That' s how many character animations are loaded into Assassin' s Creed, 700 of them alone contextual. To put things into perspective, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, developed by the same crack team at Ubisoft Montreal, features 500 character animations. And Prince remains to this day one of the finest animated games on the market. Get the picture?

Of course, controlling all these moves is something of a chore on a controller that doesn' t read minds. Jade Raymond, producer on Assassin' s, took a few minutes to break down a complex yet seemingly intuitive control scheme that will have you offing targets faster than you can say John Wilkes Booth.

As Altair, a medieval hitman with a mysterious past (Raymond confirmed that he' s not a time traveler), you have free reign to explore vast cities and countryside. You will investigate your targets by exploring, eavesdropping and even picking pockets for clues on his whereabouts. When you have three clues-- and there are many more you can choose to find through thorough investigation -- you can then move to the assassination stage, using " social stealth" to blend in with crowds, searching for handholds to scale castle walls, using killer' s intuition to hone in on the target and, finally, sinking a blade in his gullet.

In order to control Altair, Ubisoft attached four " puppet strings." One to his head (the Y button) his weapon hand (X), off hand (B) and his lower body (A). The right trigger has been jokingly dubbed " emotional control" by Raymond and her team. In short, it is a strength modifier. While walking, hold it down to run. While swashbuckling, hold it down for a lumbering power strike.

Using Y, you will do things like eavesdrop and use intuition. A, then, would be used to jump. An interesting control feature is climbing, done in a way we' ve never seen before. We didn' t get a chance to touch the controller, but you will actually feel for handholds, like rock climbing. With it, Altair can climb anywhere in the world where there is a decent grip, and we' re hoping he has a chance to move up the tallest of towers while sneaking past the castle guard.

There wasn' t much more news out of Ubisoft' s camp, except that the team is trying to put together a package of downloadable content that Raymond could only say is " something ambitious." She hinted slightly at extended gameplay and possibly even some kind of multiplayer -- the team did create a prototype multiplayer and co-op mode. But, as of now, there is still nothing to announce.

While the PlayStation 3 and 360 versions of Assassin' s Creed are virtually identical, Raymond did say that on the 360 the team is putting a special emphasis on achievements. The hardware also allows for improved threading, which will improve even further the crowd AI.

Even at this early stage, Assassin' s Creed is a safe-bet for one of the most innovative and beautiful games of 2007.

So he isnt a time traveller! but that still might be a simulation or some sort! I wonder!

Cool that you will feel the handholds, in the controller, too bad playstation boys!

Wouldnt it be sweet with CO-OP play. This game is looking finer and finer by the second!

Hmmm... so the 360 version will be enhanced compared to the PS3 version...

Hmmm... so the 360 version will be enhanced compared to the PS3 version...

Well there hasent been much said about the ps3 version features

ORIGINAL: Rampage99

Hmmm... so the 360 version will be enhanced compared to the PS3 version...

That' s what she' s saying. Like i keep saying 360 > PS3

ORIGINAL: mikayd2

Hmmm... so the 360 version will be enhanced compared to the PS3 version...

Well there hasent been much said about the ps3 version features

It' s not about " features" (i know you' re talking about where it says " achievements" ), it' s about the AI in the 360 version being superior to the PS3 version.

The two versions will probably be identical-ish graphically, with maybe some slight differences in favour of each console, but what they' re saying is that the 360 version will have improved AI (over the PS3 version), but that also means that since the AI is handled by the CPU, the PS3 could possibly require CELL to assist RSX to keep the graphics the same as what Xeon can do, meaning they wouldn' t be able to go all out on task heavy things like AI.

It' s not a big deal because the slight differences in the AI wouldn' t really be noticable to the casual gamer. It' ll just be noticable to people who know it;s in there and are looking for it.

It should be noted that it' s widely believed the game engine was developed for 360 and that it' s being ported to PS3. Remember that it was announced at X06 last year and shown at E3 using a 360 pad. I seriously doubt we' ve even seen the PS3 version yet.

Both versions will be awesome, we just think this is interesting.

Oh and the 360 version will rumble how cool is that. Though you might have to swing the PS3 controller in circles and make climbing motions when you play instead

Yeah, when it comes to AI, 360 definately has the upper hand, if only because cell really wasn' t built for that sort of thing. It' s just a matter of trying to get the most of two really different boxes I guess. I' m kinda interested to see how that climbing works in real time.

ORIGINAL: Vx Chemical

Oh and the 360 version will rumble how cool is that. Though you might have to swing the PS3 controller in circles and make climbing motions when you play instead

Everyone in the workplace is looking at me now, that was too funny!

Eddie, you can see a realtime demonstration, by the gorgeous and slightly
apologetic, but equally as cool - Jade Raymond below...

Here is that sexy minx, and an equally attractive demonstration

Everyone in the workplace is laughing at me now, that was too funny!

Because you actually did the motions?!

I meant looking at me now..

Damn, I even swore to myself that I wouldn' t write laughing to avoid people
getting the wrong end of the stick..

The PS3 version will obviously be better, please stop trolling.

ORIGINAL: Evil Man

The PS3 version will obviously be better, please stop trolling.

And on what grounds do u make ur claim ....

ORIGINAL: 2pac

And on what grounds do u make ur claim ....

No ground, that' s why he is plummeting into a neverending hole of denial.

Do you think Evil Man will stop posting once his post count reaches 666?

We doubt this will have much of an impact on the actual gameplay (it' s only the crowd AI and doesn' t effect how combat works or influence enemy AI), but an interesting note, considering how many speculate PlayStation 3 will eventually be superior due to the Blu-ray drive.

considering how many speculate PlayStation 3 will eventually be superior due to the Blu-ray drive

WTF is wrong with 1up, what they should mantion was Cell Vs 360 cpu, that' s what most people think.

Yeah! Cause the cell lets you render your downloaded pics into 3d falling photos! PS3 is teh NEXT GENZ!!!

Lol, sorry, after watching that OS demonstration I' m gonna be laughing about that stuff for a while.

Blu-Ray will guive the edge to the PS3 version, as will the HD out of the box, imkinda tired about that game but who knows i migth pick it up when gets released, for the PS3 that is...

Or perhaps xbox360' s better GPU will let it have an edge over the ps3 version.

Who knows?

ORIGINAL: fernandino

Blu-Ray will guive the edge to the PS3 version, as will the HD out of the box, imkinda tired about that game but who knows i migth pick it up when gets released, for the PS3 that is...

I like Blu-ray but if I had to choose between better AI or having the game on one disc with extra content (Blu-ray) I would definitely choose the better AI (360 version).

soem people are just stupid, they were talking about the how the AI of the crowd in 360 is superior to the ps3 version, then they added

" considering how many speculate PlayStation 3 will eventually be superior due to the Blu-ray drive"

blu ray won' t do shit to AI, it' s the CPU, people thought that any AI had the potential to be superior on PS3 because of the Cell, however Assassin Creed on 360 proved othewise... do you get it now? let mùe correct 1UP:

" considering how many speculate PlayStation 3 will eventually be superior due to Cell"

that' s damn right now

Regardless the 360 version seems better. And if that goes Assassins Creed, will it be the same with all the other games?