolish enough to loiter around after an assassination or seen hacking into the poor peasantry just for kicks. You've got three choices: fight it out, run like a maniac or try and melt in the crowd. Fighting, especially in the later stages of the game when more powerful combo attacks are made available, is simple yet satisfying. More than likely you'll be facing two or more guards at once so expect to be surrounded, have your attacks frequently parried or even be shoved to the ground. The game's targeting system is adequate enough but should have received a touch more polish on the precision front. The damage system is intriguing in that rather than the standard diminishing health bar, it's instead based on your level of synchronisation within the virtual world. There's no death as such, rather a reboot of the virtual environment and continuation from the last checkpoint.

The large city landscape offers a decent chance to outrun pursuers, be that on ground level or up high on rooftops. Altair's acrobatic abilities are second to none, although the guards seem more than willing to follow you up walls and onto rooftops in dogged pursuit. With attention shifting between the awareness panel and the precarious ledges leading to a smashed skull down below (which is rare thanks to the rather friendly and forgiving control system), you'll be on the lookout for the occasional pillbox cover spots randomly scattered about on the rooftops, a soft haystack to nose dive into and hide within or the oldest trick in the book, quickly finding a bench to sit on and watch as the oblivious guards rush on by while you wait for the all clear. However enjoyable the previous options are, melting into the crowd's much easier on both time and energy. While in "low profile" mode, walking away while gently pushing aside the crowd so as not to draw attention seems to work but for those trickier situations, clasping the hands together and head down in pretend prayer will get you away.

Graphically, Assassin's Creed is a beautiful looking game. Character detailing is extraordinary as is the rich ambience of a living and breathing city environment. The architectural layout and facade detailing is beautiful to behold, especially when perched atop the highest tower within each city. Cathedrals are monstrously imposing with shadows of clouds playing upon the circular mosaics while the background landscape is that good you'll just stand there and take it all in. Frame rates are generally okay with only the occasional hiccup to spoil the immersion. Speaking of which, immersion within the world takes a plummet each time the realisation hits that you're playing with a deliberately virtual world. The graphical on-screen glitches meant to represent that what you're witnessing is just a series of memories has a tendency to override what enjoyment you're experiencing. Worse still is the badly conceived and implemented sand-box method of restricting how far you travel within the environment with an encircling blue force field type barrier totally putting the brakes on immersiveness.

Something that slightly helps eclipse the drop in immersion is the lush sound effects. While the cities may look alive, they also sound abundantly alive. Screams of frightened crowds, cries of anguish from the petty thieves facing certain death, dogs barking, the constant background hum, the sharp clang of pottery breaking – the sounds manage to fluidly combine, rolling over you in a continuous wave of audible pleasure. While the vocal acting may seem slightly off-putting by the choice of accents, the cinematic quality of the score playing throughout the game means you'll want to turn the volume up a few more decibels.

In terms of replay value, that's a hard call to make. What you've seen and experienced the first time will most likely seem too much effort. While the stealth, combat and mission components are solid enough, the somewhat irritating story line and certainly the anti-climactic ending probably won't lead to another round in the Holy Land. With that said though, it's a case of pushing past those annoyances and having fun knifing your way through the 12th Century

We're approaching the end of the year and gamers should be as happy as a pig in mud. The proportion of quality titles in proportion to the crap ones is significantly high right now so we're spoilt for choice. Assassins Creed easily has the goods to deserve a spot under that Christmas tree for that discerning gamer.