To teenagers born at the dawn of the space age, a video game was a white bar trying to intercept a white dot. One of the first home computers was a Vic 20 and its games consisted of words describing a room, a field or chiggers that killed. This computer’s true video game had lines and a circle that looked vaguely like the Enterprise.
Over the years, TV sets filled with electronic tubes morphed into flat screens. Game console cartridges transformed into shiny disks. Controllers shifted from a simple knob to button loaded, trigger equipped devices. Graphics transmuted into three-dimensional full-color movie quality imagines. Players have lol elo boosting in order to level up their games these days.
Along the way, the teenagers of the ‘60s and ‘70s became grandparents. They dropped away from video gaming because the games of their young children were not a challenge for an adult. The games for older kids were too complicated, “Push A button while depressing Clever and pulling Z trigger.”
Did you play Sonic and fight your way through the boards only to have your multiple lives chewed up in the last confrontation? As your last Sonic faded into oblivion, the realization dawns, you have to start over and go through every board to reach this point.
Welcome to the 21st century and the world of Assassin’s Creed.
In the Assassin’s Creed saga, you play Desmond Miles, who is reliving the lives of his ancestors with the aid of a device called the animus. If you manage to get the ancestor killed, – desynchronization in game terms – you restart at the last checkpoint. This can happen numerous times in a single memory sequence.
Let’s review the Assassin’s Creed saga. In the year 2012, a young bartender is kidnaped by a multinational corporation. Desmond Miles is held in a room containing a device known as the animus that taps into a person’s DNA and allows them to experience past lives. From his past lives and interactions with his captors, we learn Desmond comes from a long line of Assassins who have been fighting an eon long war against the Templars. Both factions have the same goal, find the Pieces of Eden.
Desmond’s DNA holds the knowledge and memories of two of his ancestors, Altair Ibn’Ahas and Ezio Auditore da Firenze. The first game, Assassin’s Creed, is the story of Altair. Assassin’s Creed II and Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, follow Desmond’s ancestor from Italy, Ezio. In the latest incarnation of the game, Assassin’s Creed Revelations, we find ourselves where the first game ended. An older Ezio has traveled to the Holy Land searching for the lost knowledge of Altair Ibn’Ahas.
Before you get into Ezio’s adventurer, Assassin’s Creed Revelations start with a recap of the previous games. You then find yourself, as Desmond, awakening on a strange island. For a newcomer this part is disorienting, reflecting Desmond’s mental shape: confused. As you walk around the island, you meet the ghost of a past captive, Subject 16. He explains what is happening and gives you the objective of the game.
The first few boards of Assassin’s Creed Revelations are designed to teach newcomers how to use the controls and refresh the memory of returning players. This section walks you through the abilities each primary button activates – attack, walk fast, climb, jump or search. By pressing the primary and a secondary button, additional skills are available to the player. Along with the fights and assassinations are other skills: pickpocketing, eavesdropping, tailing
Changing weapons is a matter of using the preset weapons control on the left side or pulling – on the PS3 – the trigger (R1) on the right side to bring up your equipment list. You use the left joystick for your primary weapons and the right for your secondary equipment. I found this method preferable as it pauses the game so there is no penalty while making the choice of a weapon. This ability comes in handy in the middle of melee when you decide you want a smoke bomb to cover your escape.
An on-screen Heads Up Device (HUD) will alert you when certain abilities are available. An example is the O button on PS3 or B on the XBOX. This button will cause Ezio to drop from the side of a building or rooftop. If he is standing next to an enemy he has killed, the HUD will change and inform you this button will allow you to either loot or pick up the body.
When new abilities become available, you may step out of the game and practice. Tap the map button (select on PS3) when the prompt appears and follow the menu. You may practice as long as you need, as the game is paused during your stay in the tutorial.
Eagle vision is an ability possessed by Assassins in Desmond’s bloodline. This special sense highlights enemies, patrol routes of guards, treasure, secret panels, and doors. In addition, it is used to locate assassination targets.
Assassin’s Creed is not a straight forward fighting game. You can use strategy to protect your assassin’s dens, to plot ways to infiltrate strongholds or how to take out the enemy’s guard. There are memories that require no fighting, instead, you must puzzle out the solution. There are multiple side quests that grow the personage of Ezio and adds knowledge. You can build businesses across the city to increase wealth and buy better weapons and armor, or purchase parachutes for daring escapes or aerial assassinations.
The story of Assassin’s Creed is a tale of two forces fighting for the domination of their Creed. There is an additional twist to the plot, but you must play the game to learn it. Since this is the tale of Desmond, you have entered his life and have taken an active part in fitting all the pieces of the puzzle together.
The Assassin’s Creed saga offers much in the way of gameplay and versatility. It took me 22 hours to play Assassin’s Creed Revelations and I plan on playing again and following other paths, making it a new experience, a new game. If you are thinking of re-booting your video game experience this is a wonderful game to experience the thrill when you first sat in front of your tv and knocked that white dot around.
