Why we need more games like Assassin’s Creed
Playing Assassin’s Creed II scratched a number of itches for me, blending my love of video games with my studies as a History student and tying it in a nice bow to reflect a year spent living in Italy. However it also reintroduced me to the world of art history and art in architecture . I’m willing to bet that the vast majority of gamers won’t take the time to walk through the gallery Ezio accumulates in his villa, or read all of the entries in the database of people and places. However, while doing so greatly enhances the overall experience in playing Assassin’s Creed, players can choose to ignore them and still not lose out on the overall story. Even those that choose to focus on Ezio’s story alone will be exposed to the Pazzi Conspiracy, recreated with surprising accuracy, down to the wound Lorenzo receives from his assailant and the motives of would be assassins. Of course there are some elements changed up to involve our assassin in the story but overall it contextualises the conspiracy far better than most school textbooks. The difference is that players participate in the story, attaching a real significance to events and ensuring that much of the detail will stick with the player better than if it they had simply read it off a page.
Where's the beard!?
That’s not to say playing Assassin’s Creed II is the equivalent of an interactive history lesson, far from it in fact. To facilitate the story, supporting characters are simplified and attributed archetypal personality traits, the most jarring being Lorenzo de Medici, who comes across as a man free from vice, concerned solely with the good of Florence. The problem is that while the game characters are often required to align either black or white, history is painted in shades of grey. To fully explore Lorenzo as a person would complicate the story of Assassin’s Creed II with needless exposition and Ubisoft Montreal wisely chose to put the enjoyment of the player ahead of their education on personalities from Renaissance. Some choices are odd (for example, why is the Baptistery in Florence missing?), others such as da Vinci’s inclusion are inspired, reminding us that even this man, often depicted as a wise, all knowing old man was young once, with a life and friends. It may not be historically accurate in showing his relationship with Ezio, but again, that’s not the point. DaVinci is an anchor for the player, a somewhat familiar entry point for most players into the world of Renaissance Italy. No, the game is not a history lesson, but it is the perfect launch platform for someone with a casual interest in history to inspire them to seek out more once they have finished the main campaign. Assassin’s Creed is a great game because it is fun, because it offers choice to players and improves in every way on its originator, because the story is rich and leaves the player feeling rewarded for the effort they put in to it. However, it is also an important game, because it challenges what games can offer gamers. Beyond simply entertaining us, games can inspire us, educate and inform us about the world outside the television, all while asking only that we pay attention, take an interest and open ourselves up to a little bit of learning as we go about our headshots and assassinations.
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