I have a love-hate relationship with Ubisoft. When you read this blog you may find yourself under the impression that it's more of a 'hate-hate' relationship, but I'm tough on them because I love them and I want them to be the best they can. They're one of the biggest game studios still in the business, and yet they are one of the most creatively stale companies; they have several teams of world class asset makers and world builders, but they waste their considerable talents on spitting out dozens of lifeless 'open worlds' every few years. I see the potential that they can't see themselves, which is why I come back to them time and time again even after they disappoint me time and time again. My inexplicable gravitation towards Ubisoft is realized fully in my relationship to the one franchise which I would hazard to label their number one flagship; Assassin's Creed.
When the first Assassin's Creed game launched, I was still on the high of 'Prince of Persia', so I missed out on a lot of the hype surrounding that game and it's 'realistic' depiction of the land around the crusades. Once the second game landed, and was practically a global phenomenon, I decided that I had to try my hand at this new series and started from the beginning; and what a trip that was. I was astounded by the gorgeous vistas, the liberating free running and the engrossing story. Damascus, Jerusalem and Acre were cities unlike any I had ever seen before in gaming, and I revelled in their streets for countless hours as an Assassin. What really kept me hooked, however, was the mute but intriguing modern day sections that paralleled the action of the past with a sedate thriller-esque angle of being stuck in captivity. Assassin's Creed one was a game that seemed precisely made to breed a franchise stung along by fanciful ideas and a fun conspiracy plot; What's not to love?
And yet, somewhere along the way it all began to fall apart. As soon as Assassin's Creed 3 left that initial hype-period, people became dissatisfied with what they were given. AC3's story didn't seem as strong as the previous games, and the title seemed to up-the-ante only in terms of gameplay. The modern narrative, too, seemed to have reached an odd crescendo to which no one knew how it could be continued, and there a considerable amount of confusion as to where the series would go next. This confusion must have stuck the development team too, because this is when a large part of Assassin's Creed's story began to get insultingly lazy. And yes, I realize that the majority of people who play AC games don't return to find out where the overall narrative was going, but that speculation is the fuel that feeds the community, and without the community to push the hype train, some of magic starts to get lost in translation.
Assassin's Creed 4- oh sorry, I mean "Black Flag" (God, I hate it when series just abandon their numbering structure) was a fine game with great, if gimmicky, gameplay mechanics, a likeable protagonist and, in my sole opinion, one of the most powerful character-driven plots in the franchise; but it didn't really push the story of the games forward and so didn't build upon the 2012 hype that AC3 drummed up. (AC Rogue was pretty average and Liberation is a godawful abomination that makes my blood boil to think about.) When 'Assassin's Creed: Unity' hit, I think that was the moment when something broke in me. (It was my respect for this franchise, I think.) More than the lazy modern storyline that barely pushed the overall plot forward by more than a couple of inches; more than the straight lies that various demos told us about the way the game mechanics worked; the greatest insult to me was the presentation. Because that just told me that Ubisoft didn't care anymore and that this franchise had become another soulless annual release.
I fell off from picking up every entry in this series and eventually stopped caring altogether about when the next games would come out. A couple of years down the line I picked up 'Syndicate', mostly just to see their take on London, but the day after I finished the campaign I put that game down and haven't reopened it since. There were just too many other great, passionate, games coming out every year that didn't reak with squandered potential, and so I slowly let my fandom for Assassin's Creed die. But, as I've already mentioned, I am forever the optimist and so some subconscious part of me was always keeping an ear out for what this franchise would spit out next. It was that way that I picked up on the relatively well-received game which which is the only fuel for this new series of blogs.
As Ubisoft had hurt me before one too many times with this franchise, I waited until Assassin's Creed: Origins was well discounted before I even considered taking a look at what it had to offer. I'd heard all the positive impressions that the title had received, but I'd also heard the mumbled discontent from some pundits, and I was eager to wait and see where the dust ultimately settled. With an overall consensus of 'it's not half bad', I decided to open myself up once again and give Assassin's Creed another chance to prove itself, and what I discovered was... well, I'll have to explain it fully. In order to cover this in the best possible manner, I will have to delve into spoilers. And given that title's imperative place in the canon of Assassin's Creed, (as well as it's creative significance) I'll have to go through practically every game in the franchise. Although, honestly, if you haven't jumped into the Assassin's Creed lore train yet, I doubt you'll ever get round to it. (It's 15 miles long and most of it is shoddy quality anyway.) But still I should say: spoiler alert everyone!
I like to think that Ubisoft saw 'Assassin's Creed: Origins' as a chance to quietly reboot the franchise and start again from square one. They'd tried their hand at crafting a grand narrative once before and it had fell on it's face spectacularly whilst dragging all their names in the dirt with it. In order to put things back on track, they needed something of a blank slate to work from. We can see this from the work cycle for 'Origins', which warranted that the Ubisoft team to actually skip a potential release year in order to work harder on the game. (Gasp. They were taking this seriously!) Once final release hit, 'Assassin's Creed: Origins' would be a new dawn for the flagging franchise and it shoved that brand back into the limelight.
Unfortunately, in order for me to cover exactly why that game works as a fresh start I need to go over the story of the entire franchise. I know, I know; that's so much information to digest, but I'm doing it off the top of my head so the filter of my British snark should render the salient points a tad more palatable. Also, I feel it important to stress that I'm only covering the events of the main games. (and the movie, I guess.) I know that there's a slew of books in the Assassin's Creed franchise, but I honestly couldn't stomach this franchise enough to start reading books on it. I'd sooner sit down and start reading the 'Hello Neighbour' lore books. (Yes, those exist. No, I don't know who greenlights this crap.)
When it began, Assassin's Creed had a pretty hefty concept to sell to it's potential fans and it wanted them to take it seriously. The team wanted to tell of a story about genetic memory, wherein the experiences of one's ancestors is held within their DNA, therefore creating the basis of the phenom that we humans call 'instinct'. (I kindly ask that any scientists in the audience direct their "actually's" to Ubisoft.) But that wasn't even all; Assassin's Creed also wanted to use that background as a vehicle to tell a story about conspiracy that mirrors the 'illumanti' stories, only dating back thousands of years with a little bit of 'magic/space age tech' thrown in for good measure. Looking back at everything now, it's apparent how all of this was a wild concept for anyone to swallow, and it was really a huge testament to Ubisoft's writing talent that they were able to ensure this made any remote sense, let alone form the backbone of their biggest series of all time. (Whatever happened to that talent?)
In order to put players in the ripe position to learn all of this, Ubisoft placed us in the shoes of Desmond Miles, (Played by game VO veteran: Troy Baker) as he was kidnapped under the orders of Warren Vidic, director of the giant lifestyle conglomerate; Abstergo Industries. (God, recounting all this takes me back...) Abstergo bagged Desmond, a cocktail waiter, in order to get a glimpse at his 'genetic memory', for the reason that, according to their research, Desmond is the ancestor of an incredibly important figure to the Crusades. (So I guess these guys were real big on historical research.) To plough these genetic depths, they use their cutting edge machine, 'The Animus', which is the result of years of R&D on a level only achievable by one of the biggest companies on the planet. This Animus would allow Desmond to live the life of his ancestors. (and allow the player to play said sections.)
Together with Vidic, his helpful assistant Lucy, and a surprisingly compliant Desmond, the player is thrust into the world of Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, an Assassin from an ancient order of medieval hitmen loosely based on the real-life Hashashins. (Which I believe translates to "Hash-eaters") Despite being right in the middle of King Richard's third Crusade, the Assassin's seem to focus themselves on solving local injustices by targeting and publicly murdering several corrupt officials from all over the region. (on both sides of the holy turmoil.) What seemingly starts off as a journey following local do-gooders begins to seep into something grander when Altaïr starts to realize that many of his targets seem to be in league with each other, despite hailing from all different walks of life.
This is when the 'conspiracy' angle plays in. Altaïr learns that all of his targets were actually secretly working for the same secret organization. Well... actually not-so secret for the time period that the game's set in; but for so many prominent officials to swear allegiance to their tenants would certain be a well-kept secret. You see they all seemed to serve a sect of the 'Templar order', only one that didn't seem to bow to God like the 'Knights Templar', but rather appealed to Objectivist ideals and a desire for order by any means necessary. These guys have ingrained themselves is almost every sector of society to achieve their goals even, funnily enough, the Assassin's; as it turns out that Altaïr's mentor, Al Mualim, was a particularly ambitious Templar who used the Assassin's to kill off his co-conspirators so that he could covet their ultimate goal. (With me so far? Cause this about to get a whole lot weirder.)
So the Templars have their eyes set on world domination (of course) only they want to do it "for the good of mankind" or some such nonsense. Unfortunately, there's this pesky little quirk of humanity known as 'Free will' which makes it pretty hard to make everyone listen to your drivel, even if it is for: "The Greater Good." Luckily, these guys discovered that there is a special ornament perched atop of the Ark of the Covenant which posses the ability to alter the minds of men and rob them of that pesky free will. This 'artefect', which is in the shape of an apple, is referred to as 'the Apple of Eden' (obvious religious reference is obvious) and it is the mcguffin that everyone wants their hands on, pretty much throughout this entire franchise.
Unfortunately for Al Mualim, by some strange quirk of fate the Assassin order was built around a doctrine that strictly protects freewill. (Kinda seems a little 'high brow' for an organization made up of murderers, but hey; everyone's gotta have their thing.) Therefore once Altaïr learns of the betrayal of his master, he fights to stop him. In doing so he sees the frightening power of the apple, his home village of Masyaf completely enslaved into mindless zombies, and discovers that he is somewhat resistant to the power of the Apple for vague reasons that only get somewhat explained several games down the line. He murders his Templar Mentor and seizes the Apple, at which point the Apple GPS tracks all others of it's kind with a helpful map interface that no other artifact in the history of this franchise has ever done since. (It would certainly be useful for some of the later games' redundant plotlines.)
This seems to be the one thing that Abstergo have wanted to see this whole time, so they pull Desmond out of the Animus and congratulate him for his service. (They'll kill him tomorrow, so it's only fair they let him sleep the night.) During all of this time, there have been brief periods in the modern setting wherein Desmond has been allowed to roam at night and read secret files. Through all this it has probably become clear to the player that Abstergo aren't just a super-influential mega corporation that are really interested in uncovering history, (darn it, I lost a bet) but are actually the modern branch of the Templar Order. Although some part of their 'operate in secrecy' rule must have got forgotten over the years seeing as how they've set-up the largest company in the world (Hide in plain sight, I guess) and sign off all of their emails with the Templar catch-phrase "May the father of understanding guide you." (Okay, that one I can't defend.)
In the post game, players will start to realize that Desmond has gained the use of Altaïr's special enemy-highlighting power; Eagle Vision. (Which, apparently, isn't just another 'game-vision' mode as seen in Hitman, Batman and Tomb Raider. This one has story connotations!) This is due to something called 'The Bleeding effect' wherein those who experience the Animus for prolonged periods of time will start to have their memories merge with those of their ancestors and thus learn some of their abilities. The game then sprinkles in some teases about the last man who Abstergo used the Animus on, Subject 16, who seems to have come out the other side of testing in a bodybag; the possibility of assistant Lucy Stillman being a double agent, through use of 'Eagle Vision' showing Vidic as an enemy and Lucy as a friend; and a hint at a greater story involving Desmond's past, implying that he isn't quite the clueless rube that he's played this entire game. (I know I went over a lot there, but trust me, it's mostly all relevant.)
Looking back, I can't get over how strong of a first game all that was. Not so much in terms of gameplay; that's all aged terribly, but in terms of how it set up everything to follow. Don't get me wrong, none of this lore was placed by the steady hand of someone how knows exactly what they wanted to do with this story, rather the opposite, but the execution was perfect for fostering up an air of mystery and intrigue that got people invested in the story. From the way that the modern world was mostly a mystery unless you went exploring and how the narrative required players to steal key cards and dig through terminals all benefited the feeling of being in a grand investigation. (Which is a very active way to tell a story which gets the audience invested.) This was all neatly topped with the slight story hooks that ask questions and leave you wanting for answers and the promise of more wondrous artifacts for the series to explore. (Little did we know 90% of them would just be more Apples of Eden.)
It was astounding, then, that Assassin's Creed 2 came along and pushed the franchise so much further with it's story, whilst also robbing the brand of it's mystique in many ways. Throughout that game we learn that Desmond is really an estranged member of the modern day Assassin's and theirs is an organization that has persisted since the middle ages for the sole purpose of hindering the Templars where-ever they go. (And, ostensibly, to promote a whole bunch of wishy-whasy hippie philosophy, but we never get to really see any of that.) The modern story practically explodes into full-blown action movie in this game, with Lucy turning out to be an Assassin plant sent to break Desmond out, which they perform in spectacular fashion.What follows is a tense story about hiding in an undisclosed warehouse from a organization as big as the Illuminati whilst racing against the clock to figure out the modern-day hiding place of the Pieces of Eden. (What they suddenly decided to start calling those cool shiny mind-control baubles.) We are also introduced to two of the most annoying humans on the planet; walking British stereotype, Shaun Hastings, and, character who we'll never quite figure out how to write consistently for, Rebbecca Crane. (Unfortunately, these two bundles of fun are the only characters who persist in these games to this day.) Moaning aside, I liked the intimate nature of the new setting and the fast change of pace when compared to the first title, it made it feel like the story was actually moving forward and the heroes were set-up in a cool underdog fashion. (Similar to the Rebels in Star Wars.)
But these games are made by their historical connection, and this game introduced us to the one Assassin's Creed character with a permanent spot in the video game hall of fame; Ezio Auditore da Firenze. It was really a miracle that Ubisoft managed to write someone as well as they wrote Ezio. He was charismatic, charming and likeable, whilst also vulnerable, brash and relatable. He was the perfect Disney prince that proved so popular that the Assassin's Creed games kept coming back to him time and time again. His character's DNA is so ingrained with the Assassin's Creed formula that when you think of the theme tune of 'Assassin's Creed', you're actually hearing the tune 'Ezio's family' in your head. (All preceding themes have since payed some slight homage with thier arrangements.)
In terms of story, however... a lot happens. I'll try to cut things down as much as possible. Well... Rebbecca puts together a homemade Animus, despite lacking the funding and manpower of Abstergo. (Just go with it) This allows the team to enter the memories of another Assassin ancestor of Desmond's, Ezio. Desmond discovers that the 'Bleeding Effect' doesn't just relate to his genetic 'Eagle Vision' but also allows him to adopt the athletic prowess of Ezio. (Which makes literally no sense, but then neither does anything else.) and he 'subtly' indicates that he has the hots for Lucy despite him having only found out she wasn't one of his kidnappers only a few hours ago. (It can't be an epic adventure without some shoehorned in romance, right?)
Once again, the meat of the tale really picks up in the past where we follow the entire life of Ezio as an Italian rich-kid growing up in the age of the Renaissance who's world is turned upside down when his father and brothers are murdered for uncovering a conspiracy and he's forced to go on the run. Ezio discovers that his father was a member of the much-deteriorated Assassin Order, and sets off to hunt down all those responsible for his family's murders whilst discovering what it is to serve a higher cause along the way. By the end of the game he is no more a petulant kid angry and lashing out for revenge, but a respected master Assassin who applies his craft for the good of his country and, through transitive property, the world. (Wow, character growth in my Ubisoft game? Who'd have thought?)
Unfortunately, at the end things really 'jump-the-shark' as Ubisoft desperately rushed to answer questions that we didn't need to know yet; like where do the Pieces of Eden come from? The answer isn't the garden of Eden, or from god, but aliens from Mars. (Yup. That's how everyone felt during this 'twist', too.) Aliens from Mars with super powerful technology visited earth and experimented with tech in order to save themselves from a sun flare that would wipe out their planet. They failed and died and it's all very sad. Now this magic sun flare is about to happen to earth and you are the only one who can stop it. (Who spliced this b-movie sci-fi crap into by historical Assassin game?) All this is delivered, by the way, through a recording of one of these aliens, who goes by the name of Ancient Roman god Minerva. (because of course she does.) She stares directly in the camera for all of this, reasoning that she is speaking through Ezio to 'Desmond'. (which confuses the flying heck out of poor Ezio.)
It's probably one of the most infamous moments of this entire franchise as everyone collectively face palmed and went, "You were doing do well, what happened?" No one could tell if this was some weird environmental message to the audience or a serious attempt to evolve the story, either way it was a widely mocked fork in the story that just seems to become ever more baffling with age. And I wish I could tell you that this was the lowest point in the Assassin's Creed storytelling, but it seriously gets a lot worse.Not immediately, however, as the next game to pop out of the Assassin's Creed franchise was 'Brotherhood' a game which can arguably be called the best of the franchise. In terms of story, 'Brotherhood' didn't push the needle too far forward, or evolve Ezio that much, but it's gameplay completely refined Assassin's Creed 2's mechanics and the game was just long enough to feel worth your money and just short enough not to outstay it's welcome. (A distinction that literally no other Ubisoft game shares.) If ever anyone was curious about the history of Assassin's Creed but didn't know where to start, I'd say skip the original, consider the sequel but don't miss out on 'Brotherhood', you owe yourself that.
The modern day narrative actually moved forward a little bit more than the historical story this time, with Desmond finally starting to come into his own. The graphics improved to such a point that I suddenly realized that Lucy was played by 'Kristen Bell' all this time (that took me too long to figure out) and the rest of the team actually started to resemble a family. A family of people you want to punch in the face, but a family nonetheless. After some Animus-work, the team finally discover that Ezio's Apple of Eden was hidden somewhere in the Colosseum of Rome and they all go to retrieve it. Yet, somehow, the Assassin's Creed creative team managed to screw things up in a subtle way that had big ramifications for the series.
At this point, everyone knew about 'The Assassin's Creed Aliens', so they expected it and weren't too shocked when this aliens started becoming more central to the plot. As long as everything was made relatively clear, folk could just about swallow all this nonsense. However, once Desmond and the gang find and grab the Apple, something weird happens. Some mysterious force takes full control of Desmond and freezes everyone else in the room. A voice from one of the Aliens starts barking nonsensical orders at Desmond, and his body is remote controlled to he to stab, and kill, Lucy just everyone passes out into a heap with no clue what just happened. Now on the surface this seemed pretty promising, this was a shocking development that no one quite knew what to make of, inspiring that intrigue that was once thought lost, but this set a precedent for the series' worst storytelling moments down the line.
As this was the height of the franchise, I feel this as good a point as any to wrap things up for this prelude before we get into how everything fell apart next week. As you can probably deduce, I was once heavily invested in this franchise, and was always interested in storytelling, so I do find this a fascinating topic to delve into given the boon of hindsight to serve as a filter. Obviously, this topic is going to get a bit grim in the next blog, but I will slip in a little spoiler that when I do get around to my review of 'Origins', there will be some positivity to spread. (Although I won't yet reveal if that's just a drop or an ocean.) See you next Sunday.
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