Assassin's Creed 📽 Through the Lens

I munnnnst admit, even more than a dacade after its release, and all the hype and praise this franchise has gotten, it's still thought to write this. 😅 // I'll get into why a bit later

But yeah, this game was the beginning of a franchise that would shape the direction of a publisher. Whenever one of these mega hits comes out, it reshapes the very landscape of the industry. 😤

Assassin's Creed was no different. // I just said it was the beginning of a franchise, you're not paying attention... 😛

As so❗️ In this edition of Through the Lens 🎞, we'll be taking a look at Ubisoft Montreal's magnum opus stabby, stabby simulator from 2007: Assassin's Creed, Roll it! 📽

As with all of these I invite you to take a listen to the soundtrack while reading this. 🙂 No comments on it really, pretty memorable in its own right, although I wouldn't start demanding an orchestra play it. 😅

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKnTUsQ6sb0

So, as is meant with this first section, I have to say.... for the longest time I despised this franchise. 👿

Why? Well I'm glad you asked. It ended my favorite franchise as a kid - Prince of Persia. I held this grudge for the longest time. Am I ashamed to admit it? Yeah, a little. But I still feel a little tang towards it even 15 years later.

I don't despise it anymore, but because of this, it took me a while to finally give this game a try.

"And yeah, Prince of Persia was better. Sue me." Some guy on the internet, 2022

I go back and forth whether the whole premise of this series (at least in the earlier entries) was even needed. The amazing setup/payoff they had at the end of Revelations was cool... but we never got to see where it led so that doesn't tell us anything.

Basically in Assassin's Creed you are not playing as Altair, a legendary Assassin from days long passed. No, you are playing as Desmond, a run of the mill guy who just happens to be a descendant of Altair - playing Altair. 😮

You do this through a machine known as the Animus. A wishy-washy, 'time traveling' device that least its subjects relive the lives of its genetic forebearers. Slight spoiler warning for the next paragraph, but this game is so old you shouldn't really care, but I'm nice like that. 😎

The organization that kidnaps Desmond and forces him to play the games essentially, is actually the modern day Templars - the ancient and eternal enemy of the Assassin's order. They are using our hero to... do things. 🤷‍♂️

Does that sound dumb? Because to this day I have no idea why they couldn't just tell the stories of the individual assassins. This meta element never really clicked with me. I remember not liking it as a kid, and questioning it now. I feel it just made the whole thing unnesecaeraly messy.

That's me though. And you can ignore me. What you can't ignore is the gameplay! // good transition eh?

There are two types of gameplay in Assassin's Creed:

• Desmond in the present day;
• Altair in the past;

It's not a wonder the team focussed on Altair's actions since the Desmond ones were just used to pad time (?), not really but it sure felt like that...

I really think they should've just removed the entire Animus plot line from jump. They finally did years down the line, but in these early entries it does nothing but to slow the pace of the game down to a crawl.

So let's talk bout the Altair sections - i.e. the real meat of the game.

The framework and structure for the entire series stems from these now basic gameplay loops. At the time however, they didn't seem basic at all. The combat is... almost nonexistent in its simplicity. Deffinetly not satisfying. And the loop of following your target without getting seen was cool the first couple of times... but then it got stale real fast.

When there heralded this game as the studio's vision for what Prince of Persia could've been, it just wasn't that. 😅

So what made it so compelling to start one of gaming most successful franchises? As always, your questions are impeccable.

In layman's terms the game made you feel line an assassin.

Stalking the crowds with that cool walk that made you feel like a badass. Diving down the now famous leap of faith made you feel free. And taking on scores of guards (while they each waited their turn to get killed) made you feel unstoppable.

Evcerything in the game was designed to make the player feel like the perfect badass. And in that it succeeded wholesale.

Ona side note. i feel like the multiplayer in the second or third game was just amazing. it captured this feeling perfectly. I was so sad when they stopped doing that form of multiplayer... It was so fun to hide in plain sight and just kill people... they should of really gave that mode a couple more years before discontinuing it. But oh well, Ubisoft. Whatchagonnadooo.

One fo the longest running franchises in gaming history. This game started a movement. Nothing epidamises the rule of cool 😎 as this game does. Full stop on that one.

The newest games have gone full on RPG, departing from the roots this game put in place. Although they seem to be moving back with the announcement of Mirrage. I honestly haven't seen a franchise do a 180 on its core design like AC has. But eh, if it works it works.

Regardless of what you think of its shallow mechanics, its complete package is what sets it apart. Assassin's Creed will forever be remembered. It's legacy is undeniable and its reach is vast. Kudos for the team for finally making their dream game. While killing mine in the process.... 😭

Shout-out to the 🍕PIZZA🍕 gang, 🤙 gang. 🤙

As always, thank you guys for reading! Means a lot! And don't let my saltiness rub you the wrong way. 😂 At the end of the day I'm still a fan of gaming, but we must all have our alligances!

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Hope you had a wonderful weekend! 🙌

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