UbiSoft had very high hopes for Assassin's Creed, and it's not hard to see why. A game that was originally thought of as a PS3-exclusive, if memory serves, it's planned as the first of a brand new franchise. And on the evidence of this first game, that's not a bad thing.

From the off, there's ample evidence that this is a big budget production. It just looks stunning for starters, with a striking visual style that captures, with some skill, its medieval setting. Within that setting, you play an assassin who, it's quickly established, has nine different targets to take out. The graphics are then married up to a smooth, flowing and easy-to-get-to-grips-with game mechanic, with an intuitive and considered control system that never really stands in your way.

But it's those nine targets you need to address, and you do this through a game engine that allows you to wander round at will in a superbly realised world, with all of it viewed from the third person. You're free to listen in on the chit-chat that goes on, and there's a broad variety of characters scattered throughout the game.

And to make your way through, there's a mixture of stealth and violence that you need to employ. The stealth elements, so often a swine of a feature to get right, are generally quite good, with only a few moments of frustration (and, to be fair, there are many occasions where you may simply choose to swap stealth for attack anyway). They do at first succeed in building some real tension, too.

The combat is quite straightforward, but no less entertaining for it. Movements cover attack and defence, and it won't take you long to wrap your head around both. Your opponents are imbued with reasonably good artificial intelligence, but can be forceful foes as the game moves on and the difficulty level begins to really ratchet up.

In the early stages in particular, this is all terrific fun, and you can appreciate why UbiSoft was so keen to back it. Yet the game itself does eventually start to run out of juice, sadly. As much fun as the combat and stealth can be - and for quite a while it's a hoot - the problem with Assassin's Creed is that it just doesn't have much else in its locker. And so at the point where it should be building to a crescendo as you head into the latter portions of the game, the best fun is actually some way behind you.

That said, when it does hang together - which it does for some time - it's a very entertaining action adventure. It's also one that paves the way for a sequel that, if it learns from the mistakes made here, could prove to be a far better all-round game. For now, Assassin's Creed is very good but the best is almost certainly yet to come.

A smart, lavish production, and one that deserves to be played. Just don't expect its momentum to last into the final third.