"Altair?"
I pause as I hear the voice. Turning slightly, I see what appears to be a white robed scholar hobbling over with a noticeable limp. But appearances can be, and often are, deceptive. Even through the robes, it is clear that his body is a bit too honed for just a simple scholar.
"Praise the Master, it is you! You have to help me, my friend."
Even without the words, I can tell this man is in trouble. His eyes hold just a hint of desperation and his robes are stained and have clearly seen better days.
"I am sorry Rafiq. I am on an urgent mission for Al Mualim ..."
With these words, I expect to see disappointment on his face. Instead, he cuts me off from adding anything further.
"Yes, Yes. I know why you are here. And I know how you can gain access to Robert de Sable."
He pauses, looking at me expectantly. I consider beating the information out of him. Would our master forgive me for attacking a brother in this case? Or should I drag him, kicking and screaming, back to Masyaf to personally answer why he is withholding information on such an important mission. But would Robert still be here by the time I returned?
It appears I have little choice. "What do you need?"
He smiles with relief, for just a moment, before answering.
"Several days ago, I was tracking one of de Sable's templars. Unfortunately, he spotted me. I managed to elude him but twisted my ankle in the process. I have been hiding from him ever since. If you can help me with my problem, I will help you with yours."
I ponder his request but the reality is that I have little choice. After getting some more details, I head off to the market to find the templar.
***********************************************
I spot my target easily enough. Even discounting that he is the only person wearing plate armour, his shiny white surcoat with red cross and white mantle proudly proclaims his status as a knight templar.
As I watch him from afar, I feel my anger rise. So proud. So arrogant. The templars are welcomed throughout the city for their efforts to bring "peace" to the region. How can these people not see what I see? These templars are false saviours. They are not here to bring peace to the land but to bring the land under their heel. So proud and arrogant. I would love nothing more than to run over and plant my blade in his body - to watch as his pride and arrogance drain out with his blood as his life ebbs away.
I stand in the shadows of a building across the street and watch as he haggles over the price of some plates with a merchant. It would be so easy to just walk over and end his life.
The only problem are the drunken old men. Standing in the middle of the market and yelling obscenities at all and sundry, they would surely accost me, dressed as I am in the robes of a scholar. Attention is the last thing I want. With the guards in the market square closely watching the drunks, it would be all too easy for them to notice the sword strapped underneath my robes if I got into an altercation with the drunks.
So I stand in the shadows. Watching. Waiting.
Eventually, the templar finishes haggling with the merchant and turns to leave. With my hands clasped and raised as if in prayer, nobody notices me as I slip quietly round the outskirts of the market. But then, why would they? I am just another penitent scholar wandering around in a city full of scholars.
I get to the main street leading out of the market square just ahead of the templar and make my way slowly across the street. I track the templar with my peripheral vision as he comes striding up towards me. He doesn't notice me. A lowly scholar crossing the street is beneath his attention.
As he passes me, one step is all it takes for me to slip in behind him. My right arm reaches up and around, clamping down on his mouth and pulling his head back and to the right. A low gurgle is the only sound he makes as the spring mechanism in my left hand plunges the attached blade into his exposed neck.
I am already several paces away by the time his body hits the ground. One of the market guards, more alert than the others, notices the templar slump to the ground. His attention is fixed on the body and he doesn't notice the penitent scholar who brushes past him on his way to investigate the templar. By the time he realises that the templar is dead, I have already rounded the corner and out of view.
They will never know who killed the templar. All they know is that he died from a blade in the crowd.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Assassin's Creed
Wow - my 100th gaming post.
:)
Assassin's Creed is a game I've had my eye on for a while now. It came out a while ago and I didn't buy it at the time primarily because I was playing other games. Unfortunately, after I managed to free up some time, the game had disappeared from the shelves in HK. Despite trolling the various game stores, it just wasn't available.
Luckily for me, Microsoft recently made the game available over Xbox Live as part of its downloadable games service. Furthermore, at a price point of just under $200 bucks, it was cheap enough for me to take the plunge.
The game itself involves you playing Altair who, as you can probably guess from the name of the game, is an hashshashin. Set during the crusades, the Templar's are up to something and its your job to throw a spanner in the works by taking out key members of Templar leadership in the region.
Stuff I liked
Free running - One of the big things about this game is the free running aspect of gameplay. If you don't know what free running (or parkour) is, the best way to find out is by jumping on Youtube and searching for relevant videos as words just don't do it justice.
And the free running is done really well in this game. One minute, you're running down the street being chased by guards. Then, before you know it, you take advantage of several conveniently placed barrels and start jumping across wooden beams suspended in mid air while looking for a way to climb onto the closest rooftop. All the while, your pursuers continue chasing you on the ground.
Pretty exhilarating when it works out well.
Assassinations - Being an assassin, you naturally have a hidden blade to carry out your executions. The blade itself is a spring mounted blade hidden in a leather sheaf on your forearm and all it takes is a button press to reveal the carefully concealed blade.
Assassination itself falls into two types. The first type is a high profile assassination. In this type, you take a running leap at the target before implanting your blade deep into the targets neck. Naturally, everyone and his dog sees this and if there are any guards nearby, you can bet that they will draw their swords and come after you.
The second type of assassination is the silent kill. With the silent kill, all you need to do is get within touching distance of the target without being spotted. At this point, a quick blade into the target later, no one is the wiser as to whats happened leaving you to walk away from the scene of the crime. All a nearby guard will see is the victim falling to the ground. And as they walk over to investigate whats going on, you can serenely saunter past them and lose yourself in the crowd.
As I walk away, I can just imagine a slight smile on Altair's face as he contemplates another successful kill.
Combat - Of course, you have more options than to just run or walk away. Even if you are spotted, it's not always a problem as Altair is a master swordsman. Combat in this game is not only visceral, but it is lethal (for your opponents at any rate).
Killing someone is pretty easy in this game as you have loads of options. If you time your attack combo properly, then that is an instant kill as you bat aside his sword and turn him into a kebab with your own blade. Alternatively, you can wait until your opponent attacks before initiating a spectacularly gruesome counter kill by swaying out of the way of his sword before turning him into a kebab with your blade. Then again, you could grab him and throw him against a wall or onto the ground before quickly switching to your hidden blade and turning his neck into a kebab with your blade.
This may sound like I have some deep seated psychological issues but the combat is gruesome, spectacular and very satisfyingly fun.
Animation - Of course, all of the above would be wasted if the animation and graphics weren't up to scratch. And in this regard, Ubisoft have done a great job. Altair is beautifully animated and moves around with the skill and grace of an Olympic level athlete. All of his runs, jumps, pirouettes, dives, rolls etc etc etc are all captured extremely well and really sells you on the premise that Altair is a master swordsman and athlete...
Stuff I didn't like
Master athlete? - ... which makes it extremely surprising when you find out that our master athlete doesn't know how to swim.
One section of the game has you wandering around the docks. This section is great as you find yourself jumping between boats, wooden beams and poles sticking out of the water. However, its not so great when you accidentally fall into the water and drown even though all you have to do is reach out your hand and grab onto the boat.
Sigh...
Informers - Some of the side missions which you can complete involve helping out some informers. These informers are actually a part of your assassins guild and they have useful information regarding your target that they will impart to you if you help them collect some flags within a set time limit.
Excuse me, but wtf?
I'm on a mission from Al Mualim, the supreme leader of the assassins guild, to stop a nefarious plot by the Templars and the informer, as a member of the same guild, has been ordered to help me. However, this help (and its worth remembering at this point that the only help they give you is information) is only available if I collect some pissant little flags within 3 minutes?
I've got a better idea. Why don't I kick the shit out of you before dragging your sorry little ass to our glorious leader so you can explain exactly how much hashish you've been smoking.
To be fair, not all of the informer missions are flag collections but still...
There are a couple of other nitpicky stuff (for example, as with most open world games, a bit more variety would be nice) but overall, this is a quality game with some really nice ideas and a definite thumbs up from the Meister. Having learned from this first game, it will be really interesting to see what Ubisoft do with Assassin's Creed II.
:)
Assassin's Creed is a game I've had my eye on for a while now. It came out a while ago and I didn't buy it at the time primarily because I was playing other games. Unfortunately, after I managed to free up some time, the game had disappeared from the shelves in HK. Despite trolling the various game stores, it just wasn't available.
Luckily for me, Microsoft recently made the game available over Xbox Live as part of its downloadable games service. Furthermore, at a price point of just under $200 bucks, it was cheap enough for me to take the plunge.
The game itself involves you playing Altair who, as you can probably guess from the name of the game, is an hashshashin. Set during the crusades, the Templar's are up to something and its your job to throw a spanner in the works by taking out key members of Templar leadership in the region.
Stuff I liked
Free running - One of the big things about this game is the free running aspect of gameplay. If you don't know what free running (or parkour) is, the best way to find out is by jumping on Youtube and searching for relevant videos as words just don't do it justice.
And the free running is done really well in this game. One minute, you're running down the street being chased by guards. Then, before you know it, you take advantage of several conveniently placed barrels and start jumping across wooden beams suspended in mid air while looking for a way to climb onto the closest rooftop. All the while, your pursuers continue chasing you on the ground.
Pretty exhilarating when it works out well.
Assassinations - Being an assassin, you naturally have a hidden blade to carry out your executions. The blade itself is a spring mounted blade hidden in a leather sheaf on your forearm and all it takes is a button press to reveal the carefully concealed blade.
Assassination itself falls into two types. The first type is a high profile assassination. In this type, you take a running leap at the target before implanting your blade deep into the targets neck. Naturally, everyone and his dog sees this and if there are any guards nearby, you can bet that they will draw their swords and come after you.
The second type of assassination is the silent kill. With the silent kill, all you need to do is get within touching distance of the target without being spotted. At this point, a quick blade into the target later, no one is the wiser as to whats happened leaving you to walk away from the scene of the crime. All a nearby guard will see is the victim falling to the ground. And as they walk over to investigate whats going on, you can serenely saunter past them and lose yourself in the crowd.
As I walk away, I can just imagine a slight smile on Altair's face as he contemplates another successful kill.
Combat - Of course, you have more options than to just run or walk away. Even if you are spotted, it's not always a problem as Altair is a master swordsman. Combat in this game is not only visceral, but it is lethal (for your opponents at any rate).
Killing someone is pretty easy in this game as you have loads of options. If you time your attack combo properly, then that is an instant kill as you bat aside his sword and turn him into a kebab with your own blade. Alternatively, you can wait until your opponent attacks before initiating a spectacularly gruesome counter kill by swaying out of the way of his sword before turning him into a kebab with your blade. Then again, you could grab him and throw him against a wall or onto the ground before quickly switching to your hidden blade and turning his neck into a kebab with your blade.
This may sound like I have some deep seated psychological issues but the combat is gruesome, spectacular and very satisfyingly fun.
Animation - Of course, all of the above would be wasted if the animation and graphics weren't up to scratch. And in this regard, Ubisoft have done a great job. Altair is beautifully animated and moves around with the skill and grace of an Olympic level athlete. All of his runs, jumps, pirouettes, dives, rolls etc etc etc are all captured extremely well and really sells you on the premise that Altair is a master swordsman and athlete...
Stuff I didn't like
Master athlete? - ... which makes it extremely surprising when you find out that our master athlete doesn't know how to swim.
One section of the game has you wandering around the docks. This section is great as you find yourself jumping between boats, wooden beams and poles sticking out of the water. However, its not so great when you accidentally fall into the water and drown even though all you have to do is reach out your hand and grab onto the boat.
Sigh...
Informers - Some of the side missions which you can complete involve helping out some informers. These informers are actually a part of your assassins guild and they have useful information regarding your target that they will impart to you if you help them collect some flags within a set time limit.
Excuse me, but wtf?
I'm on a mission from Al Mualim, the supreme leader of the assassins guild, to stop a nefarious plot by the Templars and the informer, as a member of the same guild, has been ordered to help me. However, this help (and its worth remembering at this point that the only help they give you is information) is only available if I collect some pissant little flags within 3 minutes?
I've got a better idea. Why don't I kick the shit out of you before dragging your sorry little ass to our glorious leader so you can explain exactly how much hashish you've been smoking.
To be fair, not all of the informer missions are flag collections but still...
There are a couple of other nitpicky stuff (for example, as with most open world games, a bit more variety would be nice) but overall, this is a quality game with some really nice ideas and a definite thumbs up from the Meister. Having learned from this first game, it will be really interesting to see what Ubisoft do with Assassin's Creed II.
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