Assassin's Creed II story... Oh come on! (Verbose ranting and spoilers within.)

[alrekr]

Anyway, I want AC3 either set in the Garden of Eden, modern day (although I'm very hesitant of this one) or in World War 1. I think a new way of blowing people up, sniping them out or jumping on them would be rather awesome, Franz Ferdinand's assassination would have too be in there though, maybe as the tutorial.

Franz Ferdinand's assassination was the biggest fail, that ever worked. All the assasins cocked up and the guy who managed to kill only did so as the Franz's driver had to take a detour that took him past the sandwhich store the assassin was in. The other assassins all cocked up and their cynide didn't work, the shooter tried to drown himself in knee high water and their arms supplier spilled the beans as the cops spoke to him and at the time he wasn't even a suspect! Yet someone this worked and thus set off the spark that plungded europe into WWI

 

[Red Right Hand]

Goddamn it, can someone explain to me what's so great about Bioshock's story? It was good, but fuck, it wasn't that good. Assassin's Creed's story was better in my opinion.

OT, I liked it personally. Except for the whole 2012 bullshit. That's just annoying at this point, but I can't complain. I love conspiracy stories.

Don't worry, we only have to wait like another year until people shut the fuck up about it. Happy days.

 

[SonicWaffle]

eagle vision is rarely, if ever, presented as anything special. At it's absolute height of "super humanness", it allowed Blandy McBlanderson to see messages smeared on a wall... that he'd been staring at for a week.

This was a result of his inherited traits becoming active due to the 'bleeding effect'. In fact, it the height of it's "super humanness" it allows Desmond to read secret, hidden message dotted around the second game, whereby allowing the eventual truth to be discovered.

[sarcasm]

It also allows for a special vision mode that clearly deliniates targets from civilians, but you're right. That's totally useless for an assassin, and in fact everyone is the game universe has that ability, they just never talk about it. It certainly isn't an assassin-specific ability inherited from their genetically superior ancestors.

[/sarcasm]

Thus, the argument assassin's are special has to be rooted in the idea that everyone else in the world is half-blind and crippled.

In comparison to the genetically superior assassins, they are. Christ, kid, did you even play the games? Perhaps not all assassins are special. Clearly, they are not all of the same lineage. However, Desmond's ancestors (and logically several other family trees as well) are, as evidenced by his ability to performs feats he has never trained in simply by virtue of having experienced it in an ancestral memory and his gaining of eagle vision in the real world.

Theres also no real evidence altair/ezio/blandy learned anything faster than anyone. And Blandy McBlanderson did have two lifetime's worth of memories slammed into his mind in a couple weeks so nothing real superhuman there, either.

K, now it's just starting to sound like you're trolling. Firstly, he did not have two lifetimes of memories "jammed" into his head". He experienced exactly what you, the player, did, and fast-forwarded the other parts. Secondly, he learned skills without ever actually physically performing them!. As a comparitive, how about you spend a few hours thinking that you can fly, and then go jump off a roof. I'm betting that you'll end up as jam on the pavement rather than gaining the ability to fly simply by having the idea in your head!

Subject 19 being driven crazy further cements the idea that theres nothing special about "assassins."

It was 16, IIRC, and I don't think (though I'm not 100% certain) that he was ever stated to be an assassin. He could have been an Abstergo goon, the failure that made them realise they needed a real assassin. He could also have already been mentally imbalanced or any of a hundred things. It has no effect on your theory at all.

It was inferred. Strongly.

So say you, but you appear to have been playing a different game to everyone else!

But they're no doubt going to switch back to the templars being right, that everything they did was an effort to avert an apocalypse or, at least, push technology to a point where humanity could survive it.

Hell, they might even go full on bullshit hack sci-fi and have the templars make a time loop.

When did they ever imply that the Templars were right? From the very start, it's made clear that they are the bad guys from their emails, Lucy's conversations with the doctor, and oh yes - the fact they're keeping the protagonist prisoner! As for the time loop, I just...I don't...when was that suggested? They have the ability to travel through time, yet they still piss about capturing people or killing assassins when they could go back in time with an AK47 and wipe out the entire line of assassins?

 

[gl1koz3]

While Bioshock and AC2 isn't my cup of tee, AC2 got more of my attention. And it did somewhat make sense. Nothing shocking there. Maybe somewhat interesting.

 

[DustyDrB]

Yeah, I hated the whole alien thing. In fact, if they just stuck to the Ezio plot and left everything else alone, I would love the story a whole lot more.

 

[Valkyrie101]

It was good until the end. That... end. Urrrrgh.

Did anyone else really struggle with decoding the Truth. Some of them were really hard and confusing.

 

[Retardinator]

since when bioshock had so amazing storyline? it was good, but not excellent. as for assassins creed, its pretty good, i just dont like the whole 2012 thing going on...

Nnnnnyeah, that kind of struck a nerve. I've had enough of 2012 conspiracies already and there's still 2 years to go!
Anyway, I just accepted it. The whole thing with the aliens I didn't really expect, but didn't let it get to me either. I'm still kinda clinging to the idea of having an epic finale in 3.

I loved the hideout and the cast, though. It just made it feel so... small and hidden.

 

[dragonslayer32]

This story is just as plausible than the biblical version of Adam and Eve. It is just someone elses take on it. I found it quite interesting, it is scientology meets christianity.

 

[TyrantGanado]

I am so tired of plot bashing about Assassin's Creed II these days. That and fanwank over Valve and BioWare. Just sayin', not intended as a direct attack or anything...

Anywho, OT: I really like the whole plot to Assassin's Creed. Then again I love narratives where I have to dig into it for information and work things out. I hate being slapped in the face with "THIS IS THE PLOT NOW, DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"

I get that some people will dislike the metaplot of Assassin's Creed or deride the "aliens" (which also annoys me, since they are from Earth) but do we really need every single person to come out and publicly denounce its worth as a game because of these? No, we don't. Let it go and ignore ACIII if you wish so us fans can enjoy it in peace without "omg, aliens and future and desmsond mcboringface aka nathan drake is a tool and i hate this game now i just wanna stab people and jump on shit and...*gets hauled off by the Internet Police*

 

[Altorin]

I liked Desmond more then Altair or Ezio.

I liked getting to know the world where Desmond lives, and meet the people.. And knowing that Desmond is actually training himself through the Animus shows that they don't intend to keep him as a spectator forever.. I liked the end of the game because it showed that a "Desmond takes up the banner of the Assassin's and brings down the Templars in the modern time" is in the pipeline

Maybe I'm insane.

 

[Ekonk]

Yeah I liked the whole 'mystical forerunners' thing, but it would have been better if they hadn't shown how the looked, how their cities looked, et cetera.

Because it looks ridiculous and improbable, that's why.

 

[The Unworthy Gentleman]

Anyway, I want AC3 either set in the Garden of Eden, modern day (although I'm very hesitant of this one) or in World War 1. I think a new way of blowing people up, sniping them out or jumping on them would be rather awesome, Franz Ferdinand's assassination would have too be in there though, maybe as the tutorial.

Franz Ferdinand's assassination was the biggest fail, that ever worked. All the assasins cocked up and the guy who managed to kill only did so as the Franz's driver had to take a detour that took him past the sandwhich store the assassin was in. The other assassins all cocked up and their cynide didn't work, the shooter tried to drown himself in knee high water and their arms supplier spilled the beans as the cops spoke to him and at the time he wasn't even a suspect! Yet someone this worked and thus set off the spark that plungded europe into WWI

Well, admittedly I haven't studied the assassination in depth... all I knew was that the angry Serbs killed him and Austria got pissed.

 

[Cynical skeptic]

-snip-

If you enter the military or even law enforcement, they teach you how to identify threats based upon body language. Of course, every threat in AC wore brightly colored uniforms and had swords, typically drawn, and were coming at you with an intent to use them. Or were guarding something. Yea, I really need superpowers to see that.

The portions of the truth scattered throughout AC2 were visible with or without "eagle vision." Eagle vision pretty much just translates to "looking at stuff really hard."

Desmond is a clone, likely the 17th. All dialogue based around subject 16 was "they pushed him too hard, too fast, etc." He wasn't kidnapped, he was grown from DNA samples harvested from various "assassins" so whatever bullshit genetic encoding could be read by the magic machine given to them by the magic gold ball/staff or whatever POE the templars have. As far as the previous 15, think "alien resurrection." Another IP AC isn't above.

As far as the templars, they're very, clearly, overly-established as the "bad guys." Which means they're actually the good guys. Ubisoft has never been above that "twist," and they're not going to start now. Altair and ezio, and the assassins in general dismiss the knowledge given by the POEs because they don't understand it. Every time they get close, they get knocked out of the way so the crazy alien person can talk to someone who isn't there. Leading them to believe the POEs are seductive and useless.

Its the sam fisher argument. If assassin's are special, then its simply because, in their world, everyone else is retarded, half-blind, and crippled.

 

[iBananaCrazy]

I turned my Xbox off. No, seriously, I did.

The whole WE CAME BEFORE BLAH BLAH BLAH was just sorta a smack in the face.

 

[Doomsday11]

eagle vision is rarely, if ever, presented as anything special. At it's absolute height of "super humanness", it allowed Blandy McBlanderson to see messages smeared on a wall... that he'd been staring at for a week.

This was a result of his inherited traits becoming active due to the 'bleeding effect'. In fact, it the height of it's "super humanness" it allows Desmond to read secret, hidden message dotted around the second game, whereby allowing the eventual truth to be discovered.

[sarcasm]

It also allows for a special vision mode that clearly deliniates targets from civilians, but you're right. That's totally useless for an assassin, and in fact everyone is the game universe has that ability, they just never talk about it. It certainly isn't an assassin-specific ability inherited from their genetically superior ancestors.

[/sarcasm]

Thus, the argument assassin's are special has to be rooted in the idea that everyone else in the world is half-blind and crippled.

In comparison to the genetically superior assassins, they are. Christ, kid, did you even play the games? Perhaps not all assassins are special. Clearly, they are not all of the same lineage. However, Desmond's ancestors (and logically several other family trees as well) are, as evidenced by his ability to performs feats he has never trained in simply by virtue of having experienced it in an ancestral memory and his gaining of eagle vision in the real world.

Theres also no real evidence altair/ezio/blandy learned anything faster than anyone. And Blandy McBlanderson did have two lifetime's worth of memories slammed into his mind in a couple weeks so nothing real superhuman there, either.

K, now it's just starting to sound like you're trolling. Firstly, he did not have two lifetimes of memories "jammed" into his head". He experienced exactly what you, the player, did, and fast-forwarded the other parts. Secondly, he learned skills without ever actually physically performing them!. As a comparitive, how about you spend a few hours thinking that you can fly, and then go jump off a roof. I'm betting that you'll end up as jam on the pavement rather than gaining the ability to fly simply by having the idea in your head!

Subject 19 being driven crazy further cements the idea that theres nothing special about "assassins."

It was 16, IIRC, and I don't think (though I'm not 100% certain) that he was ever stated to be an assassin. He could have been an Abstergo goon, the failure that made them realise they needed a real assassin. He could also have already been mentally imbalanced or any of a hundred things. It has no effect on your theory at all.

It was inferred. Strongly.

So say you, but you appear to have been playing a different game to everyone else!

But they're no doubt going to switch back to the templars being right, that everything they did was an effort to avert an apocalypse or, at least, push technology to a point where humanity could survive it.

Hell, they might even go full on bullshit hack sci-fi and have the templars make a time loop.

When did they ever imply that the Templars were right? From the very start, it's made clear that they are the bad guys from their emails, Lucy's conversations with the doctor, and oh yes - the fact they're keeping the protagonist prisoner! As for the time loop, I just...I don't...when was that suggested? They have the ability to travel through time, yet they still piss about capturing people or killing assassins when they could go back in time with an AK47 and wipe out the entire line of assassins?

The time travel technology they possess is very temperamental if you look up the wiki it gives you information about how they used it on a templar freighter which dissaperead for two hours and when they came back the crew had merged with the ship.

 

[LogicNProportion]

I was PISSED.

I thought AC2 was REALLY GOOD...and then that happened...and I'll be honest that it bumped it down to above average for me...

 

[darksaiyan]

Now I may be biased, since I worked on the game. But while I thought the story to be a little cheesy at times, considering the thing that the game's a sci-fi title by means of story, the future stuff also acted like a great means of linking all the past elements together.

I mean, there's nothing like a big huge conspiracy story to keep as an epic backdrop. Now, I've played this game 3 months of my life, 8 hours a day or more (tons of overtime), you'd think I'd get sick of tired of it all, but I still see the story as interesting - it's well thought out, in the way of Dan Brown I guess.

It's also engaging enough to reel you in. In my case enough to want to decipher what all those symbols meant and the imagery brought up when checked out. There's some interesting stuff to be had by getting text out of the binary and the garbled text in those things.

I still gripe over the feathers. By the end of testing, I knew where each and every one of those damnable feathers were. It was nice to sightsee, but damn.

 

[Chesterfield Snapdragon McFisticuffs]

That's not the worst part. The worst part is that they spend ALL that time talking about how Ezio is an irrelevant little fuck and now they're making another ENTIRE game about him this year. So what, now Ezio is just going to ignore the aliens and go back to alcohol and whores (and Leonardo's escapades?)