Assassin Fact - 11/15

After completing Assassin's Creed, I have some thoughts. The gameplay was phenomenal, and there are so many storyline aspects that are just so hard to predict. It has an ending that is satisfactory, but cliffhangers always are dificult to accept. I won't reveal any spoilers, but Assassin's Creed is definately a great game. Some people say that there is no replay-value of the game The opposite is true, playing the game again gives the player a unique perspective, and also allows you to be an expert at the beginning of the game in the way that even though you have no techniques for fighting, you're still able to successfully defeat as many people as you want. Conclusion: buy this game.

Assassin Fact - 11/14

WARNING: CONTAINS MINOR SPOILERS FOR GAMEPLAY UP TO SECOND ASSASSINATION (SECOND BEING IN ACRE).

Assassin's Creed, so far, is a great game. The graphics are absolutely amazing, and the crowd dynamics are so different than anything else. The first thing I tried was, of course, the free running system, which is absolutely perfect. I can think of nothing that they could have done to make it better. It is very intuitive, and what you want Altaïr to do, he does. The animations are absolutely mind blowing. When I jumped at one part, I expected to use both hands to grab a ledge, but he only grabbed with one hand, his other was on a pole a foot down. That kind of precision that is programmed in is just amazing, because it would have been easier to just grab the ledge, but the dynamic movement just makes it so much more realistic. The fighting took a little bit to get used to, and is frustrating until you get the counters. I encountered a Templar Knight who could not be sneaked up on early in the game, and if I fought with him, he countered all of my attacks, and if I just blocked, he'd continue attacks until he got through the blocks. I ended up climbing a roof and slicing him every time he climbed the ladder up. There are some things the A. I. does stupidly, but for the most part they're pretty good. They are not overly violent and unrealistic like in Hitman: Blood Money, where in the Las Vegas level, if you're on the wrong floor of a hotel, the guards shoot you. That would be ridiculously illegal and unthinkable. They made it so people question what you're doing, which means the guards don't attack you every five seconds, but this lack of anger can cause them to seem stupid. The speech for saving civillians can get annoying, as they have about three different lines. Other than some minor things that I can easily overlook, I really enjoy it. IGN claims that revealing the futuristic aspect ruins the game, but I find it not to be the case. When you're in the futuristic parts, you're not thinking of Altaïr, and when you are Altaïr, you aren't thinking about the future. It's very immersive in that way.

Assassin Fact - 11/13

A change from the standard procedure, this article will not be about an aspect of Assassin's Creed, as posts alternate between Assassin's Creed and important information about and around the real Assassins, but will be about the city of Jerusalem. A reaction to the beginning of Assassin's Creed will be posted in tomorrow's post.

Throughout history, Jerusalem has been a major point of contention. According to Biblical texts, around 1000 B.C.E., King David defeated the Jebusites and made their city his capital. David's son, Solomon, built a temple to the Hebrew God, and placed the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark of the Covenant is most famously known for its role in the film by Stephen Spielburg, Raiders of the Lost Ark. The Ark was said to contain the smashed tablets that contained the Ten Commandments and an Omar of Mana from when the Israelites wandered in the wilderness for forty years. When King Solomon died in about 931 B.C.E., the Israelites became devided, and Jerusalem became part of the Kingdom of Judah. Because of it's position geographically, the Kingdom of Judah was almost constantly under attack by a bordering nation. In 597 B.C.E., King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon captured Jerusalem and scattered the Jews living there. Nebuchadnezzar also credited for the destruction of the temple after looting it. In 560 B.C.E., Cyrus the Great, leader of the Persian Empire, conquered Palestine and allowed the Jews to return to their homes. The Jews built a second temple in blace of the one that had been destroyed. It was completed in 516 B.C.E. and during that time, the Jewish peoples rebounded and began to inhabit surrounding areas. In 332 B.C.E., Alexader the Great conquered Jerusalem and tried to impose Hellenistic ways and ideals. The Jews fought against this and in 170 B.C.E., they drove out the Greeks. In 91 B.C.E., the Romans, after three years of laying siege, conquered Jerusalem. During the following years, King Herod added four retaining walls to the Temple of Solomon. In 66 C.E., the Jews began revolting against the Romans, and were initially successful, but the Romans fought back in larger numbers and crushed the rebellion and destroyed the Temply of Solomon. Another revolt began in 132 C.E. and was crushed three years later by the Romans for a second time. 500 years later, the Muslims conquered Jerusalem and the rest of Palestine. In 1095 C.E., Crusaders invaded and conquered Jerusalem in 1099 C.E. Saladin took back Jerusalem in 1187 C.E. and successfully defended it agains the attacks of Richard the Lionheart.

Assassin Fact 11/12

Damascus, or Dimashq, is the capital of modern day Syria. It is also another one of the oldest continuosly inhabited cities. Along with Acre, Damascus was conquered by Pharaoh Thutmosis III in the 15th Century B.C.E. It became the Aramean Kingdom some time in the 11th Century B.C.E., and was sieged many times through the years. Fianlly, in 742 B.C.E., Tiglath Pilesser II conquered Damascus. Years later, the Babylonians destroyed the Kingfom of Damascus. Alexander the Great's lieutenant, Parmenion, conquered the city in 333 B.C.E., and it later became disputed between the Macedonians and the Lagides of Egypt. Roman conquerer Pompey the Great, rival to Julius Cæsar occupied Damascus in 33 B.C.E. Damascus eventually became part of the Byzantine Empire, but fell to Khaled Ibn al Waleed in 636 C.E. and became a Muslim city. Damascus became most powerful under Islamic rule, as it became the capital of the Umayyad Empire. The capital was later changed to Baghdad, and Damascus was ruled by many different sovereigns of the course of years, such as the Egyptian Fatimids. Saladin took Damascus from the Fatimids and began the Ayyubid Dynasty while he fought against the Crusaders. Of the three cities, Acre, Jerusalem, and Damascus, it was Damascus that never fell into Crusader hands.

Assassin Fact - 11/11

Jesper Kyd, famous for his musical scores in games such as the Hitman series, was the composer chosenn to do the music for Assassin's Creed. Kyd is a native of Denmark who has a range of different styles of music. A prime example of the range of his musical compositions are a comparison of two of the Hitman games. In Hitman 2: Silent Assassin, Kyd composed a very cinematic and powerful score with the Budapest Symphony Orchestra. The different tracks in that score varied to sound more ethnic toward the region they would be played in during the game. This range however, was still very centered in the cinematic genre. For the following game, Hitman: Contracts, Kyd changed gears completely, composing a powerful symphonic electronica. The two games music styles are very distinct, as are all of the scores Kyd has created. Assassin's Creed is no exception. The music released so far have a heavy Middle Eastern influence in the use of instruments and vocals, but it is combined with some insturments that are more symphonic. The overall result is a unique sound that is sure to enhance the game.

Assassin Fact - 11/10

Acre, or Akko, is one of the oldest continuosly inhabited cities in the world. Acre dates back to the times of Pharaoh Thutmose III, who died in 1450 B.C.E. Throughout its early history, its location on the water made it an important port in the Middle East. In 332 B.C.E., it became part of Alexander the Great's empire. The city has changed hands many times over the years, sometimes changing names. In 638 C.E., the Muslims conquered it and restored its original name. When the Crusaders invaded and took, lost, and regained the city, the referred to it, mistakenly, as St. Jean d'Acre, or Acre. The Crusades originally took Acre in 1104 C.E.. Years later, Saladin reclaimed it, only to lose it to Richard the Lionheart in 1191 C.E. During the Third Crusade, Richard used the city as his base, as the Crusaders were not able to take back Jerusalem. 100 years later, the Mamluks invaded and drove all the remaining Crusaders from the city. Currently, Acre is part of the State of Israel.

Assassin Fact - 11/09

The Scimitar Engine was newly developed by Ubisoft specifically for the unique gameplay and mechanics of Assassin's Creed. Claude Langlais gave some information about the aspects of the engine. He stated that much of the engine and the tools used were built from the ground up, and that is was built to be reusable. Further, they focused on the tools early on, so that they could create things as efficiently as possible. Next, they moved onto getting animation fluid and precise. For the crowd mechanics, they used middleware for the physics and collision detection paired with their AI and animation, where Langlais stated that it controls about 150 people at a time. Any architechture protruding two inches or more can be utilized for free running, things such as scaffolding can be collapsed, and the crowd serves as an obstacle during the chases. All of these were modified so that it could create a better experience for the player, where unimportant things may have been left aside in order to make the main elements better. Another task that the developers had to tackle when devoloping the engine was the problem of draw distance and the sandbox style of the game. The cities where the game takes place are quite large, and so optimization of the resources was key to making the city look impressive, while keeping an acceptable frame rate. The open-endedness of the sandbox made it so almost any part of the game had to be able to be ready to load and render anything the player might do at any given time. Combining all these aspects together should prove to create a rich and exciting gameplay experience.

Assassin Fact - 11/08

The Third Crusade lasted from 1189 C.E. to 1192 C.E. The three major leaders of the Crusade on the Holy Land were Frederick I Barbarossa of Germany, Philip II Augustus of France, and, of course, Richard I the Lionheart of England. Frederick's troops marched through Germany and around to get to the holy land, and was a relatively successful march, until he drowned, and his troops fell into disaray. Only about three percent of the original German crusaders made it to Acre to join in the seige. Philip and Richard's troops sailed to the Holy Land, but had to spend the Winter in Sicily, creating tension between the two. Afterward, Philip sailed directly to Acre to join the seige, but Richard conquered Cyprus first in order to have a foothold in the area. Much of the fighting began between the armies of the Crusaders, led by Richard, and the Muslims led by Saladin. When Saladin tried to ambush Richard's troops, they were prepared. The great loss on Saladin's troops caused him never to try another direct attack, but he began a scorched earth campaign, destroying all water and food as the marched away from the Crusades. Eventually, Saladin and Richard came to an agreement to allow Christian pilgrims to go to Jerusalem, but the main purpose, to regain Jerusalem, failed.

Assassin Fact - 11/07

Altaïr is dressed for mobility, to some extent, but he does have some armor. On his left arm, he wears a leather vambrace with metal splints going down the outer side. He also appears to wear a leather kidney belt around his waist. Because of this limited armor, he must focus on parrying and dodging blows. He uses his mobility to put his opponent in an awkward position, giving himself the time and position to strike a lethal blow. According to Patrice Désilets, Altaïr's fighting style is one of "openings, dodging, attacking, and counters of the NPCs." While fighting, he also uses his arms and legs to attack the enemy. One such example is a counter where Altaïr turns his opponent around by the arm, and kicks them forward, taking them out of combat for a few seconds. The control scheme follows the main control scheme of the game: a button for the head, weapon hand, free hand, and feet. The feet button is for kicks, the free hand for grabs and throws, the weapon hand for attacks and counters.

Altaïr fights with his longsword in his right hand in the standard fashion. His short scimitar he also holds in his right, but with the blade on the ulnar side of the hand. Altaïr is also adept at fighting unarmed and appears to fight with a basic fighting stance using a variety of punches and throws, although not much unarmed combat has been shown. Finally, his hidden wrist-blade only seems to be used when killing someone who cannot defend themselves. Some examples are when Altaïr stabs a guard unaware of his presence in the back, and jumping onto his targets, such as during the pursuit of the slave trader Talal, before they have their weapon ready.

Assassin Fact - 11/06

The Assassins' training was a difficult one. Not only were they trained physically, they were also trained mentally and spiritually. They went through what was called the Nine Degrees, which were as follows:

1. A long process of teaching and misleading to create doubt and skepticism about religion and philosophy, and to create blind faith and obedience in his teacher.

2. The assassin was required to believe that the Imams were appointed by Allah and had supreme wisdom concerning spiritual matters, such as the validity of the Koran.

3, Next, he is taught about the significance of the number seven, and that there are seven Imams.

4. Then he is taight about the Seven Prophetic Periods, Natiq, Sus, and about the seven Silent Imams.

5. Numerology was then used to further explain things. The assassin was taught of the importance of the number twelve, and that there were twelve Hujjas for each Imam.

6. The religious practices of things like prayer, fasting, and pilgrimage are told to be unimportant, as they are taught to be trivial outward observances of faith. Since the assassin is under the instruction of the Imam, he has no need for trivial practices that are meant to keep the common and unelightened in line.

7. Only a select few were granted the seventh degree, where the teachings were designed to attenuate the belief of Divine Unity.

8. The eighth degree taught that teachers, the afterlife, worship, etc. were all meaningless. It further stated that a prophet was known by his ablility to create a political, social, religious, and philisophical system, and not by his ability to work miracles.

9. Finally, the Assassin reached the ninth degree when he believed the following, probably familiar, phrase: "Nothing is true. Everything is permitted."

Assassin Fact - 11/05

A theme of Assassin's Creed is the numerous "bird of prey" referenes of Altaïr. First and foremost, the name Altaïr means "the flying" or "the flyer" from the phrase "النسر الطائر" ("the flying eagle"). Secondly, his clothing mirrors a bird, with the tip on his hood making a beak-shape and robe forming the wings. This is seen most clearly in this picture, where Altaïr's shadow resembles an eagle. His weaponry also carries the theme: his sword's hilt is shaped like a bird, with the pommel being the head, the grip being the body, and the guard being the wings. His short scimitar and throwing knives also resemble the talons and/orfeathers of an eagle. Altaïr's strike on his target as shown in one trailer is also very bird-like. He jumps into the air toward his target so that he can come down on him, killing his target as he lands, much the same way an eagle will stab its sharp talons into its prey as it swoops in. A final example is the "leap of faith," where Altaïr outstretches his arms as if his arms were wings to carry him through the air, before falling down into a cart of hay.

Assassin Fact - 11/04

The founder of the Assassins was Sayyidna Hasan bin Sabbah, or Hasan-i Sabbah. The name Assassin could be derived from "followers of Al-Hassan." It is unlikely that the etymology of the word Assassin is from "hashish." Marco Polo's visit to Alamut claimed that that the assassins were kept in line by showing them a paradisical world by use of hashish (even though the imagery portrayed by Polo is closer to the use of wine instead). However, Hasan-i Sabbah had his son executed for drinking wine, so it is unlikely there were any sort of depressants, psychoactives, narcotics, etc. used by the Assassins.

Assassin Fact - 11/03

Parkour/Freerunning is a major component of Assassin's Creed. The game mechanics are such that Altaïr will jump, climb, grab, and land differently depending on several factors such as distance and height. Altaïr's maximum jump range is twenty-six feet in length, and six and a half feet up an object. Depending on where the object is relative to Altaïr, he will react to it accordingly: if a wooden beam is at the same height as the previous one at a normal distance, he will jump directly onto it. In contrast, if a wooden beam is near head height, he will grab and swing underneath it. Similarly, falling from a great enough height will cause him to roll, a common technique in Parkour to disperse the impact over your back and transfer vertical into forward momentum. Juxtaposed with many other games, such as Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell series, and it shows how much more mechanical freedom the player has. In Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell games, the player can perform some acrobatic movements, such as jumping and climbing, but it is very restricted, and was placed in specific spots by the game developers. In Assassin's Creed, the ability for Altaïr to adapt means that there are not specific areas that have a trigger allowing him to climb, rather it is based on the geometry of the object.

Assassin Fact - 11/02

The fortress of the Assassins was Alamut. Since the Assassins beliefs were considered heretical, it was always in jeopardy. Some stories of Alamut say that it remained because of its reputation of sending an agent to become a trusted friend or servant of a ruler. They would stay concealed until they received the order to attack. This is illustrated in one story where the Sultan Saladin led an attack on Alamut, and Rashid ad-Din Sinan sneaked into Saladin's tent while he slept and placed a posion cake and a threatening note on his chest. Alamut was finally destroyed by the Monglols in 1256, and was further damaged by an earthquake in 2004. The fortress is about 800 miles from Damascus, which is about the distance of taking the Interstate-5 from the U.S.A.-Mexico border all the way up to the California-Oregon border.

Assassin Fact - 11/01

Disclaimer:

The information provided is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate. I will do my best when researching the subjects, but I'm spending about an hour of research per post. I am not an expert in video game development or medieval middle-eastern history. I have created this blog as a means for my html, javascript, and php illiterate self to be able to have a decent widget/application for Facebook. This was created for a contest a 1191 A.D. and will be updated through November, and possibly December. I may add daily information a day early or late, but I will try my best to get the information out there. Thank you for visiting this blog, and if you haven't done so, I encourage you to add it as a Facebook Application.

- The Information Assassin, ArrowDynamicsX