To those few readers that actually kept up with this blog, I do apologize for not updating it. Finals were really bothersome and I’m glad to be over that for now. I know that E3 recently passed and that I should comment on that, but I’ll leave that to my next post. One thing from E3 that did stand out to me that I wanted to talk about was the unveiling of Assassin’s Creed Revelations, the third and final installment of the Ezio Storyline. This game is also the final installment for Altair’s storyline, as all of the main protagonists’, including Desmond’s, storylines converge in this last spinoff. When AC Brotherhood came out, most people were talking a storm about how Ubisoft is now cashing in on something that once was just a big creative gamble that looked like a Prince of Persia clone. Putting in a multiplayer for this game that was supposed to be a unique escape from multiplayer shooters like MW2 and Battlefield BC 2 made it seem even more tacked on. However, I felt differently about Ubisoft’s maneuver. I actually thought that it was a smart move and a well calculated gamble on the part of Ubisoft. I cited the spinoff trilogy as a smart move for two main reasons: 1) Developing-wise, this is a creative way to “beta” new ideas to add and perfect for the final installment, and 2) The smart marketing person in me would have the AC3 game (the final installment) come out in or around the time it would take place...on December 21, 2012....
Now, onto my first point. Knowing the way business tends to go with successful game franchises, big game companies want more. It was kind of inevitable that the spinoff, AC Brotherhood, was announced to the expected groaning by fans armed with the assumption that a great franchise was going to be milked to death. Ubisoft was smart in deciding to at least go with a character we liked and in spending the time and money to fund this spinoff and trying to make this cool. Instead of utilizing the same formula to just advance a mediocre story, the dev team decided to improve upon and take cautious risks. I applaud Ubisoft for taking the risks, for example, with the multiplayer system. I’ve grown tired over the years of multiplayer shooters and I have longed for more interesting gameplay. Don’t get me wrong, I initially was hesitant about the multiplayer because I thought it may divert away from the storyline, but the dev team and writers at Ubisoft managed to not only make one of the most unique and interesting multiplayer games of that year, it also managed to integrate the overarching plot along with it – namely that everyone that uses the multiplayer system is a Templar agent training through the Animus to learn Assassin moves without losing an eye…or a finger in a “Inception” type function (referencing the promo ads talking about the function of the “dream machine” in Christopher Nolan’s “Inception”). Ultimately, the multiplayer ended up being a huge success mainly for its unique gameplay, but I posit that it was also successful because it did not feel tacked on. Even upon playing it, I realized that the multiplayer provided a foreboding foreshadow to the eventual AC3 – I realized that Desmond’s enemies are getting stronger. In previous AC games, run-ins with the modern day Templars happened during important portions of the game, but they are never really seen face-to-face. In AC1, a squad of Assassins fail to rescue you (and Lucy) and are gunned down by Templar forces. In AC2, you have a minor run-in with the Templar security agents in the beginning and end of the game but they are relatively easy to take down. Upon playing the multiplayer, you come to realize that the Templar have elite personnel that may be as experienced and well-trained as Desmond really is.
Another example of the beta-potential of the AC spinoff series is the implementation of the new combat system in AC Brotherhood. In the previous AC games, the combat system has been the most widely criticized part of the games, mainly for it being insanely boring, repetitive, and unforgiving, at times. I feel that utilizing new ideas in the spinoff was a good idea because it provided a testing ground for the improved version in the inevitable AC3 game, by adopting the combo styled fighting seen in Batman: Arkham Asylum. I believe this is a good idea because they could see how the community reacts to the new system before releasing their “final draft” in the form of the combat in AC3. In retrospect, this happened to be a success due to the overwhelming response from the community. Among the few critiques of the combat system was that it was too easy with the added bonus of additional companions from your handpicked Brotherhood. The addition of an improved combat system also lended itself well to the narrative that Ezio is improving with age and practice. With the new combat system in place, Ezio is able to prove his expertise as a Master of Assassins while Desmond can “flash-learn” Ezio’s moves as well.
Another point is the notion that, in terms of marketing, December 2012 would be the perfect time to release the upcoming AC3 game. With a two year mark between AC2 and said date, one would be wise to keep Ezio in the picture since he was 1) well-liked and 2) the most recent figurehead of the game. If marketing and sales would want to keep the AC3 date at around December 2012, then the next obvious question would be “why Ezio and not Desmond, the main protagonist of the entire series?” The simple answer would be that I believe that Desmond channels a lot of his character development through the other characters. While people have criticized Desmond for being flatter than a piece of paper, I have always believed that Desmond is living vicariously through the other protagonists: Altair and Ezio, because he is learning their thoughts, mind-sets, and move-sets. Also, the game AC Brotherhood and AC2 have done a great job in developing Ezio as an almost tragic character from his perfect teenage life to his revenge-filled experiences as a novice Assassin to his exploits as an almost Zen-like Master Assassin. AC Revelations will also help to flesh out his experiences of him going through his “mid-life crisis” when he thinks about what he has done and whether he accepts or regrets his fate as a man who lives by the sword.
These spinoff stories do turn to focus on the events that will unfold in the plot of AC3. AC Brotherhood reveals that those who lived before could prove to be a third party in the epic struggle between the Assassins and Templars while AC Revelations slates itself as the concluding game for both Altair and Ezio as their worlds, and in the process Desmond’s, collide. Along with the gameplay improvements and plot implications, the AC spinoff series prove to be more than mere spinoffs in the eyes of this VG blogger.
Over and Out.
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