Assassins Creed 2 (Game Preview)

Assassin's Creed II begins immediately after the events of the first game in 2012; Desmond Miles is still trapped by Abstergo Industries (the modern-day face of the Knights Templar) after being forced to use the Animus device to revisit genetic memories of the Assassin Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, and has discovered prophetic warnings from Subject 16 (a previous captive) describing the end of the world. He is soon rescued by Lucy Stillman, a mole for the Assassins within Abstergo, who takes him to meet two other Assassins, historian Shaun Hastings :

 and computer expert Rebecca Crane :

. They request that Desmond use their version of the Animus, dubbed the Animus 2.0, to relive memories of another Assassin, Ezio Auditore da Firenze :

 to train Desmond in the ways of the Assassins through the "Bleeding Effect" of the Animus.

Ezio's memories begin during the Renaissance in the 15th century :

 where his family is ensnared in a political plot, and his father and brothers are hanged :

 Ezio, following his father Giovanni's :

 last advice, finds his father's Assassin tools, and flees the city with his mother and sister to the safety of his uncle Mario's villa in the countryside. Mario :

assists Ezio in discovering the people behind the conspiracy, the search leading Ezio from Florence, to San Gimignano, Forlì, Venice and eventually to Rome. As he identifies and assassinates more and more political figures, Ezio also gains several allies, including Niccolò Machiavelli :

  and Leonardo da Vinci :

 the latter of whom helps Ezio improve his equipment using schematics found in Altaïr's Codex pages. Eventually, Ezio identifies the mastermind of the plot: the Spaniard Rodrigo Borgia :

 who ultimately sought to bring down the Medici family in Florence with the help of the Pazzi family and the Barbarigo family in Venice. Ezio finds Borgia in possession of the Apple—a similar Piece of Eden that Altaïr had recovered centuries ago—and learns that Borgia believes himself to be "the Prophet" that will lead the Templars to a fabled "Vault". Ezio is able to confront Borgia with the help of his allies and recover the Apple, but Borgia flees before he can be killed. Ezio's allies reveal they are all Assassins, and see Ezio as their Prophet, allowing him to join their ranks.
During his exposure, Desmond finds himself briefly struck by a puzzling memory of Altaïr and his lover, a former Templar named Maria Thorpe, who became pregnant with his child, Darim. It is also revealed that apart from training Desmond as an Assassin, the Assassins also wish to find out more information about the foretold "Vault". Desmond also finds various glyphs :

 left by Subject 16 in the Animus, which, when decoded and assembled, form a brief video of a man and woman, "Adam" and "Eve", running through a futuristic setting called "Eden" with a Piece of Eden. The video ends with the ASCII codes (in binary) for "EDEN" (01000101 01000100 01000101 01001110). The video implies that Adam and Eve were not cast out of the Garden of Eden, but rather stole a Piece of Eden being used to control humanity before escaping.

After this memory, the modern Assassins discover that several years of Ezio's memories are inaccessible from the Animus (later being accessible via DLC Sequences). Desmond can only revisit those starting in 1499, where Ezio and the Assassins plan to attack Borgia (now Pope Alexander VI) at Vatican City. Ezio corners Borgia and strikes him down, but refuses to kill him, as he knows that it will not bring back his family. Ezio uses the Apple and the Papal cross (which is also a Piece of Eden called the Staff) :

 and discovers the entrance to the Vault. Inside, he is astounded when a holographic figure, calling herself Minerva :

 appears. Speaking directly to Desmond and those monitoring him in 2012, she explains that she was part of a far more advanced society that initially co-existed along with the early humans on Earth before they faced each other in war. A global catastrophe occurred that nearly wiped out both sides, and the survivors joined together to construct "temples" across the Earth to allow humans to prevent a similar catastrophe in the future. Before the hologram disappears, she warns Desmond—by name—that "the rest is up to you." Desmond and Ezio are both equally confused and shocked at Minerva's words and appearance.
Shortly after recovering this memory, Desmond and the others are forced to flee with the Animus 2.0 from their location as Abstergo troops surround it. There, they encounter Warren Vidic, who flees when Desmond and Lucy deal with the troops. As the team heads towards a new safehouse, Lucy explains that there are newly discovered weaknesses in the Earth's magnetic field; a solar flare striking this weakness would cause a similar level of global destruction as described by Minerva. Desmond resolves to help the Assassins find these temples, and prepares to re-enter the Animus, knowing that Ezio may hold the answers they seek.

Finish for Assassins Creed 2 game preview. Next post will show about  continues of this game, not Assassins Creed 3 but Assassins Creed Brotherhood where climax of Rome conspiracy will end..

Assassins Creed 1 (Game Preview)

Desmond is captured by Abstergo and forced to use a machine called the Animus to explore Altaïr ibn-La'Ahad's :

 memories during the time of the Third Crusade. Desmond begins to witness events after Altaïr breaks all three tenets of the Assassin Brotherhood while attempting to stop Robert de Sablé :

 from taking a Piece of Eden. Al Mualim :

the Brotherhood's leader, demotes Altaïr to Novice and tasks him with assassinating the nine Knights Templars, including de Sablé, to regain his former status. Altaïr's quest eventually leads him to face de Sablé in the presence of King Richard I of England warning the King of de Sablé's plot to kill him. Altaïr defeats de Sablé, but with his last words, de Sablé reveals that there were ten Templars, the last being Al Mualim, who now holds the Piece of Eden. Altaïr returns to face Al Mualim, struggling to fight through the illusions created by the Piece, but eventually kills Al Mualim. When Altaïr recovers the piece, he—and those watching the Animus—witness a holographic map showing locations across the globe where other artifacts are located. Desmond is pulled from the Animus, and was going to be killed, but his life is spared by Lucy Stillman :

 an Assassin working as a mole within Abstergo, as she claims they might need to further examine his memories later. He comes to learn that a former test subject had left messages only Desmond can see, foretelling of the end of the world in 2012.
The first Assassin's Creed introduced elements that would remain cornerstones of the rest of the series. The game attempts to create historical versions of Masyaf (the Brotherhood's location), Jerusalem, Acre and Damascus, and incorporates a number of documented historical figures into the story. The virtualized Animus system, free running, climbing, stealth, and parkour elements were all present in this title, as well as the initial formulation of the combat system. The player would have to complete a number of side quests before they would be able to obtain an assassin quest from a local Brotherhood guidemaster in each city, though future games would abandon this prerequisite.

Next post : Assassins Creed 2 Game Preview. Change of character, change of history..

Assassins Creed Games

Assassin's Creed is a historical fiction action-adventure open world stealth video game series that consists of six main games and a number of supporting materials, as of 2013. The games have appeared on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Vita, iOS, HP webOS, Android, Nokia Symbian Windows Phone platforms, and the Wii U.

The main games in the franchise were developed by Ubisoft Montreal for the single player and Ubisoft Annecy for the multiplayer, with the handheld titles developed by Gameloft and Gryptonite Studios, with additional development by Ubisoft Montreal. The series has been well received by the public and critics, and has sold over 55 million copies as of March, 2013. The series took inspiration from the novel Alamut by the Slovenian writer Vladimir Bartol, and are considered by some to be the spiritual successor to the Prince of Persia series.

The Assassin's Creed games primarily revolves around the rivalry between two ancient secret societies: the Assassins :

and the Knights Templar :

 and their indirect relation to an ancient species pre-dating humanity, whose society, along with much of Earth's biosphere, was destroyed by a massive solar storm. The games' real-world chronological setting is the year 2012, and feature Desmond Miles :

 a bartender who is a descendant of several lines of prominent Assassins; though raised as an Assassin, he fled his nomadic family to seek out a more common lifestyle. He is initially kidnapped by the megacorporation Abstergo Industries :

 the modern-day face of the Knights Templar, who are aware of Desmond's lineage. Desmond is forced to use the "Animus":

 a device that allows him to experience his ancestral memories. Abstergo is seeking to discover the location of several artifacts, or "Pieces of Eden" :

 that hold great power, to control mankind and alter its fate, bringing humanity into a single unified group. Desmond also encounters a small team of modern-day Assassins; agreeing to work with them, Desmond uses their version of the Animus (the Animus 2.0) to continue to experience the memories of his ancestors to discover the locations of additional Pieces of Eden so they can be recovered before Abstergo can do so. While experiencing these memories, some of their abilities are genetically leaked into Desmond, known as the Bleeding Effect, giving him some of the Assassin skills of his predecessors at the cost of living with multiple sets of memories and personalities in his mind.
Within the Animus, Desmond explores the memories of a number of Assassins, including Altaïr ibn-La'Ahad, an initially disgraced Assassin working to redeem himself during the Third Crusade; Ezio Auditore da Firenze, an Assassin in Italy during the late 15th and early 16th centuries of the Italian Renaissance, and Ratohnhaké:ton, otherwise known as Connor, a half-Mohawk, half-British Assassin during the American Revolution. Throughout these events, Desmond learns of allusions to the prophetic end of the world in 2012

from a former Animus test subject, Subject 16: the event turns out to be a repeat of the disaster which wiped out the ancient civilization, and he finds out that his memories hold the key to Earth surviving the second storm. During his experiences, Desmond is aided by holographic projections of three of the ancient race's rulers: Jupiter, Minerva and Juno. After Desmond dies to ensure Earth's survival, his memories, which have survived in cyberspace,^[ are accessed by Abstergo, which hires a new subject to enter the Animus. The new subject relives the memories of Edward Kenway, Ratohnhaké:ton's grandfather and a privateer-turned-pirate during the British colonial years.












While the game is presented through protagonist Desmond Miles, the bulk of the game is played as Desmond experiences the memories of either Altaïr, Ezio, or Connor through the Animus. This provides a means of a diegetic interface for the player, showing Altaïr, Ezio, or Connor's health, equipment, goals, and other features as part of the Animus interface. The Animus is based on the player controlling the assassin to maintain the synchronization between Desmond and his ancestor's memories. Performing actions that go against the Assassin's way or dying breaks the synchronization, effectively requiring the player to restart at a previous checkpoint. Furthermore, the player cannot explore outside of areas that the assassin has not experienced yet. There are also abnormalities within the Animus from previous users of the device.
While playing as the Assassin characters, the games are generally presented as third-person in an open world, focusing on stealth and free-running.

 The games use a mission structure to follow the main story, generally assigning the player to complete an assassination of public figureheads or a covert mission. Alternatively, several side missions are available, such as mapping out the expansive cities from a high perch followed by performing a "leap of faith" :

 into a haystack below, collecting treasures hidden across the cities, exploring ruins for relics, building a brotherhood of assassins to perform other tasks, or funding the rebuilding of a city through purchasing and upgrading of shops and other features. At times, the player is in direct control of Desmond, who by nature of the Animus use has learned Assassin techniques through the bleeding effect, as well as their genetic ability of Eagle Vision :

 which separates friend, foe and assassination targets by illuminating people in different colors. Through the Animus interface, the player can go back to retry any past mission already completed; for example, in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, the player achieves better synchronization results by performing the mission in a specific manner such as by only killing the mission's target.
The games use the concept of "active" versus "passive" moves, with "active" moves, such as running, climbing the sides of buildings, or jumping between rooftops :

 more likely to alert the attention of nearby guards. When the guards become alerted, the player must either fight them or break their line of sight and locate a hiding place, such as a haystack or a well, and wait until the guards' alert is reduced. The combat system allows for a number of unique weapons, armor, and moves, including the use of a hidden blade set in a bracer on the Assassin's arm, and which also can be used to quietly assassinate targets.

Finish for Assassins Creed game prologue. Next post will see each one of Assassin Creed game preview start from Assassins Creed 1 to the latest one : Assassins Creed Black Flag..

Assassins Origin

In the modern world, the word "assassin" denotes a mysterious figure in the shadows, bent on murder for purely political reasons rather than for love or money. Amazingly enough, that usage hasn't changed too much since the eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth centuries, when the Assassins of Persia struck fear (and daggers) into the hearts of the region's political and religious leaders.
Who were the real Assassins? What role did they play in the history of Persia, Syria, Turkey and the rest of the Middle East?

Origin of the Assassins:

The Assassins' library was destroyed when their fortress fell, so we do not have any original sources on their history from their own perspective. Most of what survives comes from their enemies, or from fanciful second- or third-hand European accounts.
However, we know that the Assassins were a branch of the Ismaili sect of Shia Islam. The founder of the Assassins was a Nizari Ismaili missionary called Hasan-i Sabbah, who infiltrated the castle at Alamut with his followers, and bloodlessly ousted the resident king of Daylam in 1090.
From this mountaintop fortress, Sabbah and his faithful followers established a network of strongholds and challenged the ruling Seljuk Turks, Sunni Muslims who controlled Persia at the time.

The Name "Assassins":

 

Nobody knows with certainty where the name "Assassins" came from. The most commonly-repeated theory holds that the word comes from the Arabic hashishi, meaning "hashish users." Chroniclers including Marco Polo claimed that the followers of Sabbah committed their political murders while under the influence of drugs, hence the derogatory nickname. However, this etymology may well have arisen after the name itself, as a creative attempt to explain its origins. In any case, Hasan-i Sabbah strictly interpreted the Koran's injunction against intoxicants.

Assassin Tactics:

In order to get rid of anti-Nizari rulers, clerics and officials, the Assassins would carefully study the languages and cultures of their targets. An operative would then infiltrate the court or inner circle of the intended victim, sometimes serving for years as an advisor or servant. At an opportune moment, the Assassin would stab the sultan, vizier or mullah with a dagger in a surprise attack. Assassins were promised a place in Paradise following their martyrdom, which generally took place shortly after the attack. Officials throughout the Middle East were terrified of these surprise attacks; many took to wearing armor or chain-mail shirts under their clothes, just in case.

 

The Assassins' Victims:

For the most part, the Assassins' victims were Seljuk Turks or their allies. The first and one of the best-known was Nizam al-Mulk, a Persian who served as vizier to the Seljuk court. He was killed in October of 1092 by an Assassin disguised as a Sufi mystic.
A Sunni caliph, Mustarshid, fell to Assassin daggers in 1131 during a succession dispute.
In 1213, the sharif of the holy city of Mecca lost his cousin to an Assassin. He was particularly upset about the attack because this cousin closely resembled him. Convinced that he was the real target, he took all Persian and Syrian pilgrims hostage until a rich lady from Alamut paid their ransom.

Assassins vs. Seljuks:

Why did the Assassins attack the Seljuks? As Shi'ites, many Persians had long felt mistreated by the Arabic Sunni Muslims who controlled the Caliphate for centuries. When the power of the caliphs faltered in the 10th-11th centuries, and Christian Crusaders began to harry them in the eastern Mediterranean, the Shi'a thought their moment had come.
However, a new menace arose to the east, in the form of the newly-converted Turks. Fervent in their beliefs, and militarily powerful, the Sunni Seljuks took control of a vast region including Persia. Outnumbered, the Nizari Shi'a could not defeat them in open battle. From a series of mountaintop fortresses in Persia and Syria, however, they could assassinate Seljuk leaders - and strike fear into their allies.

Advance of the Mongols:

In 1219, the ruler of Khwarezm, in what is now Uzbekistan, made a huge mistake. He had a group of Mongol traders murdered in his city. Genghis Khan was furious at this affront, and led his army into Central Asia to punish Khwarezm. Prudently, the leader of the Assassins pledged loyalty to the Mongols at that time.
By 1237, the Mongols had conquered most of Central Asia. All of Persia had fallen except for the strongholds of the Assassins - perhaps as many as 100 mountain fortresses.

The Assassins had enjoyed a relatively free hand in the region between the Mongols' 1219 conquest of Kwarezm and the 1250s. The Mongols were focusing elsewhere, and ruled lightly. However, Genghis Khan's grandson Mongke Khan grew determined to conquer the Islamic lands by taking Baghdad, seat of the caliphate.
Fearful of this renewed interest in his region, the Assassin leader sent a team to kill Mongke. They were supposed to pretend to offer submission to the Mongol khan, and then stab him. Mongke's guards suspected treachery and turned the Assassins away, but the damage was done. Mongke was determined to end the threat of the Assassins once and for all.

Downfall of the Assassins:

Mongke Khan's brother Hulagu set out to besiege the Assassins in their primary fortress at Alamut. The sect leader who ordered the attack on Mongke had been killed by his own followers for drunkenness, and his rather useless son now held power.
The Mongols threw all of their military might against Alamut, while also offering clemency if the Assassin leader would surrender. On November 19, 1256, he did so. Hulagu paraded the captured leader in front of all the remaining strongholds, and one by one they capitulated. The Mongols tore down the castles at Alamut and other places, so that the Assassins could not take refuge and regroup there.

The following year, the former Assassin leader asked permission to travel to Karakoram, the Mongol capital, in order to offer his submission to Mongke Khan in person. After the arduous journey, he arrived but was denied an audience. Instead, he and his followers were taken out into the surrounding mountains and killed. It was the end of the Assassins.

Sources:

Franzius, Enno. History of the Order of the Assassins, New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1969.
Hodgson, Marshall. The Order of Assassins: The Struggle of the Early Nizari Ismailis against the Islamic World, 's-Gravenhage: Mouton & Co., 1955.
Lewis, Bernard. The Assassins: A Radical Sect in Islam, New York: Octogon Books, 1980.
Weatherford, Jack. Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World, New York: Three Rivers Press, 2004.