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Assassin's Creed (video game)

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Assassin's Creed
European cover
Developer(s)Ubisoft Montreal
Publisher(s)Ubisoft
Director(s)
  • Simon Peacock Edit this on Wikidata
Designer(s)Patrice Desilets (creative director), Jade Raymond (producer)
Writer(s)Corey May
Composer(s)Jesper Kyd
EngineScimitar
Platform(s)PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows
ReleasePlayStation 3, Xbox 360:

Microsoft Windows:

  • NA: April 8, 2008
[4]
  • AUS: April 10/11, 2008
[5][6][7]
  • EU: April 10, 2008
Genre(s)Third person action-adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

Assassin's Creed is a third person action-adventure video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It was released worldwide in November 2007 on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 video game consoles,[1] and April 2008 for Windows and a ported version in Q2 2009 for the iPhone/iPod Touch.

The story takes place in September 2012, following Desmond Miles, a bartender kidnapped by a laboratory conducting research into genetic memory. By the sessions conducted on Miles, the player learns he is a descendant of Altaïr Ibn la-Ahad ("The flying one, Son of None"), a member of the "Assassin Clan" in 1191, who were on a mission to obtain a "Piece of Eden", an artifact capable of creating illusions, from the Knights Templar. As the story develops, it is learned that the laboratory management were a modern version of the Knights Templar, and that they knew about Miles' ancestry. When their true objective is revealed, the player learns that they were looking for the location of a Piece of Eden, which they believed to be hidden in Miles' memory.

Plot

In 2012, Desmond Miles is a bartender kidnapped by the company Abstergo Industries for use as a test subject in the "Animus", a device that can stimulate the recall of ancestral memories. ("animus" is a psychological term that often refers to your inner personality (or personalities) or soul) Abstergo intends to put Desmond in the device to recall the role of his ancestor, Altaïr Ibn La-Ahad, in the "Assassin Clan" during 1191 as part of the Third Crusade in the Holy Land. Desmond has trouble adjusting to the device, but eventually relives Altaïr's exploits over the next several days. The game then primarily takes Altaïr's view point, with occasional swap with Desmond, due to glitches in the Animus.

Altaïr is first shown attempting to retrieve one of a series of artifacts known as the "Pieces of Eden" from Solomon's Temple with the help of other assassins, but is stopped by Robert de Sablé, Grand Master of the Knights Templar and sworn enemies of the assassins. While retrieving the treasure, Altaïr breaks all three tenets of the Assassin's Creed ("Stay your blade from the flesh of an innocent," "Hide in plain sight" and "Do not compromise the Brotherhood") within the opening minutes of gameplay to attempt to kill de Sablé, but fails. Upon returning to the Assassins' stronghold at Masyaf and after narrowly defeating a retaliatory attack by the Knights Templar, Al Mualim, leader of the Assassins, demotes Altaïr to an initiate but gives him another chance to rise through the ranks of the Brotherhood. Al Mualim assigns Altaïr the task of assassinating nine key figures across the Holy Land in Jerusalem, Acre and Damascus, to attempt to bring peace between the Crusader and Saracen forces. Each target is based on a real life character who from around 1191, including Majd Addin (Regent of Jerusalem), Garnier de Nablus (Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller), Jubair al Hakim (a eminent scholar in Damascus), Abu'l Nuqoud (the wealthiest man in Damascus), Robert de Sablé, Grand Master Sibrand of the Teutonic Order and William V, Marquess of Montferrat (Regent of Acre).[8]

Altaïr completes each task, learning how each target is connected to Robert and the Templars, and how together they aim to end the Crusade and place the Holy Land under their own control. With men on both sides killed, he discovers that de Sablé's last ploy is to attempt to unite Christian and Muslim against their new-common enemy, the assassins themselves. Altaïr defeats de Sablé before Richard the Lionheart, failing to convince the king that an end to the war would be welcome to both sides. From de Sablé he discovers that Al Mualim is himself a member of the Knights Templar, and used Altaïr to kill the other members so he could keep the treasure for himself. Altaïr quickly returns to Masyaf to accost his master, who reveals the truth: the Piece of Eden which he had received from one of the men in the Temple after Altaïr's transgression creates illusions. He denounces religion and other seemingly supernatural events (e.g. the parting of the Red Sea, the Ten Plagues of Egypt and the presence of the Greek Gods in the Trojan War) as illusions caused by it, then states his intention to use the artifact to compel mankind into a brainwashed state and so bring an end to all conflict. Altaïr is eventually able to see through deceptions created by the artifact to kill Al Mualim. When Altaïr recovers the artifact, the Piece of Eden activates, showing a holographic view of the world with numerous locations of other Pieces of Eden marked across the globe.

When the process is complete, Desmond learns that Abstergo is a modern-day version of the Knights Templar, and are already seeking other artifacts at locations identified in Altaïr's memory. He further learns that the modern-day assassins had tried to rescue him before the memory was complete but had failed. Desmond was to be killed after completion, but a researcher named Lucy Stillman saves him from death. Though Desmond remains trapped in the Abstergo laboratory, his experience in the Animus has created a "bleeding effect" of Altaïr's life in his own, allowing him to see strange messages painted on the walls of his room, as well as allowing Desmond to use Altaïr's eagle vision (which proves to him that Lucy, who earlier bends down her ring finger as if to show him that she's on his side, is indeed an ally, as she glows blue). The messages all deal with various forms of the end of the world from different cultures, including several references to the date December 21, 2012, the date that Abstergo plans to launch a satellite that will "permanently end the war". It is hinted at that this will be by the same method that Al Mualim hypnotized Masyaf, only on a larger scale. The game ends with Desmond wondering what these images all mean and who could have drawn them.

The Assassins

The character of Al Mualim and his clan are based on an Islamic sect known as the Order of the Hashshashin from which the term assassin originates, the idea for it coming from Blitzkrieg to Desert Storm: The Evolution of Operational Warfare by Robert M. Citino along with Bartol's novel Alamut.[9][10] The order follows a code of honor called the "Assassins Creed". The Creed is as follows: 1) Do not harm the innocent 2) Be discreet and 3) Do not compromise the brotherhood. They also follow the famous rule of Hashshashin founder Hassan-i Sabbah "Nothing is true; everything is permitted". Al Mualim's character is roughly based on Rashid ad-Din Sinan, who was the leader of the Syrian branch of the Hashshashin in 1191 and was nicknamed "The Old Man of the Mountain".

Gameplay

File:AssassinsCreed Dx10 2008-06-11 19-34-39-79.png
The player must climb tall towers to map the city and the location of investigation targets.

Assassin's Creed is an action-adventure video game in which the player primarily assumes the role of Altaïr as experienced by Desmond. The primary goal of the game is to carry out a series of assassinations ordered by Al Mualim, the leader of the Assassins. To achieve this goal, the player must travel from the Brotherhood's headquarters in Masyaf, across the terrain of the Holy Land known as the Kingdom to one of three cities, Jerusalem, Acre, or Damascus, to find the Brotherhood agent in that city. There, the agent, in addition to providing a safe house, gives the player minimal knowledge about the target, and requires them to perform additional intelligence gathering missions before attempting the assassination. These missions include eavesdropping, interrogation, pickpocketing and completing tasks for informers and fellow assassins. Additionally, the player may take part in any number of side objectives, including climbing tall towers to map out the city, and saving citizens who are being threatened or harassed by the city guards. There are also various side quests that do not advance the plot such as hunting down and killing Templars and flag collecting. After completing each set of assassinations, the player is returned back to the Brotherhood and rewarded with a better weapon and then given another set of targets, with the player free to select the order of their targets.

File:AssassinsCreed Dx10 2008-06-11 20-20-16-49.png
Sitting on a bench allows the player to blend in and avoid being spotted by guards.

The player is made aware of how noticeable Altaïr is to enemy guards as well as the current state of alert in the local area via an alertness level meter. To perform many of the assassinations and other tasks, the player must consider the use of commands distinguished by its type of profile. Low profile commands allow Altaïr to blend into nearby crowds, pass by other citizens, or other non-threatening tasks that can be used to hide and reduce the alertness level; the player can also use Altaïr's retractable blade to attempt low profile assassinations. High profile commands are more noticeable, and include 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 crowds run and scatter while guards attempt to chase and bring down Altaïr; to reduce the alert level, the player must control Altaïr as to break the guards' line of sight and then find a hiding space such as a haystack or rooftop garden, or blend in with the citizens sitting on benches or wandering scholars. Should the player be unable to escape the guards, they can fight back using swordplay maneuvers.

File:Assassinscreed dna.jpg
During gameplay, intentional glitches that include nucleotides (which compose DNA) and computer messages flash on the screen.

The player's health is described as the level of synchronization between Desmond and Altaïr's memories; should Altaïr suffer injury, it is represented as deviation from the actual events of the memory, rather than physical damage. 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 the additional option to use "eagle vision" which allows the computer-rendered memory to highlight 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.

Development

System requirements
Minimum Recommended
Microsoft Windows[11]
Operating system Windows XP with Service Pack 2 or Windows Vista
CPU Intel Pentium D 2.4 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ (Dual Core) processorIntel Core 2 Duo 2.2 GHz or better/AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ or 4400+
Memory 512 MB (XP), 1 GB (Vista)2 GB
Free space 9.0 GB
Graphics hardware 256 MB DirectX 9.0c Graphics Card with Shader Model 3.0 or higher.512 MB DirectX 10.0–compliant video card.
Sound hardware DirectX 9.0 or 10.0–compliant5.1 channel surround

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.[12] In a later interview on December 13, 2006, with IGN, Kristen Bell (who lent her voice to the game) talked about the plot. According to the interview, the plot centers on genetic memory and a corporation looking for descendants of an assassin.[13]

"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."

On October 22, 2007, in an IGN Australia interview with Patrice Desilets mentioned that the lead character's climbing and running were done by "Alex and Richard – the same guys from Prince of Persia".[14]

Altaïr is voiced by actor Philip Shahbaz,[15] and his face is modeled on Francisco Randez, a model from Montréal.[16][17]

Music

Jade Raymond, producer of Assassin's Creed said "For Assassin's Creed we wanted the score to capture the gruesome atmosphere of medieval warfare but also be edgy and contemporary."[18] The musical score was composed by Jesper Kyd in 2007. Six tracks were made available online to those who have purchased the game; a password was given to people to insert at the soundtrack section of the Ubisoft website.[19] Several tracks are also available to listen to on Kyd's MySpace and his official website. The released tracks as a whole have the archaic Latin chorus and dark orchestral music, while the track "Meditation Begins" features a kind of Saltarello with a very ominous, dark, ambient overtone with men whispering in Latin. The atmosphere in these tracks is what Jesper Kyd is known for and is effective in situ.[20] The soundtrack is available in iTunes Music Store[21] and Amazon MP3.

Tracks
No.TitleLength
1."City Of Jerusalem"3:11
2."Flight Through Jerusalem"3:39
3."Spirit of Damascus"1:31
4."Trouble In Jerusalem"4:04
5."Acre Underworld"3:24
6."Access The Animus"9:34
7."Dunes of Death"1:46
8."Masyaf In Danger"3:43
9."Meditation Begins"2:47
10."Meditation Of The Assassins"3:43
11."The Bureau"3:12

Windows version

It was made public in April 2008 that Assassin's Creed would be sold electronically and available for pre-order through Valve's software distribution program, Steam. The PC version of Assassin's Creed was released on April 8, 2008 in North America. Four bonus mission types, not seen in the console version, are included. These 4 new missions are archer assassination, rooftop race challenge, merchant stand destruction challenge and escort challenge.[22]

A pirated version of the game has been in existence since late February 2008. According to Ubisoft a bug was purposely inserted into the pre-release version of the game by the publisher itself to unpredictably crash the game and prevent completion as a security measure, though players were able to use extra content available on the Internet to bypass it.[23][24] The pirated version of Assassin's Creed was one of the most popular titles for piracy during the first week of March 2008.[25] The presence of the bug and performance of the pirated version of the game was believed by Ubisoft to lead to "irreparable harm" for the game and resulted in low retail sales; NPD Group reports that 40,000 copies of the PC title were sold in United States in July, while more than 700,000 copies were illegally downloaded according to Ubisoft.[23][26] In July 2008, Ubisoft sued disc manufacturer Optical Experts Manufacturing, believing the company to be the source of the leak, citing poor security procedures that allowed an employee to leave with a copy of the game.[23][26]

Demos

On July 10, 2007, during Microsoft's 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 parkour. This was the first time when Altaïr could be heard speaking. It was again showcased for 20 minutes on July 11, 2007. 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, a 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 Malik, the head of the Assassin's bureau in Jerusalem, was shown.

Reception

Assassin's Creed has received generally positive reviews, although several publications such as Eurogamer, while still awarding the game decent scores, pointed out a number of significant shortcomings. Eurogamer stated that the gameplay "never evolves and ultimately becomes a bit boring, and quite amazingly repetitive."[33] In Andrew P.'s review for EGM(Kage), he wrote that the game features "a challenging Parkour path of escape..."[34] Famitsu awarded the Xbox 360 version of Assassin's Creed a 36 (9, 9, 9, 9), while the PS3 version received 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.[35][36] 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.[37] On The Hotlist on ESPNEWS, ESPN's Aaron Boulding called the game's concept of social stealth "fairly original" and added, "Visually, the developers nailed it."[38] 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. "Assassins Creed is one of those games that breaks new ground yet fails in nailing some fundamentals", said Gametrailers.[39] The game also received a 10 out of 10 from GamesRadar, and has a Metacritic score of 79.[40] According to GamePro, Assassin's Creed is one of the "finest gaming experiences ever created" if you are willing to be "patient" due to the lack of fast-paced action.[41] Hyper's Darren Wells commends the game for its "great story, great graphics and intuitive controls". However, he criticises it for "some missions that don't feel right on the PC and its loopy menu system".[42]

Assassin's Creed won several awards at E3 2006. Game Critics awarded it "Best Action/Adventure Game,"[43]; from IGN, "Best Action Game", "PS3 Game of the Show", "Best PS3 Action Game", "Best PS3 Graphics"; from GameSpot and GameSpy, "Best PS3 Game of the Show"; from GameTrailers "Best of Show", and from 1UP.com, "Best PS3 game". Creed was nominated for several other awards by X-Play[44] and Spike TV.[45]

Sales for Assassin's Creed were unexpectedly high according to the publisher. An official press release from Ubisoft stated:

Assassin's Creed has greatly outstripped Ubisoft's sales expectations and currently ranks among the top two or three best-selling games for the PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system and Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system in the vast majority of geographical regions. In less than four weeks Assassin's Creed recorded more than two and a half million units in sell-through sales worldwide, and is the fastest-selling new video game intellectual property ever in the U.S. Consequently, Ubisoft now forecasts that it will sell a minimum of five million units of the game in 2007–08 compared with its previous estimate of approximately three million.[46]

On April 16, 2009, Ubisoft revealed that the game has sold 8 million copies to date.[47]

Limited Edition

Alongside the standard retail version, a limited collector's edition was released in North America for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The European limited edition contains the game and a 12-inch (305 mm) Altaïr figure in addition to an art book and a DVD containing several short films. The North American PC version was released on April 8, 2008.

Prequel and sequels

A prequel for the game, titled Assassin's Creed: Altaïr's Chronicles and developed by Gameloft,[48] was released on February 5, 2008 for the Nintendo DS.[49] It was also ported to the Symbian Mobile. A port of Assassin's Creed: Altaïr's Chronicles has also been released for the iPhone and the iPod Touch on April 23, 2009.[50][51]

On January 21, 2009, Ubisoft confirmed that Assassin's Creed II was in production and targeted for release in the company's 2009–2010 fiscal year. It has also been confirmed that it will be released in the United States on November 17 2009 and in Europe on November 20.[52]

On June 2, 2009, at their E3 Conference, Sony announced Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines for the PlayStation Portable with a release date of November 10, 2009 (one week prior to the release of Assassin's Creed II).[53]

Short Film

On 26th October, The Assassin's Creed short film aired on the famous broadcast website Youtube. Only one episode has aired so far and episode 2 will be out some time soon

http://www.youtube.com/assassinscreeduk to watch Episode 1

References

  1. ^ a b "Launch date announced". IGN. Retrieved October 25, 2007.
  2. ^ "Assassin's Creed game detail page at Xbox.com". Retrieved 2008-04-04.
  3. ^ "Assassin's Creed official site". Ubisoft.
  4. ^ "Unofficial PC ship dates on Gamespot". Gamespot. Retrieved February 26, 2008.
  5. ^ "Assassin's Creed". EB Games Australia. Retrieved 2008-04-04.
  6. ^ "Assassin's Creed". EB Games New Zealand. Retrieved 2008-04-04.
  7. ^ "Assassin's Creed". GAME. Retrieved 2008-04-04.
  8. ^ Assassin's Creed Developer Diaries
  9. ^ "Interview: Assassin's creed". Computer and videogames. Retrieved November 3, 2008.
  10. ^ Nick Doerr. "Assassin's Creed producer speaks out, we listen intently [update 1]". Retrieved November 3, 2008.
  11. ^ Plunkett, Luke (January 22, 2008). "Assassin's Creed PC Specs: Your PC Will Weep Like A Scolded Child". Kotaku. Retrieved 2008-10-14.
  12. ^ IGN: Assassin's Creed Preview
  13. ^ IGN: IGN Exclusive Interview: Kristen Bell
  14. ^ IGN: Assassin's Creed AU Interview: Patrice Desilets
  15. ^ Philip Shahbaz
  16. ^ Template:Fr icon [Assassin’s Creed] Francisco Randez prête son visage à Altaïr lienmultimedia.com. Retrieved April 15, 2008.
  17. ^ "Francisco Randez". modelresource. Retrieved 2009-04-15.
  18. ^ McWhertor, Michael (2007-10-16). "Assassin's Creed Score Is BAFTAstic". Kotaku. Retrieved 2008-05-11.
  19. ^ "Soundtrack's - Assassin's Creed - Ubisoft". Ubisoft. Retrieved 2008-05-11.
  20. ^ Tracksounds Now!: Assassin's Creed (Soundtrack) by Jesper Kyd
  21. ^ iTunes Store - Jesper Kyd - Assassin's Creed (Original Game Soundtrack). Itunes.apple.com. Retrieved on 2009-06-26.
  22. ^ Assassin's Creed PC: New Investigation Types – News
  23. ^ a b c Sinclair, Brendan (2008-08-06). "Ubisoft sues over Assassin's Creed leak". GameSpot. Retrieved 2008-08-07.
  24. ^ Rossignol, Jim (2008-03-04). "So... Assassin's Creed PC?". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved 2008-03-06.
  25. ^ Gillen, Kieron (2008-03-05). "The Yarr-ts: Piracy Snapshot 5.3.2008". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved 2008-03-06.
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  32. ^ "Assassin's Creed (xbox360) reviews at Metacritic.com". GameRankings. Retrieved 2009-08-15.
  33. ^ Assassin's Creed Review // Xbox 360 /// Eurogamer
  34. ^ Andrew P., "Review of Assassin's Creed," Electronic Gaming Monthly 224 (January 2008): 89.
  35. ^ Famitsu reviews Dragon Quest IV, Assassins Creed, Guilty Gear 2 and more
  36. ^ Assassin's Creed nabs 37/40 from Famitsu
  37. ^ Game Informer, December 2007 issue
  38. ^ ESPN – Easy Points – 'Tis the Season – Videogames
  39. ^ GameTrailers Assassin's Creed Video Review
  40. ^ "Assassin's Creed (xbox 360: 2007) Reviews".
  41. ^ Melick, Todd (November 14, 2007). "Assassin's Creed review". GamePro. Retrieved 2008-01-08.
  42. ^ Wells, Darren (June 2008). "Assassin's Creed". Hyper (176). Next Media: 54. ISSN 1320-7458.
  43. ^ "2006 Winners". gamecriticsawards.com. Retrieved 2008-03-23.
  44. ^ "2007 X-Play Best of 2007 Award Nominations". G4. Retrieved 2007-12-10.
  45. ^ Magrino, Tom (2007-11-11). "Halo 3, BioShock top Spike TV noms". GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-11-11.
  46. ^ "Ubisoft Announces Outstanding Sales Performance For Assassin's Creed and Raises Guidance for Fiscal 2007-08". Ubisoft. Retrieved January 4, 2008.
  47. ^ "Ubisoft Unveils Assassins Creed II" (PDF). Ubisoft. Retrieved June 4, 2009.
  48. ^ "Assassin's Creed: Altair's Chronicles" PocketGamer. Retrieved October 7, 2008.
  49. ^ "Nintendo lays out Q4 '07, Q1 '08 slate". GameSpot. Retrieved December 29, 2007.
  50. ^ Starrett, Charles (2009-04-14). "Gameloft previews Assassin's Creed for iPhone, iPod touch". iLounge. Retrieved 2009-04-15.
  51. ^ Article Detail - PC Gaming, PlayStation, Wii, Nintendo DS, Xbox 360, News, Reviews, Downloads, Custom Apps, Homebrew and much more. Qj.net (2009-04-22). Retrieved on 2009-06-26.
  52. ^ "IGN: New Ghost Recon, Assassin's Creed 2 Coming". IGN. 2009-07-17. Retrieved 2009-04-11.
  53. ^ "E3 2009: Assassin's Creed PSP Gets Official Name and Date". IGN. Retrieved June 5, 2009.

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