Assassin's Creed

"Jerusalem, the twelfth century. Amidst the chaos of the Third Crusade, a Brotherhood of warriors rose to power. Shrouded in secrecy, feared for their ruthlessness, they alone would save the Holy Land, or destroy it. They were the Assassins."

        Assassin's Creed is a non-linear action-adventure video game, during which the player controls a 12th-century Levantine Assassin named Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad during the Third Crusade, whose life is experienced through the Animus by his 21st-century descendant, Desmond Miles. The overall goal of the game is to rise through the ranks of the Assassin Order by carrying out a series of assassinations given by the leader of the Order, Al Mualim. In doing so, Altaïr travels from Masyaf to cities in the Holy Land, specifically Jerusalem, Acre, and Damascus.

        The game centers around the use of a machine dubbed the "Animus", which allows its user to view the genetic memories of his or her ancestors, centering around the protagonist, a bartender named Desmond Miles. As Desmond relives the memories of one of his ancestors, the Assassin Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad who lived in the Holy Land during the Third Crusade, details of a battle between two ancient sects – the Knights Templar and the Assassin Order – emerge as both scour for an artifact known only as a "Piece of Eden."

        Upon arrival in any of the cities, Altaïr must locate an Assassins' Bureau and discuss his tasks with the local Rafiq, an agent of the Brotherhood, gaining basic knowledge of his target. From there, it is up to Altaïr to perform additional reconnaissance via eavesdropping, interrogation, meeting with informants, and gathering important items. It is only after Altaïr has gathered enough information that he can carry out the assassination. After successfully completing an assassination, Altaïr returns to Masyaf to debrief with Al Mualim and is subsequently rewarded with better equipment, before he is given the names of his next targets.

        Between main memories, Desmond must direct Altaïr to high points in the city to further synchronize his surroundings and map out the city that Altaïr is currently located in. Other side memories include tracking and killing Templars, flag collecting, and saving citizens who are being threatened by city guards.Accompanying this, Altaïr needs to carry out most of his actions without being noticed by officials. The game uses a meter dependent on social stealth to inform the player of how noticeable Altaïr is to surrounding individuals, including the guards, by changing the color and shape of the Abstergo logo; performing certain actions at certain times may or may not raise the local area's awareness level. If an area is on high alert, indicated by the logo becoming red and the entire synchronization interface earning a red tinge and background, guards will be always vigilant and citizens will scatter in various directions in the event that the guards chase and attempt to bring down Altaïr. To reduce his notoriety, Altaïr must break the guards' line of sight and then find a hiding place, blend in with wandering scholars, or join citizens sitting on benches.

Plot

        Desmond Miles, a bartender, is kidnapped by the company Abstergo Industries for use as a test subject in the "Animus," a device that can simulate genetic memory. Abstergo intends to put Desmond in the device to recall the memories of his ancestor, Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, a member of the Assassin Brotherhood in the year 1191, who lived during the Third Crusade in the Holy Land. Initially, Desmond has trouble adjusting to the device but eventually relives Altaïr's exploits over the next several days. The game then primarily changes to Altaïr's point-of-view, with occasional transitions to Desmond, due to problems with the Animus or onset of the Bleeding Effect. The game opens with Desmond entering Altaïr's memory, but he soon faces synchronization problems. On this, Lucy Stillman and Warren Vidic's voices can be heard, arguing over Desmond's safety within the Animus. After experiencing a few problems, Desmond exits the virtual machine and Vidic briefs him about the Animus' inner workings, before initializing the machine's tutorial program. After Desmond is done with the tutorial, he enters the closest synchronizable memory of Altaïr; Lucy adds that Desmond has to relive key moments of Altaïr's life to increase his synchronization, before reaching the final memory which holds the information that Abstergo is seeking.

        After narrowly defeating a retaliatory attack by the Templars, Al Mualim, leader of the Assassins, demotes Altaïr to a novice but gives him another chance to rise through the ranks of the Brotherhood. Al Mualim assigns Altaïr the task of assassinating nine key figures across the Holy Land in Jerusalem, Acre and Damascus, aiming to bring peace between the Crusader and Saracen forces. Each target is based on an actual historical figure from the Third Crusade, including Majd Addin, Garnier de Naplouse, Jubair al Hakim, Abu'l Nuqoud, Sibrand, William of Montferrat, and Robert de Sablé. Altaïr completes each task, learning how each target is connected to Robert and the Templars and how together they aim to end the Crusades and place the Holy Land under their own control. With men on both sides killed, he discovers that Robert's last plot is to attempt to unite the Christian and Muslim forces against their new common enemy, the Assassins themselves. Altaïr defeats de Sablé before Richard the Lionheart, failing to convince the King that an end to the war would be welcome to both sides, but ending Robert's plot. From de Sablé, Altaïr discovers that Al Mualim was himself a member of the Templars and used the Assassin to kill the other members who held the secret to the treasure's power so that he could selfishly keep the artifact for himself.

        Though Desmond remains trapped in the Abstergo laboratory, his experience in the Animus has created a Bleeding Effect of Altaïr's life in his own, allowing Desmond to use Altaïr's Eagle Vision, which, in turn, allows him to see strange messages painted on the walls of his room and the floor of the lab. The messages all deal with various forms of the end of the world from different cultures, including several references to 21 December 2012, the date that Abstergo plans to launch a satellite that will "permanently end the war." It is hinted that this method would be by the same method that Al Mualim hypnotized Masyaf, only on a larger scale. Finally, the game ends with Desmond wondering what the images all mean and who could have drawn them.