Assassin's Creed (video game): Difference between revisions
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Along the way, however, he will begin to discover that his targets are bound by more than just a shared interest in personal gain. They share membership in a secret society familiar to the Hashshashin. And they are not simply looking for profit. Their true goal and how they plan to achieve it leads to a modern-day conspiracy with secrets to be discovered during the course of the story. The members are eventually revealed to be templars. Their goal was to bring peace to the society, even through harsh means. Upon assassinating all of the people but Robert de Sable, a trap is laid out for Altaïr, and a woman is put as a decoy. It turns out to be a ploy by the Templars to sow discord between the Assassins and the Crusaders and Muslims. In doing so, Saladin and Richard The Lionheart would instead work together and fight the Assassins, and in the process, bringing peace. Altaïr finally catches up with Robert de Sable, and eventually, in a melee, wins him. It is then revealed to him by Robert de Sable that his master was also a member of the Templars, and he has now the sole power of the artifact. Altaïr travels back, only to find most of the town enslaved by the artifact. He then fights his way to the temple, and is aided by Malik. He eventually triumphs over his master. The map then reveals 12 locations of the artifacts, and then Desmond is pulled out from the Animus. He now sees cryptic writings on the walls and all over the floor. [[Image:Cryptic.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Cryptic Messages on the wall.]] |
Along the way, however, he will begin to discover that his targets are bound by more than just a shared interest in personal gain. They share membership in a secret society familiar to the Hashshashin. And they are not simply looking for profit. Their true goal and how they plan to achieve it leads to a modern-day conspiracy with secrets to be discovered during the course of the story. The members are eventually revealed to be templars. Their goal was to bring peace to the society, even through harsh means. Upon assassinating all of the people but Robert de Sable, a trap is laid out for Altaïr, and a woman is put as a decoy. It turns out to be a ploy by the Templars to sow discord between the Assassins and the Crusaders and Muslims. In doing so, Saladin and Richard The Lionheart would instead work together and fight the Assassins, and in the process, bringing peace. Altaïr finally catches up with Robert de Sable, and eventually, in a melee, wins him. It is then revealed to him by Robert de Sable that his master was also a member of the Templars, and he has now the sole power of the artifact. Altaïr travels back, only to find most of the town enslaved by the artifact. He then fights his way to the temple, and is aided by Malik. He eventually triumphs over his master. The map then reveals 12 locations of the artifacts, and then Desmond is pulled out from the Animus. He now sees cryptic writings on the walls and all over the floor. [[Image:Cryptic.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Cryptic Messages on the wall.]] |
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The messages consist of 22:13, which refers to Revelations 22:13, which states, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."<ref>[http://bible.cc/revelation/22-13.htm]</ref> Emperor Jiajing's name, various Chinese characters are also on the wall, as with the numericals, 13.0.0.0, are constantly shown on the the wall. This could be a reference to the Mayan Calender, and the date in which it ends, December 21, 2012.<ref>[http://www.levity.com/eschaton/Why2012.html]</ref> It could also be related to the rush of ViDic to pry the information out of Desmond, as the date in which the game occurs is around September 2012. |
The messages in the bedroom consist of 22:13, which refers to Revelations 22:13, which states, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."<ref>[http://bible.cc/revelation/22-13.htm]</ref> Emperor Jiajing's name, various Chinese characters are also on the wall, as with the numericals, 13.0.0.0, are constantly shown on the the wall. This could be a reference to the Mayan Calender, and the date in which it ends, December 21, 2012.<ref>[http://www.levity.com/eschaton/Why2012.html]</ref> It could also be related to the rush of ViDic to pry the information out of Desmond, as the date in which the game occurs is around September 2012. |
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There are several messages in the Animus room. For example, to the right of the Animus is the message: "They drained my soul and made it theirs[.] I drain my body to show you where I saw it[.]" |
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==Weaponry== |
==Weaponry== |
Revision as of 07:16, 18 November 2007
Assassin's Creed | |
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Developer(s) | Ubisoft Montreal |
Publisher(s) | Ubisoft |
Director(s) | |
Designer(s) | Jade Raymond (Producer), Patrice Desilets (Creative Director) |
Engine | Scimitar Engine |
Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS |
Release | Xbox 360, PlayStation 3:![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Microsoft Windows: |
Genre(s) | Action-Adventure |
Mode(s) | Single Player |
Assassin's Creed is a video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. The game had a worldwide release in November, 2007.[1] On September 22, 2007, Ubisoft announced the PC version has been delayed until early 2008.[3]
The game takes place during the near future. The player assumes the role of Desmond, a bartender who's family tree is of assassins. He is taken to a facility where he uses the Animus, a machine that allows him to see the memories of his anscestors during the Third Crusade, in the year 1191. Desmond assumes the role of Altaïr (الطائر, Arabic, "The Flying One"), a member of the Hashshashin sect (the original "assassins"), whose objective is to slay the nine historical figures who are propagating the Crusades. As the player finds and kills these targets, their conspiracy is unveiled. The player will be able to travel through three cities: Jerusalem, Acre and Damascus.
The environment is completely interactive, from the people to the historically accurate cities. These cities are populated by many people, and the way the player controls Altaïr affects how the bystanders around him react to his presence. For example, when going through a crowd, if the player lightly moves someone out of the way, it will not have a significant effect. However, if the player throws someone to the ground and hurts or kills them, the crowd may unite against him, which will also attract guards and he will then have to find a way out or hide. Similarly, if the player shoves a person aside, they may shove him back. If he climbs walls, civilians will gather around, attracting unwanted attention from guards.
The producers claim the environment is historically accurate. The locations in the game are distinctive models of the cities. All of Altaïr's targets are also historic leaders who died or disappeared in the year 1191 (though not necessarily assassinated).
Gameplay
Assassin's Creed is a third-person stealth game, in which the player primarily controls the assassin Altaïr through computer-rendered memories experienced by Desmond. The primary goal of the game is to use stealth and other tactics to complete nine assassinations, though prior to strike out for the target, the player must performed a minimum number of intelligence missions, whether by eavesdropping, interrogation, or pickpocketing information from a given target. Additionally, the player may be made aware of other opportunities to use the assassin's skill, from climbing tall towers to map out the city, or to save citizens from being threatened by others. Many of the acrobatic skills mimic those found in Ubisoft Montreal's previous Prince of Persia games.
The player is made aware of how observable Altaïr is to enemy guards as well as the current state of alert in the local area. To perform many of the assassinations and other tasks, the player must consider the use of both "non-active" and "active" commands. "Non-active" commands allow Altaïr to blend into nearby crowds, gently pass by other citizens, or other non-threatening tasks that can be used to hide and reduce the alertness level. "Active" commands are more noticeable, and including running, scaling the sides of buildings to climb to higher vantage points, and attacking foes; performing these actions at certain times may raise the local area's awareness level. Once the area is at high alert, the player must use both non-active commands as well as aiming to climb away from ground level or using hiding spaces to reduce the alertness level.
The player's health is described as the level of synchronization between Desmond and Altaïr's memories; should Altaïr take damage, some amount of synchronization is lost, and if all synchronization is lost, the current memory that Desmond is experiencing will be restarted at the last checkpoint. When the synchronization bar is full, the player has additional options at their disposal, such as using "eagle vision" which causes the computer-rendered memory to hilight all visible characters in colors corresponding to whether they are friend or foe or even the target of their assassination. Due to Altaïr's memories being rendered by the computer of the Animus project, the player may experience "glitches" in the rendering of the historical world, which may help the player to identify targets, or can be used to alter the viewpoint during in-game scripted scenes should the player react fast enough when they appear.
The game itself is divided into three cities from the 12th Century: Jerusalem, Damascus, and Acre, each with multiple sectors. The lands that lie between these cities is also present, though horse riding is available to increase the speed of traversal of these sections.
Background
On September 28, 2006, in an interview with IGN, producer Jade Raymond confirmed that Altaïr is "a medieval hitman with a mysterious past" and that he is not a time traveler.[5]
This is consistent with this particular design team, as in Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, death was interpreted as a mistake in the Prince of Persia's recounting of his story to Farah. In an Xbox 360 gameplay demo of Assassin's Creed at X06, a screen appears with the words "memories /01" in the centre with "hard drive" on the left and "options" on the right after the character dies. Above "memories" it says "animus", Latin for "soul/life/spirit", and under it are the words "access your genetic memory". The word "shutdown" can be seen in the lower right-hand corner, and the outline of a person can be seen past the words, almost as if the person was standing over someone on their back, and the player can also see on the right-hand side a light bulb and a grate on the ceiling. Also, in the upper-left hand corner on the screenshot, it reads "in progress" so this may be something involved in the development.
On December 13, 2006, in an interview with IGN, Kristen Bell (who will have her voice and likeness lent to the game) talked about the plot. According to the interview, the plot centres on genetic memory and a corporation looking for descendants of an assassin.[6]
It's actually really interesting to me. It's sort of based on the research that's sort of happening now, about the fact that your genes might be able to hold memory. And you could argue semantics and say it's instinct, but how does a baby bird know to eat a worm, as opposed to a cockroach, if its parents don't show it? And it's about this science company trying to, Matrix-style, go into people's brains and find out an ancestor who used to be an assassin, and sort of locate who that person is.
Altaïr is voiced by actor Philip Shahbaz.[7]
It was mentioned in the UbiDays interview that Altaïr is not religious but rather "spiritual" and is the son of a Christian Mother and Muslim Father.
Altaïr (meaning "The Flying One" in Arabic) is a star in the Northern Sky in the constellation of Aquilla ("eagle" in Latin); this ties in well with a white eagle seen in the trailer for PS3 and Xbox 360 which is shown flying over the city of Acre, and lands on the bell tower Altaïr himself is standing on. To complete the theme the Assassin's clothes consist of white flowing robes. His hood also has a hook on the end and his lower robe features a stream on each side, therefore making Altaïr's shadow in air look like an eagle.
It is also stated that in events before the start of the game, there is an initiation where Altaїr's left ring finger is cut off, so that he is no longer a Novice, but an Assassin. Once his finger is cut off, a hidden blade is installed, as noted below in "Weaponry".
Story
The overall story within Assassin's Creed is set in the near-future, where barkeeper Desmond Miles (the character controlled by the player) has been kidnapped by an unknown person prior to the start of the game, and is brought to Abstergo Industries, where researchers are working on the Animus project. The Animus is able to pull out memories from ancestors of the user, allowing the user to replay those memories as if he were there himself. Desmond was "chosen" for the project due to his relationship to his ancestor Altaïr, a member of the Assassins during the Third Crusade of the Holy Land; the researches express interest in understanding more of how the Assassins worked. Though initially Desmond's sub-conscious rejects the memories of Altaïr, he eventually learns to accept them and is able to proceed to follow Altaïr's actions through the Animus.
The memories of Altaïr that Desmond experiences start in AD 1191: Richard the Lionheart has just recaptured the port city of Acre from occupying Muslims. With a base of operations established, the Crusaders prepare to march south. Their true target is Jerusalem – which they intend to recapture for Christianity. However, Saladin, leader of the Islamic army, currently rules the city. Stinging from his army’s defeat at Acre, he will not allow Richard to humiliate him again. The Muslim forces are massing in the ruins of Arsuf, intending to ambush the Crusaders and prevent them from reaching Jerusalem. These war maneuvers have left the rest of the Holy Land wide open. While Richard and Saladin battle one another, the men left to govern in their stead have begun taking advantage of their newfound positions of power. Exploitation, manipulation, and provocation rule the day.
The first memory Desmond experiences is that of Altaïr failing to assassinate the Grand Master of The Templar Knights, Robert de Sable, and recover the order's treasure. Due to this, Altaïr is demoted to Uninitiated (the lowest rank in the Assassin Order). But Al Mualim, leader of the Assassins, offers him an opportunity to redeem himself. Altaïr must venture out into the Holy Land and assassinate Nine men said to be exacerbating and exploiting the hostilities created by the Third Crusade. In doing so, he will stabilize the region, allowing Mualim to usher in an age of peace.
Along the way, however, he will begin to discover that his targets are bound by more than just a shared interest in personal gain. They share membership in a secret society familiar to the Hashshashin. And they are not simply looking for profit. Their true goal and how they plan to achieve it leads to a modern-day conspiracy with secrets to be discovered during the course of the story. The members are eventually revealed to be templars. Their goal was to bring peace to the society, even through harsh means. Upon assassinating all of the people but Robert de Sable, a trap is laid out for Altaïr, and a woman is put as a decoy. It turns out to be a ploy by the Templars to sow discord between the Assassins and the Crusaders and Muslims. In doing so, Saladin and Richard The Lionheart would instead work together and fight the Assassins, and in the process, bringing peace. Altaïr finally catches up with Robert de Sable, and eventually, in a melee, wins him. It is then revealed to him by Robert de Sable that his master was also a member of the Templars, and he has now the sole power of the artifact. Altaïr travels back, only to find most of the town enslaved by the artifact. He then fights his way to the temple, and is aided by Malik. He eventually triumphs over his master. The map then reveals 12 locations of the artifacts, and then Desmond is pulled out from the Animus. He now sees cryptic writings on the walls and all over the floor.
The messages in the bedroom consist of 22:13, which refers to Revelations 22:13, which states, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."[8] Emperor Jiajing's name, various Chinese characters are also on the wall, as with the numericals, 13.0.0.0, are constantly shown on the the wall. This could be a reference to the Mayan Calender, and the date in which it ends, December 21, 2012.[9] It could also be related to the rush of ViDic to pry the information out of Desmond, as the date in which the game occurs is around September 2012.
There are several messages in the Animus room. For example, to the right of the Animus is the message: "They drained my soul and made it theirs[.] I drain my body to show you where I saw it[.]"
Weaponry
There are four main types of weapons which Altaïr can use in Assassin’s Creed: a long sword, a short sword coupled with throwing knives on a belt, his fists, and his hidden blade, a concealed mechanical dagger that retracts to avoid notice (similar in concept to an OTF or "out-the-front" switchblade. All that is known is that the hidden blade uses a complex system of gears to somehow extend and retract. This hidden blade is attached to the underside of his left arm, which emerges from under his wrist. Altaïr is also missing his left hand ring finger which was severed as part of the initiation ceremony when he received his mechanical dagger. When the blade is extended and the hand is balled into a fist the blade extends through the space left by the removed ring finger. A trailer showing the dagger being "unsheathed" shows a complex clockwork mechanism. A crossbow was shown in the first trailer for Assassin's Creed, but has not been seen since, meaning that it was either used for cinematic effect or it has been cut from the game in favour of throwing daggers.
Jade Raymond has stated that the player will be able to unlock new abilities such as improved boots (better grip for climbing) and climbing gloves and customizations for Altaïr's weaponry. In the newest trailer, Altaïr also carries a knife on his back, in addition to his sword. The players can select the weapon they want to use by pressing the directional buttons, this allows quick switch capability during combat.
Other media
Books
Pocket Books had announced it was planning to novelise Assassin’s Creed in a trilogy, written by Steven Barnes. However, the series has reportedly been cancelled.[10] The title of the first book would have been Assassin’s Creed Book One: The Invisible Imam, and would have detailed events leading up to the beginning of the game.
There was a small comic given out to EB Games managers during the company's 2007 annual conference. This was scanned and put on Photobucket soon after.[11]
Film
According to Xbox.com there have been some discussions between five major studios and Ubisoft, concerning making a film adaptation of Assassin's Creed.[12] However the identities of the film companies have not been revealed and neither has Ubisoft's response.
Ubisoft and IFC held a contest for short films based on Assassin's Creed. The winning film can be watched here.
Limited Editions
Announced in May of 2007, a Limited Collector's Edition will be released as well. However, the Limited Edition version will only be available to PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 owners. In addition to the game disc the Assassin's Creed Limited Edition will contain:
- Collectible 3-inch Altaïr figure
- Penny Arcade comics
- Mini strategy guide
- Bonus disc including:
- Winners of Assassin's Creed short film contest
- Behind-the-scenes videos
- Developer diaries
- Trailers
- Producer interviews
- There is a second limited edition containing:
- 10-inch Resin Altair Figure
- The game
Demos
On July 10 2007 during the Microsoft E3 Press Conference, a demo was shown using a previously unseen city, Jerusalem. Features that were demonstrated included improved crowd mechanics, the "chase" system (chasing after a target trying to flee), as well as deeper aspects of free running. This was the first time where Altaïr could be heard speaking. It was again showcased for nearly 20 minutes on Wednesday, July 11. The video showed an extended version of the E3 demo, and included Altaïr trying to escape after his assassination of Talal the Slave Trader.
On August 26, 2007 an 11 minute demo of Assassin's Creed was shown at the Penny Arcade expo. The level that was shown was the same as in the E3 demo, however a different path was taken to reach the target. At the end of the demo, a conversation between Altaïr and the head of the Assassin's bureau in Jerusalem called Malik was shown.
Reception
Publication | Score |
---|---|
Eurogamer | 7/10 |
Famitsu | 37/40 |
Game Informer | 9.5/10 |
GamePro | 5/5 |
GameSpot | 9.0/10 |
GameTrailers | 9.1/10 |
IGN | 7.7/10 |
GamesRadar | 10/10 |
TeamXbox | 7.9/10 |
Assassin's Creed has received generally positive reviews, while a few publications such as IGN.com and 1UP.com have awarded the game quite average scores by comparison to it's pre-release status. Famitsu awarded Assassin's Creed a 37 (10, 8, 9, 10) out of 40, positively citing the story, presentation, and acrobatics, while criticizing the one button combat, map layout, and camera problems.[13] Game Informer awarded Assassin's Creed a 9.5 out of 10, praising the control scheme, replay value, and intriguing story, but expressing frustration over the "repetitive" information gathering missions.[14] GameTrailers similarly praised the story (giving a 9.7 score to its story), and also cited repetitive gameplay and "moronic" AI as somewhat stifling its potential.[15] The game has also received a 10 out of 10 from GamesRadar.
Awards
The following awards were awarded to Assassin's Creed at E3 2006:
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The award nominations and wins after release included:
- Nominated: Best Action Game
- Nominated: Best PlayStation 3 Game, Best Action Game, Best Graphics - Artistic, Best Plot Twist, Best Trailer ("Lonely Soul"), Breakout Character (Altair)
Notes
- ^ a b "Launch date announced". IGN. Retrieved October 25.
{{cite web}}
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(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=
ignored (|access-date=
suggested) (help) - ^ http://assassinscreed.uk.ubi.com/index_old.php
- ^ a b "PC Assassin's Creed and Mercs 2 delayed till 2008". GamerNode. Retrieved September 22.
{{cite web}}
: Check date values in:|accessdate=
(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=
ignored (|access-date=
suggested) (help) - ^ http://www.ubi.com/FI/Games/Info.aspx?pId=4820
- ^ http://ps3.ign.com/articles/736/736393p1.html
- ^ http://tv.ign.com/articles/750/750843p3.html
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1717255/
- ^ [1]
- ^ [2]
- ^ http://darkush.blogspot.com/2007/10/why-even-care.html
- ^ Assassin's Creed comic, Photobucket
- ^ http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/news-features/news/Cramming-Assassin’s-Creed-250507.htm
- ^ Famitsu reviews Assassin's Creed: 37/40
- ^ Game Informer, December 2007 issue
- ^ GameTrailers Assassin's Creed Video Review
- ^ "2006 Winners". gamecriticsawards.com. Retrieved 2006-06-25.
- ^ Magrino, Tom (2007-11-11). "Halo 3, BioShock top Spike TV noms". GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-11-11.
{{cite web}}
: Check date values in:|date=
(help) - ^ Falcon, Jonah (2007-11-11). "2007 GameStooge Award Nominations". 2old2play. Retrieved 2007-11-11.
{{cite web}}
: Check date values in:|date=
(help)
External links
- Official websites
- Assassin's Creed UK site
- Assassin's Creed US site
- Assassin's Creed Official Forum
- Assassin's Creed (360) Reviews at Metacritic
- Assassin's Creed review at RewiredMind
- [6]
- Unofficial websites
- [7]- Assassin's Creed Wiki at Wikia