Assassin's Creed

it's definitely more about the willing suspension of disbelief than the fourth wall gimmicks.

ME kind of did okay at setting up mythical precedent (one of my friends, despite acknowledging that it was entirely unsatisfying, thought ME brought the ending to the right level of spirituality, so there's at least two of us that could roll with it) but it wasn't very effective, obviously, due to too much sci fi hardness.

AC on the other hand, established pretty early on that it was ready to slap your brain a bit with eagle vision instead of keeping things real.

The first Assassin's Creed was very much a proof of concept of what Ubisoft planned to do with the franchise. The supernatural elements — specifically, The Ones Who Came Before and the Pieces of Eden — were introduced very early on by Vidic, along with the Framing Device of the Animus. So it is established from the beginning that we're in a sci-fi world with a Myth Arc.

I don't see how anyone can reasonably claim to be surprised when supernatural elements start showing up in the game, given the premise and the setup.

What if the player wasn't paying attention or didn't look at the cut scenes and stuff?

I do know quite a few gamers who would prefer to just "kill things and climb shit" with the games instead of trying to get a grips with Assassin's Creed sometimes bonkers plot.

Ahh, such is life.

then they probably wouldn't have been paying attention at the end either

If you came just for the murdering of people, then it's understandable that the Myth Arc would be annoying, but you cannot say you were not adequately warned. That's my only point. Well, maybe if you have the attention span of a ten year old, which is forgivable if you're ten...

edited 11th Apr '12 2:00:04 PM by Fighteer

If you're 10, why are you playing Assassin's Creed.

For a reason stated just above your post.

I preferred killing things and climbing things in AC 1 since the story wasn't particularly compelling, but jumping off tall things into haystacks was.

There are lots of kids who play games like Assassin's Creed and Grand Theft Auto. Whether it's with their parents' approval or obliviousness is a question that is being asked by many people besides just myself.

My neighbor's nine year old son has played GTA. He saw me playing Assassin's Creed: Revelations at one point and asked if he could play it. I told him I was not letting a nine year old play a game like this without his mother's approval. She gave it.

My son is six and has sometimes watched me play. I have since forbidden him from doing so, but he likes Desmond and understands quite a bit of the metaplot. Certainly there's no harm in him watching the story parts of the game; it's not like it's horrifically violent except when you're running around slaughtering people, and the swearing is mostly hidden in subtitles, which he can't read.

edited 11th Apr '12 2:11:22 PM by Fighteer

A friend of mine back when I was ten played GTA III.

I think the whole "letting young kids play violent video games will corrupt their souls" stance is just a Templar plot.

I'm half joking.

Well, over the period of time that I was letting my son watch me play some (but not all) violent games, I came to realize that it wasn't that he was scared of the violence or having nightmares — it was that he was not upset or frightened and in fact got very into them. When he started acting out those games at preschool, I knew it was time to call it quits.

It's hard to say if he was being desensitized per se, but he certainly was/is incapable of grasping when it's appropriate to play-act what he sees in games and movies, even if he understands (or claims to understand) that it's just pretend.

The limits of what I'll let him play these days is Minecraft and the Portal games. Well, I've been letting him watch me play the Firefall beta, but it's mainly shooting bugs with cartoony guns, certainly no worse than Star Wars.

As long as they are old enough to understand that the things being done are not real and should not be attempted in real life, kids of any age should be alright playing most games.

I could see letting a 14 year old play AC if they are fairly "mature for their age." Same with Call Of Duty and other war games. 10... yeah, that is probably pushing the age "limit" down to far.

God Of War is one I would not want anyone under ~17 to play no matter how mature they are. That might seem a little young, but it is likely that people that age know/suspect quite a bit more than their parents realize.

I head there was info on the next game.

INFORM ME, MY TROPERS.

Read up a few pages. Or is this a transparent attempt to re-rail the conversation?

Some links: [1] [2] [3]

Oh, and Belian, when he gets mad at school and threatens to stab his friends with things, I have to wonder if he's mimicking what he sees in media. Each kid is unique and must be treated according to his/her particular capabilities and needs.

edited 11th Apr '12 2:52:22 PM by Fighteer

world is at least 1.5 times as large as Brotherhood was, and this is for only one area.

Combat system has been completely revamped, now there is primary-hand weapons and off-hand weapons, and countering has more options.

Better climbing system, now with trees (and an entire area to go with it, The Frontier), and you can climb over/slide under moving things.

More variety in weapons, not just sword/mace, dagger, etc.

somewhat relevant◊

I find it highly amusing that Penn Jillette seems to be implying that he is a regular of message boards.

Also, Superman64 may not be worse than the Grateful Dead, but it is certainly as foggy as one of their concerts. That must count for something.

For the record, I actually don't know anything by the Grateful Dead.

He's obviously not played Big Rigs. :P

isnt big rigs so horrendously bad its good?

also: keep it real penn, keep it real.

edited 11th Apr '12 9:02:04 PM by Tarsen

Your kid is an Assassin and the kids he was trying to shank were Templars. You must begin his training soon. He will be free-running in no time.

I agree with what Penn said but two things are on my mind...

1. Does he really go on message boards?
2. Who the hell is the band he mentioned? I never heard of them before, I may just go and find out.

edited 12th Apr '12 11:58:50 AM by HellmanSabian

He did climb on some boxes and pretend that he was Ezio. So I don't know, maybe.

Penn is a cool guy for saying that. I would be curious to know where he hangs out, but only mildly.

@ the kids thing: Note I did say "As long as they are old enough to understand that the things being done are not real and should not be attempted in real life, kids of any age should be alright playing most games."

In other words, I believe "mental age and responsibility" is much more importaint than "physical age" when it comes to these things.

edited 12th Apr '12 12:02:09 PM by Belian

I dunno if it's implying so much message boards as it is commentary from parents, possibly on blogs or e-mail or idk.

and the Grateful Dead was one of those big 60s rock band. I have never actually listened to them, though.

On letting a child watch video games: There are some games a child should not watch, like Prototype.

So, AC 3 is coming out soon. I gotta change my laptop...

I'd like to see a game set in Feudal Japan...

edited 19th Apr '12 1:20:32 PM by MotorRunner