Foreword

We call those dusty past events history, which carries too many joys and sorrows. Every civilization that has declined from prosperity will have a brilliant and brilliant past: some past becomes immortal legends written by historians for praise to future generations; some past becomes broken roses under the iron hooves of the chaotic army, withering and no longer blooming; and more past events are like flames that are about to burn out, and we can only feel the rise and fall of the ancient empire from a trace of warmth. It could be destroyed by a plague of creatures, a protracted war, the death of an upright king, or a long-planned assassination.

Assassin has less morality than a knight, but more forbearance and cunning. After writing about the knights in Chinese games, I suddenly had the urge to write about the assassin. Unlike the knights who only exist in martial arts culture, the assassin has traces of human history. They are hidden in the shadow of the times and have unique behavioral methods and moral standards. Therefore, if you want to clearly present the assassin culture to readers, you must not only describe the appearance and weapons of the assassins, but also root it in a vast history. This is the only game that meets the above conditions, that is the famous "Assassin's Creed".

The birth of the assassin

I. Asassin's Legends and Time Machine

Master Jin Yong used Xie Xun's mouth to mention in "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" that the founder of the Persian General Hall was Huo Shan, an old man in the mountains. He once took the life of the King of England silently as an assassin. In real history, the old man in the mountains is the founder of the assassination organization Asasin Sect. The organization, called Assassin, originated in northern Iran, consists of a group of Islamic heretics who assassinated Muslims in the Crusaders in the name of religion and politics.

The novel titled "Alamut" records the story of this organization in detail. Alamut means the Eagle's Nest, which refers to the gathering place of the Assassin organization. It was after reading this legendary novel that Ubisoft had the inspiration for the creation of "Assassin's Creed", and the word-of-mouth "everything is empty, everything is acceptable" passed down among countless players is the original text in the book.

Alamut is a niche novel based on the legendary story of the life of the Assassin leader

Assassin's Creed borrows the legend of Assassin and introduces a time machine called Animus to put a sci-fi cloak on a costume drama that took place in the 12th century. At the same time, in order to create dramatic conflicts and conflicts, the Knights Templar, the real Knights Templar, officially debuted as the assassin's opponent. Game time minutesFor the modern and the past, the story revolves around the game between the two sides.

Interestingly, in the story setting of Assassin's Creed, the Knights Templar created a magical device called "Die Glcoke" with the Nazi "uranium engineering" as a cover. It can be connected through internally generated wormholes. This is the predecessor of Animus. It is said that it was a secret weapon developed by the German army, but it stopped developing due to the defeat of the Nazis.

The legend of "Nazi Bell" can prevent grass from growing around, and the living creatures around them will be converted into black colloids

It is precisely because of Ubisoft's in-depth creation of the legend of Assassin that the most spectacular Assassin universe in the history of the game was born, and players were able to feel the charm of Assassin culture in the vortex of the struggle between the Templar and the Assassin organization.

II. Realistic weapon settings

"For many years, Xiujian has been our partner. Some people think that Xiujian defines us-they are not completely wrong. Without Xiujian, our strength will be greatly reduced." - Altay Ibn Raahad, Notes page 13

The exquisite and hidden killer is the best companion for a qualified assassin. Jing Ke assassinated the King of Qin, and the poisoned dagger was hidden in the map, and Zhuizhu assassinated the King of Wu, and the fish intestine sword was hidden in the fish's belly. As a popular weapon in the Assassin's Creed series, it meets the requirements of assassin's weapon selection in the above historical events, and is concealed and fatal.

Before assassinating Qing Ji, he deliberately angered the King of Wu, but after being cut off his right arm, he was wiped out and gained Qing Ji's trust by self-harm. The first generation of Assassin's Creed also requires suffering to be worn. We can see from the Altaïr's sleeve sword in the picture below that the little finger is equipped with a mechanical device to control the sleeve sword. Whenever a fist is clenched, the sharp weapon between the sleeves will pop up. But when doing this behavior, the human body structure prevents the ring finger from moving the sneaker sword. Therefore, in the first generation of games, the assassin must cut off his ring finger to wear this hidden and deadly killer.

Altaire's Sword

The inspiration of the Shunjian is from the Katar worn by the Indian Rajiput warrior. Some settings of the Shunjian have been modified in the game, such as the blade of the Shunjian is located in the middle of the arm while the Shunjian is located on the inside of the wrist. This move greatly improves the concealment of the weapon. With the continuous update of the Assassin's Creed version, Xiujian, as a very popular weapon, still has a certain appearance rate and has become a more complex weapon system (for some reason, when I wrote this, I thought of the combination of the bottle opener and the Swiss Army Knife), and the cruel setting that requires a broken finger to be worn has also become history with the continuous improvement of the craftsmanship.

The weapons appear in the Assassin's Creed series are diverse, some are small and exquisite, and some are unparalleled in courage. They have unique stories in history. But I prefer the exquisite hinged sword because it best represents the tenacity spirit of the assassin..

Although the presence of the hug sword is gradually diluted by other weapons, the spirit it brings has never disappeared.

III. unique assassination skills

"Why do we have these talents? These abilities? Because they flow in our blood." - Clay Katzmarek talks about Hawkeye Vision

There are settings in many games that are like this - those key items are shining in the eyes of players, or the outline of the enemy can be observed through thick walls. Such superpowers have different definitions in different games, such as "survival instinct" or "hawkeye vision".

The light under the Hawkeye Vision

Hawkeye Vision is described as extremely keen observation in the novel "Assassin's Creed". However, the Hawkeye Vision in the game is a special ability unique to the Assassin clan. This special gene flowing in the bloodline requires extremely high talent to be activated, such as Edward in "Assassin's Creed: Black Flag". If you don’t have enough talent, you can also become a master of assassination who can observe the sixth way through acquired training.

The eagle itself has extremely keen vision, and another reason for naming this special ability Hawkeye Eye represents Ubisoft's tribute to the "Eagle's Nest" where Assassin gathers. Although the "Eagle's Nest" finally turned into ashes under the siege of the Mongolian army led by Hulagu, their legend is active in the Assassin's Universe in another way, which is very sad.

This part mainly introduces the background of the birth of the assassin in the "Assassin's Creed" series and some well-known settings. These settings have been continuously improved and improved in game works of all generations. However, with the continuous update of the game version, the expansion of gameplay and the improvement of the protagonist's ability have caused some players to question the nature of the game - has Assassin's Creed essentially deviated from the assassin's behavior?

Below, putting aside the gameplay, I will use two parts to explain whether the "Assassin's Creed" series has deviated from its original intention.

In addition to the assassin, there is also creed

"When others blindly pursue the truth, remember that everything is empty. When others are bound by morality or law, remember that everything is allowed."This is the iron law that assassins follow in the "Assassin's Creed" series. In short, this sentence teaches those assassins not to be blinded by the ideas of their enemies and to leave tradition behind. It prohibits the killing of innocent people and requires assassins to always safeguard personal and organizational honors. Assassins of all generations sacrifice their lives for this doctrine, and they feel like they sacrifice their lives for justice.

This doctrine also represents the pursuit of freedom. The Templars represent a class society with strict institutions, while the Assassin family, opposite, has a belief in freedom. What the protagonists in games in historyWhat is the search for the land of freedom. Altayne has been on the road to the truth all his life; Connor never regrets himself; even Edward repented after suffering from the weather. In contrast, it is not so important to use what weapon and how to pass the level, because these people bring the same touch to the players, just as the lyrics describe - forgive me for being unruly and indulging in love with freedom in this life.

Everything is empty, everything is acceptable. This statement reminds me of the "unity of knowledge and action" expressed in Wang Yangming's study of mind. Everything is manifested as "knowledge", and everything is reflected in "action". The high degree of harmony between thought and action is not only the highest creed pursued by the assassin, but also in the profound and profound Chinese culture. Although Mr. Wang Yangming did not do what he did by the assassin, his literature can create knowledge of the mind and martial arts can quell the bandits. Isn't this what the Assassin's Creed advocated?

Assassin's Creed is very similar to Yangming's Heart Studies to some extent

Moreover, Wang Yangming's study of mind and "Assassin's Creed" are both manifestations of idealism. At present, the plot of the game has begun to continue to develop around the Animus mentioned above, and the boundaries between reality and digital simulation have become blurred. What kind of experience this virtual reality journey in the soft science fiction guise can bring to players is still unknown, but it is certain that from the perspective of "creed" alone, the plot of the game has never deviated from its original trajectory.

Above the creed is history

In addition to "assassin" and "creed", what really makes players feel interesting is the historical background with extremely high restoration.

With the time machine Animus, players can enter the restored ancient imperial cities - the Renaissance Romans are buzzing; Paris is quietly nurturing the enlightenment movement that shocked the world; and London, surrounded by mist, has just completed the industrial revolution. The crystallization of human wisdom completes its rebirth in this way. Players can not only act as a prophet across time and space, use the knowledge they have learned to witness the glorious moments of these civilizations. He is also an assassin who seeks freedom, constantly fighting for the faith in his heart.

It can be said that in the endless historical tide, players are just a drop of insignificant water drops, going downstream and following the trend. In the game, the history we know is not as boring as recorded in ancient books. Because we are fortunate to be part of it and experience that glorious era firsthand.

But if you just think Assassin's Creed is a "travel simulator", you're a big mistake.

On April 6, 2019, a fire broke out in Notre Dame Cathedral in France. In the blood-red fire, a bright pearl in human civilization turned into ashes.

Just like I wrote about Ebola before that, the Plague Company became more famous, many of them have played "Assassin's Creed: The Revolution has re-entered the game and posted screenshots of themselves and Notre Dame in the game to express their grief. At the same time, Ubisoft also donated 500,000 euros free of charge for the restoration of cultural relics.

Netizen comments: I want to take some photos of Notre Dame in the game to make myself less sad

In fact, the greatest thing about the Assassin's Creed series is not the vivid image of the assassin or the creed that everything is allowed to be true, but it allows players to clearly realize how precious the relics that exist in the glorious history are. Only when players experience it in the game with awe of real history will they make such an sigh.

Not only in the distant France, Assassin's Creed has a high reputation in China. After passing the Assassin's Creed, the writer Ma Boyong was deeply influenced by the assassin's culture in the game. He set the story in Chang'an before the Anshi Rebellion and created the excellent novel "The Twelve Hours of Chang'an", which was later filmed into a TV series. As a loyal player in the "Assassin's Creed" series, the author saw from the protagonist Zhang Xiaojing that everything is empty and everything is acceptable in the game. At the same time, he also felt the charm of history in the magnificent Chang'an City.

So, no matter the creed presented in the game or the cultural output brought to players, the essence of "Assassin's Creed" has not changed. It is using the exquisite grass, wood, brick and tiles in the virtual world to tell all players the value of freedom - and to deeply love every inch of land under their feet.