How many of you can say you've got an ancestor as a character in a video game? Assassin's Creed II.

[YOY]

So I figured I'd get the PC version of this. All very nice. Set in Venice, Florence, and various other Italian sites pre-Italian City-State unification. The architecture is...well...FUCKING AMAZING.
Oh they picked the setting well on this one...

Real Life


Game:


You've got Renaissance Italian political intrigue and killing...lots of killing. Blades, poison, beatings, falling...killing.

And it passes the YOY seal of approval (You CANNOT win this game, if you are playing it right, in one sitting.)

Great Game! And my direct ancestor is the main villain and the hero is kind of a chacci before he finds his calling.

http://assassinscreed.wikia.com/wiki/Rodrigo_Borgia

DAMN YOU GENETICS. Yes...that's actually what he looked like... and that's what I would look like if I gained a few more pounds aged a few years and grew a beard. Nose, eyes, lips are the fucking same. Glad I didn't get the sloped forehead. Guess I'd be a Republican if I did.

Real Life:


In Game:


No really...I'm not shitting you. That bastard really is my ancestor. Via Lucretia to make things worse.

[lazarus]

1. I killed your ancestor

and enjoyed it. Sorry. :hi:

[YOY]

2. No...no you didn't!

Did you really finish it? ;-)

And he was a right bastard...really was. Cesare wasn't much nicer. Lucretia was damaged goods.

[lazarus]

3. yep

on the PS3. Although, now that I think about it, I don't think he's ever actually killed, even at the end. It was a bit of a blur, what with the no-I'm-not-telling at the end.

[YOY]

4. Ubisoft didn't change history too much.

n.t.

[realisticphish]

5. well

except for the whole flying machine thing :D

[semillama]

6. I loved the detail in this game so much

Total eye candy. It took me a couple months to finish since I could only play about 6 hours a week, but man! what a story Ubisoft is developing!

(Now I'm playing Mass Effect 2 - wife and son are out of town and it's been filling my time)

[lazarus]

7. I've heard

the sequel is coming out in '011, and will feature the further adventures of Ezio. I was hoping for the earlier rumour, that it would involve being a ninja. Because, ninja.

[realisticphish]

8. looking forward to it

I actually hope they DON'T go the ninja route. I've always liked the fight style they've used for Altair/Ezio; some martial-artsy swordwork, but still pretty period-accurate stuff. Going ninja would just seem so cliche for a video game.

[lazarus]

9. true

but, NINJA! :D

I'm curious how they'll handle de-powering Ezio at the beginning of ACIII. That's always a tough thing to handle in sequels. They did it well in the two God of War sequels, imo, so it's possible to pull off well.

[realisticphish]

10. yeah

with Ezio, they were starting afresh, since Altair wasn't around. Maybe the data will get corrupted and he'll have to start over? Or maybe they won't use Ezio. I'm sure they will, but who knows, they might jump another time period

[lazarus]

11. June 3

is supposedly a release for a trailer for Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood. Rumour has it there will be on-line multiplayer. Not sure I like that, to be honest. It may be in Rome, but it's all rampant speculation at this point.

I just want it to be at least as good as ACII.

[realisticphish]

13. i loathe multiplayer

its made game devs freaking lazy. "wow, this game totally sucks" "well, online is pretty good."

WHO CARES. That's why I love Mass Effect, Fallout, Elder Scrolls, and games like that. They don't have MP to fall back on. They actually have to program quality AI

[YOY]

12. I was rather hoping Victorian England, WWI, or Mayan times...conquistadorific.

As long as they don't go WWII. OVERDONE.

As for Japan...Tenchu is already there and the style would be a downer.

[realisticphish]

14. oh, WWI would be cool

10's and 20's europe. But yeah, WWII would be annoying. I think our culture has enough WWII wired into it as it is

[YOY]

15. or Napoleonic (Vienna) or Russian Revolution (St. Petersburg/Moscow)

Tre cool.

[realisticphish]

16. RR is a GREAT idea

lots of intrigue to deal with there, and it fits in with the whole "templars cause chaos" thing

[YOY]

17. and you just KNOW Rasputin would be on one side or the other...

n.t.

[lazarus]

18. +1

RR would rock.

[semillama]

19. Am I the only one who hopes that number III doesn't use the animus at all?

but rather, focuses on Desmond, fighting present-day Templars? It pretty much has to happen sometime to complete the story.

[realisticphish]

20. hmm

that could be ok, but the historical and architectural detail is one of the great things about these games. I don't know, it might work

maybe 70/30, with the last part of the game having him fight in real life?

[semillama]

25. That could work, too

Where ever it's set, it's going to have to follow the same formula of having high points and free running, which rules out a lot of scenarios (including fuedal Japan, I think).

I think somewhere like London, late nineteenth century makes a logical next choice - think of all the great high points! Big Ben, the Christopher Wren churches, etc. You could even through in Jack the Ripper as some mad Templar.

[realisticphish]

28. that's a good one too

watch it be Des Moines :D

[semillama]

39. Would the high points be grain elevators, then? n/t

[YOY]

41. OOOH! Silo Explosion!!!

Take that farmer Jebediah!

[YOY]

21. One word that kills it: Firearms.

I mean fully automatic and getting sprayed with bullets. Not too keen on that.

[realisticphish]

22. that's the thing about "ninjas"

and other martial arts types. It only works against firearms if A.) You sneak around and surprise them, which is, I think, the point of ninjas or B.) You get in close and disarm.

But out in the open, a ninja is basically screwed. You can dance around all you want buddy, but this minigun doesn't care

[lazarus]

23. that's why you use ninjas

if you set it in medieval Japan. Because ninjas are cool.

[realisticphish]

24. ninjas are undeniably cool

but overdone, imho. How many RPG and action games have been set in ancient japan...

I would be interested in a new location, but Japan just seems cliche. I'm still a fan of the Russian revolution idea, though now that I think about it, that reduces the whole martial-arts thing as well.

hmm.

[YOY]

26. They had such allusions to the RR in AC2 that it wouldn't surprise me.

They had a lot of allusions to different periods...many of which we mentioned.

[lazarus]

27. just got an email from Abstergo

http://assassinscreed.us.ubi.com/abstergoindustries/#/weapons

If you can solve the puzzle, please let me know. I'm stupid today.

[realisticphish]

29. not too hard

watch each of the videos; after each, there's a little symbol that appears (i wrote them down). Then add the symbol from the email, and enter them into the blank space.

It reveals a 6th weapon. Also, there's a little download thing with a neat AC wallpaper. nothing spectacular, but now i feel special :)

[lazarus]

30. ah

I've only had about 5 hours sleep in three days, so I'll use that as an excuse.

[realisticphish]

31. haha

i had to look up where to find the last symbol, because i hadn't gotten the actual email

[YOY]

32. If this alludes to playing as a templar I will be mighty upset...

I hate those f***ers.

[realisticphish]

33. don't worry

this stuff isn't for III, but for AC: Brotherhood, which is still with Ezio AFAIK

[lazarus]

34. what worries me

is that this is just going to be a sort of multi-player DLC. I won't do that, but then I might miss some plot development. Grr....

[realisticphish]

35. well

They just officially announced the Brotherhood release
http://www.joystiq.com/2010/05/11/assassins-creed-brotherhood-announced-and-detailed-by-ubisoft/

And it says there is both a single and multiplayer function. Of course, I will not be playing multiplayer, because I don't give a shit about playing other people

[YOY]

36. 16 hours of gameplay???

Seriously??? The current one it taking me damn near 50.

[realisticphish]

37. yeah

I think 50 should be the standard. It should take 50 hours to do the main questline and a reasonable percentage of side quests. 50 should be at the low end of the spectrum.

Hell, with Fallout and Oblivion, you can spend 50 hours without even starting the main quest

[YOY]

40. I want more than 50 as a standard.

I've spent so much time on the Total War series it's sad.

For 50 or more...I'll buy. It's worth the 50-60 I plunk down.

For 12-20 hours? cough...torrent...cough...

[lazarus]

38. 16 hours is barely worth the time

of firing it up. Gimme 30 at least. This isn't even version 2.5, it's more like a DLC.

Like you, I won't be partaking of multi-player. I have no interesting in being flamed by 14 year olds or anything else you get from MP. I want missions and plot development.

I'll probably get this on sale or used. 60 bucks is way too much for 16 hours.

[YOY]

42. Depends if you can find a crew. Ignis and I were teaming up not long ago.

I may team up with Mayberry Machiavelli soon in SC II.

I know several of my peeps who will be playing Biowares MMORPG Star Wars game.

If you have a good crew...it's fun. 14 year olds (or those with 14 year old mentalities) who call you a "fag" every second and start spewing racial epitaphs at anyone they can...hmmm... yeah... Multi-player sucks if you don't have a good crew. I stay out of the servers for games where I don't know who I'm gaming with.

[lazarus]

43. The only multiplayer I ever did

was for Total Annihilation - still my favourite RTS ever. I got tired of being yelled at when I won quickly. And the computer was usually a better opponent when I didn't use the totally broken strategy I came up with to win quickly.

[realisticphish]

44. LAN games are fun

I spent a LOT of college playing 16-player Halo sessions. But those were all people I knew.

[YOY]

45. Exactly...people you know.

Not 14 year old smacktards.

[realisticphish]

47. haha most definitely nt

[Tunkamerica]

46. is stonewall jackson in a game?

if he is then i can say that too.

[YOY]

48. Prolly in the old SSI strategies. Know of a boardgame.

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/4211/stonewall-jacksons-way

If the Total War series ever takes on the American Civil War, he will be.

They put the founding fathers in Total War: Empire.

[Ignis]

49. Poisoner!

:D

[YOY]

50. Well...I sent you the wine opener but not the wine...I must like you.

:evilgrin:

[eShirl]

51. Depends; are there any Robin Hood games?

Maybe one of my ancestors, John "Lackland" Plantagenet, might have made an appearance.

[lazarus]

52. having done some genealogy the past few weeks

probably, since I'm descended from Charlemagne and Charles Martel. :D I'm sure Charlemagne has made an appearance in a Civ game or something.

[YOY]

53. Ironically both were known as "Chuck" to their friends...

n.t.