The Hidden Blade Assassin's Creed in Depth

The Hidden Blade's featured member for November is Asaic, who created the popular feather maps and screenshots for this site. Here's Asaic in his own words:

Tell me about the first time you played AC1 and AC2.
I hadn't been following AC1 much before it came out. I had heard rumblings about some assassination game but it was a new franchise so I hadn't cared enough to pay attention.

Closer to its release it became nearly impossible to avoid hearing and reading about it so I finally checked it out. I was impressed by what I saw so I ran out and bought the game on release day. I was pleasantly surprised. No other game had ever given me this level of freedom along with fantastic graphics, fun combat, stealth and stealthy kills and backed it all up with a great philosophical story and moody atmosphere.

Naturally, I was pretty stoked to play AC2. I got my hands on an early copy and finished it in a few days. AC2 expanded the gameplay and the deep background of AC1 and it felt like a much longer game. However, it did seem to lose some of the atmosphere and moodiness from the first game. Where AC1 felt darker and more serious and gave you a feeling of importance, urgency and isolation (despite being surrounded by hundreds of people at any given time), AC2 felt lighter and more relaxed. More swashbuckling, I'd say. I much preferred AC1 in that regard, but AC2 is still probably the better game overall.

What do you like most about the games?
Definitely the gameplay. I love games where you can go pretty much anywhere. If you can see it, you can go there. Add the stealth elements and open combat and you suddenly have a game system that is fun even without any story or structure. The AC series has the kind of core gameplay that allows them to do just about anything with the other aspects and it will remain fun and entertaining no matter what.

Are there any philosophical aspects of the game that intrigue you?
Absolutely. That's one of the things about this series that really stands out to me.

The emails in AC1 gave us a glimpse of just how influential the Templar presence has been in key events of human history. AC2's glyph puzzles blew this wide open, showing us that nearly all major events in history were initiated by the Templars or the Assassins trying to stop them. And there was a mysterious artifact present most of the time. History is both as we've read and something else entirely, turning our knowledge of history on its ear.

Then we're face to face with The Truth, which puts an entirely different angle on everything. It's almost scary how well this fits with all known historical facts. Then we get the ending of AC2, which presents our man Desmond with the immense task of saving the entire world via clues and information that transcend time itself. Everything that has come before has been inevitably hurtling towards the coming events of AC3 where the fate of the word lies in the hands of our true prophet, Desmond Miles.

How can you not be enthralled by such a deep story that is continually making you stop and reconsider the things you've always 'known' and taken for granted?

Which Assassin's Creed game is your favorite: AC1 or AC2? Why?
While there are different things I like about both games, as a whole I would have to choose AC2. It just offers a lot more in terms of things to see and do. It's a bigger game with more sophisticated gameplay.

They are now saying that Brotherhood will be longer than AC2. If true, it would likely become my favorite of the three. I can only imagine all the improvements that AC3 will bring.

What would aspects of AC1 or AC2 would you like to change for the sequel(s)?
I would like to see some gameplay aspects become more fluid.

I'm really looking forward to the new flowing combat in Brotherhood. I'd like to see something similar with the climbing. You can usually start climbing quickly but there are always points where it slows right down, especially when you need to begin moving in a horizontal direction. There should still be slow and difficult parts, but normal movement around town should flow better.

This would also apply to climbing/dropping down. I'd like to be able to run towards the edge of a rooftop and slide (like in baseball) and have the character twist around and grab and hang from the ledge all in one smooth motion. Hold the [Empty Hand] button during the action and he would only touch the edge for a fraction of a second to right himself but would otherwise continue his descent. It would be great to have more variety at ground level as well. Perhaps vertical posts that you could reach out and grab to do a quick 90° or 180° turn. Things like that.

I love smooth and continuous motion in gameplay because it's fun, it saves time and it just plain looks cool. It also adds an additional layer of challenge because you can strive to make your gameplay look as smooth and elegant as possible. AC1 gave us the ability to go virtually anywhere within our environments and AC2 allowed us to take it a little further and do it a little faster. Let's see it totally smoothed out for AC3 where we can truly do anything we please at a nice smooth pace. But don't make it too easy! I don't want Prince of Persia 2008 here. Make us work for it by making it so that the more complex our movements are, the more complex it is to carry them out in a smooth, continuous manner. Make us earn it by learning it. That way players who aren't as skilled can still do things the traditional way, but those of us who like to spend huge amounts of time with the game could eventually learn an advanced movement system that allows us to look like superstars and move through, up and over areas with a speed and grace that really turns heads.

When you're not playing Assassin's Creed, what other games do you enjoy?
Some of my favorite games aren't too different from Assassin's Creed.

Batman: Arkham Asylum is, in my opinion, the most impressive video game to be released this decade. It really has no flaws. Everything it does, it does well. There are a few games out there that do certain aspects better than BAA, but as a whole, Arkham is the most impressive game I've seen. I highly recommend giving it a play if you like the AC series. It has some similarities (stealth, open combat, go-anywhere type of open world) but has smoother gameplay. The combat and the movement really flows well. The AC series could learn some things from Arkham Asylum.

Splinter Cell: Conviction comes from the same company that brings us the AC series. Unlike previous games in the SC series, Conviction has really smooth flowing gameplay. It brings the stealth and the intrigue that the previous games in the series featured, but adds in a quicker, more robust gameplay system that gives a fantastic feeling of capability to the player. You can climb up walls or dive for cover, both really quickly and smoothly, allowing you to remain stealthy while still keeping up a great pace. You can move along quickly and elegantly or take your time and be really cautious. Conviction is not an open-world game, but its gameplay would certainly work well in an open-world game. The ease of moving around and getting up to a second story and even dropping back down is quite impressive. Like Arkham, the AC series could learn a few things from Conviction. Being from the same company, this probably has a greater chance of happening.

While not as similar to AC, I'd also recommend Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. It is a fantastic game with great combat and an intriguing story. I'm expecting amazing things from this series now that it has been rebooted and refreshed by Lords of Shadow. Check it out.

Lastly, for Xbox 360 owners I recommend Tenchu Z. The game is a bit buggy, lacks polish and has a fairly steep learning curve, but once you've mastered it and fully upgraded your character, it plays like no other stealth assassination game out there. Clearing an entire encampment of enemies without being seen has a remarkable feel, and this game allows you to do it very quickly and smoothly if you take the time to really learn the system. It's really entertaining to watch someone play the game if they're really good at it, and it's even more fun to be said player. Tenchu Z can often be found for a mere $20US, so if you have a 360, do yourself a favor and get it!