Assassin's Creed: A Tribute to the End
From the beginning we loved the Assassin’s Creed franchise and very little has changed as we reach revelations. As we followed young Altair Ibn-La'Ahad in Masyaf, the holy land we began our journey down the assassin’s path. Assassin’s Creed was a rather amazing game all on its own, I don’t think anyone predicted anything more out of the game, but Ubisoft always find a way to surprise us. The storylines seem to get better and better as the games advance.
The Nine Templars
Killing the Nine Templars for the master of the assassins was a slow job and often took a few tries to perfect but the storyline and reasoning behind these deaths was flawless and very well written. Naturally we have all ended a game when we are betrayed by the person we trust most (just look at the Grand Theft auto franchise if you don’t believe me) but the betrayal of the grand master of the assassins left me in shock. The game to people who look into its depth leaves a message, well I suppose all of them do but Assassin’s Creed is where it all began. Every good game gives the player the moral of the story: Power corrupts the greatest of men. The apple of Eden simply serves as the symbol of power and as in the bible Temptation, Templar Temptation.
The new revamped Assassin’s Creed was a breath of fresh air to the Assassin’s Creed fan and indeed players who did not like Assassin’s Creed 2’s predecessor. Assassin’s Creed 2 is a story of betrayal and heartache from the very beginning, a story of mystery and hidden secrets which are centuries old. Assassin’s Creed 2 gives the player an inclusive new story which is easier than the first. The difficulty and pace of the game is which put many players off the game. The player is given Ezio Auditore Da Firenze, a cocky young man whose life is snatched away from him when his family are betrayed and sent to the rope. Ezio must become an assassin to avenge his father Ezio admits to his future wife Sofia (in revelations) that he didn’t choose the life of an assassin it chose him. Auditore sees the life of an assassin as a responsibility.
The Borgia’s
The villainy in Assassin’s Creed 2 and Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood all lead to The Borgia’s (an aristocratic influential family who lived in Renaissance Italy in the 1600s) From Ceasere Borgia to Roderigo Borgia, the incestuous, murderous insane family must be eliminated one by one. Assassin’s Creed is a great way to learn about the story of the Borgia’s, a story which is seldom told today.
Leonardo Da Vinci and Originality
Assassin’s Creed 2 and Brotherhood included Leonardo Da Vinci as a protagonist. Da Vinci served as an inventor and a creator in the game and of course a good friend to Ezio. As the player progresses through the games Da Vinci constructs Ezio weapons such as dual hidden blades, poison blade, hidden gun etc. The player is also exposed to exciting missions which involve Leonardo Da Vinci’s inventions. In Brotherhood the player has to destroy Da Vinci’s creations, such as the tank, the machine gun and the flying machine.
Assassin’s Creed has always held brilliant originality with weapons and costumes. A fair few gamers will know who Altair or Ezio are if shown a picture, you don’t really need to be a fan to recognise the cloaks for what they really are. Weapons such as the hidden blades and hidden gun are so very original that they must belong to Assassin’s Creed. From a writer’s perspective I can tell the reader that creating an original idea is such a very difficult thing to do.
Revelations
So we have reached the end of the series. I cannot describe how disappointed I am that I will never play a new Assassin’s Creed game. Revelations was a more than adequate final game. Yes the game had a few errors, no it was not good to play as Desmond, his missions were dire if you were not good at puzzles, but Ezio… Ezio’s missions were amazing. Seeing Ezio as an old man shows how the assassin matured, much like Altair in Assassin’s Creed, he goes from a cocky young man who thinks what he thinks is God, to a man who has actually lived the assassin’s life and learned what was right. Altair’s journey ends in revelations too, I cannot express how brilliant his story was. Ezio’s final days as an assassin blew my mind, he did everything for a reason and ended knowing that his job was done. I need to also express to the reader how odd it is for Ezio to say “Desmond.” All I will say to the people who haven’t played it yet is… the game ends on a high and we can say goodbye to Ezio, a legend of a video game character along with Altair, revelations ties up the stories so neatly it is almost like art. Goodbye Assassin’s Creed, thank you for enriching gaming history.
Ezio Auditore will be making an appearance in Soul Calibur V (2012) for one last look at the legend.
