It seems that now almost everyone at least out of the ear, but I heard this phrase. Yes, it’s about Assassin’s Creed. This franchise is known to many, if not all gamers. Many love her for unusual gameplay, a variety of historical periods and charismatic characters;Others hate for the annual output of each part, already boring mechanics, bugs and technical problems. But few know how this series was born, and to whom it owes its birth. As you have already guessed, this is the story of the Assassin’s Creed series, in which I will tell you how it appeared, about the similarities and differences of the Laura of the game with real historical events, as well as about the Assassins and Templars themselves.

What was really?

Actually, who are all these people, assassins and Templars? Let’s start, so to speak, with a historical reference. Templars are also called temples or poor knights of Christ and the temple of Solomon. This order was founded around 1119 in the Holy Land. Its foundation de Payne, Champagne Knight. According to historical certificates, he remained to live in the Holy Land after the pilgrimage of Count Hugo I Champagne, where he founded the Order of the Templars together with the eight knights. For almost twenty years of his life, he established the foundations of the order, strengthened it and increased influence and military financial power. But the Templars did not work fame and strength immediately. Initially, the Order was called "poor knights", and for a reason. The knights of the order were really poor. According to legend, they had only one horse for two people. They learned about their activities only in 1128, in the Cathedral of Trua, where the knights officially became the order. The so-called Latin rule, 72-page document, written by Priest Bernard Clevorsky and describing the ideals and foundations that the Order should be introduced into his lifestyle. After that, the Templars launched a wide recruitment campaign in the Order in England and France. The Templars gained wide fame, as well as a persistent economic situation in the West. Hugo de Payne visited Shampan, Anju, Normandy and Flanders, as well as England and Scotland, after which the Order received his “national” affiliation, he was considered French.

Hugo de Payne, founder of the Templar Order

But we will move directly to the third crusader, during which the events of the first part of Assassin’s Creed were developing. It was initiated by Pope Gregory VIII and Clement III (after the death of Gregory VIII). The Crusade was attended by the four most powerful European monarchs – the German emperor Friedrich I Barbarossa, the French king Philip II Augustus, the Austrian Duke Leopold V and the English king Richard I Lion Heart.

In 1190, kings stood on a campaign. The success of the Third Crusade was greatly influenced by the participation of the English king. Richard, a person is extremely energetic, alive, irritable, acting under the influence of passion, was far from the idea of ​​a general plan, he was looking, first of all, knightly exploits and glory. In his fees themselves, the traits of his character were too relief to the campaign. Richard surrounded himself with a brilliant retinue and knights, on his army, according to his contemporaries, he held as much as the other kings in a month. Gathering on a hike, he transferred everything to the money;He either leased his possessions or laid and sold. Thus, he really raised huge means;His army was distinguished by good weapons. It would seem that good money and a large armed army were to ensure the success of the enterprise. But some factors and circumstances quarreled many participants in the order among themselves.

From 1188 to 1191, Christian princes came under the walls of Acra alone;There was not once when all the cash forces of Christians who came from the West focused here at the same time. Some of the Christians who arrived under the acra died under the blows of Muslims, from illness and hunger;it was replaced by another detachment and, in turn, was subjected to the same fate. In addition, there were a lot of other difficulties for Christians, which responded seriously on the course of the whole matter.
The siege of Acre

July 12, 1191 Akra was handed over to Christians.

Franks hit the road on August 23 along the Syrian coast. They crossed the Akra River and arrived in Haifa on the first day. Three days later they left Haifa and settled in the gorges of Atlit. “The Templars made up the avant -garde, and the hospitals – the rearguard. Those who saw how they build units, they seemed to be people who knew their job well, and the army was better escorted than on the first day. ". September 7, passing the forest, the crusader army approached Arsuf. At this crossing, the Templars walked ahead, and the hospitals closed the movement under the sights of the Saracensian crossbowers.

The Crusader Army continued its journey to Jerusalem. Having passed the desert, the knights felt exhausted. The goal was achieved, the Arabs remained to survive the city. A long siege exhausted the warriors and there were tiny results – part of the city was in their hands. Richard understood that they would not have enough strength and asked for a truce, but Salah ad-Din refused, he agreed only to one condition-the army of Europeans leave, and pilgrims were allowed to visit the Holy Sepulcher.

After this campaign among the participants, civil strife began, which poured into many conflicts, among which was the capture of King Richard Duke of Austria Leopold v.

Duke of Austrian Leopold V

After the third crusade, the Templars participated in other battles and wars. This continued until 1307, when the order was actually destroyed. The Templars were tried for seven years, after which they sentenced to burn (not without the help of Pope Clement V). The last great master of the Templar Order was Jacques de Mole.

Execution Jacques de Mole

From this moment, the Order of the Templars is considered destroyed, but the heirs and successors of the temple of templars appeared, for example, the Teutonic Order.

Assassins also existed, also known as Khashshashins and Nizarites. The name "Assassin" is associated with a set of ideas about Assassinh as a sect of knights who committed murders on political and religious grounds. They are also mentioned during the Crusades.

Just during this period, the influence of Khasashinov was great. Sultan Salah ad-Din strengthened his position of himself with the "true defender of Islam.". He believed that his purpose was the expulsion of Christians from the Muslim East. Negotiations with him did not lead to a good result, and in 1171 a battle under Jerusalem took place, where the crusaders did not only have.
Salah ad-Din

And at that moment the Ismailis come https://sweety-win-casino.co.uk/ out. Crusaders concluded an alliance with them, thanks to which the Khashashins eliminated many military and political figures. They didn’t care with whom to fight, for them both sides of the conflict were hostile. It is known that even Salah ad-Din had to endure several attempts.

The union did not last long. Konrad Montferratsky dared to rob the Khashshashin caravan, after which they began to send killers to both camps.

After the Crusaders of Jerusalem, the knights began to remind more likely bandits than the noble Soldiers’ Soldiers. Each of their adventure was accompanied by violence and robberies. Many European barons, adventurers and other second -class people united in unions, which, however, were not the most persistent. At this time, the word "assassin", translated by "hired killer", was just in many European languages. It is known for certain that during the Crusades of the Assassins, six Vizers, three califs, dozens of city rulers and clergy, several European rulers, such as Raimund II, Konrad Montferrat, as well as a prominent public figure, Persian scientist Abd Ul-Mahasin, causing the wrath of the “elder of the mountain” with his sharp criticism of his sharp criticism of his sharp criticism of his sharp criticismKhashshashinov.

Elder of Mount Hassan ibn-Sabbach

After the fall of the fortresses Alamut and Meymundiz, who attacked the Mongol khans, the Khashsashinov sect ceased to exist officially.
There are known myths about the use of Hashish Ismailis, which were described by the Venetian traveler Marco Polo. They tell the following. In the country, Mulet in the old days was lived by the mountain old man Alakh-Oddin, who arranged a luxurious garden in the image and likes of the Muslim paradise in some secluded place. He took a young man from twelve to twenty years old and transferred to this garden in a sleepy state, and they spent the whole day there, amusing themselves with there with there, and by the evening they were again scorched and transferred back to the court. After that, the young men were “ready for death, just to get into paradise;They won’t wait for the day to go there … The old man will want to kill one of the important or someone at all, he will choose from his assassins and where he wants, he will send him there. And he tells him that he wants to send him to heaven and he would go there so that he would have killed such and such, and as he himself would be killed, he will immediately go to heaven. To whom the elder will order so much, he willingly did everything he could;walked and performed everything that the elder ordered him ". This legend of hashi seriously influenced its perception in Western culture.
In the first part of Assassin’s Creed, has you had to take hash, but it showed how the assassins with the Templars looked like about it.

About development

In general, Assassin’s Creed could not be. She owes her appearance to another famous series- Prince of Persia. There was 2003 in the yard, at this time a new part of the series- Sands of Time just appeared. And it was a phenomenon. Initially, the “Prince of Persia” was a 2D platformer, remembered by a breakthrough animation for those years (1989 in the courtyard), which was personally recorded by the father of the series Jordan Mehner. In 2003, the episode moved to the camp of 3D-IGR. Animation reached a new level, the choreography of the battles shocked, and the atmosphere only added pluses. The success of the game was guaranteed, and this part became a cult. It is not surprising that Ubisoft has planned a continuation of the series. To do which they entrusted to Patris Dezile. But already at the planning stage, he did not like the concept of the "prince". He believed that the prince was not suitable for the role of the killer, that his original goal is to wait for the moment when he became a king. Of course, Dezile did not refuse to work, but he had the idea of ​​creating a game about a real killer- an assassin acting quietly. The working name of the game was Prince of Persia: Assassins. The main hero of the Assassin, the place of action- Jerusalem of the time of the Crusades, the goal of the main character is to save the heir to the throne. Dezile believed that the setting should be as believable as possible, so he decided to remove all the romance of the East and Princesses. At one point, the game designer realized that in the framework of Prince of Persia the game would be crowded, and decided to put the concept into a separate game. At this very moment, the game could die at the command of Ubisoft, but no, they gave the good to develop a new IP. Instead of Prince of Persia: Assassins came out Warrior Within and The Two Thrones.

There was a new generation of consoles on the nose: PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, because we needed games that would provide their sales. Therefore, Ubisoft instructed to close the POP: Assassins and develop desils for a new generation. The only problem was the absence of a producer who would coordinate the development of a new game. And then Jade Reimond comes under the arm. Ubisoft offered her a place and she agreed.

Ubisoft Montreal was to create a game with the open world, complete freedom of action. They wanted to transform the genre action. In fact, they wanted to offer a sandbox familiar to the GTA, but with a parkor, a “social stealth” and an innovative combat system. All gameplay elements separately were clumsy, but together they became an organic system.

Assassin’s Creed announcing trailer

The announcement of Assassin’s Creed happened at the E3 exhibition in 2006. According to the gameplayed personnel, some considered that the main character is a time traveler, but this rumor was dispelled by Jade Reimond, who said that Altair was a medieval killer. Kristen Bell, who voiced Lucy Stilman, also told about the plot: “This is really very interesting. The plot reflects that your genes can store memory. A game of a scientific corporation trying, in the style of a matrix, enter the brain of people and find an assassin’s ancestor who lived for a very long time."

The first gameplay show at E3 2006

The game simultaneously unfolds in the conditional present and in the past, during the third crusade (1191). Nowadays, the hero is Desmond Miles, an ordinary bartender, who was kidnapped by a scientist representing the interests of the Abstergo Industiza Corporation, who was extremely interested in the genes of Desmond. The fact is that he is the last of the ancient family of killers who served in the Assassins sect. In particular, one of his ancestors was Assassin Altair ibn Lahad, who is the hero of action in the past. Warren Vidik (this is the name of this scientist) decodes the genetic memory of Desmond using the Animus apparatus. According to him, the memory of Desmond contains memories of the deeds of his ancestors. The young bartender has to experience the adventures of his distant relative over and over again.

And his prototype Francesco Rendez

Altair (translated as "eagle")- a magnificent killer, almost the best in the entire brotherhood of the Assassins. Therefore, he was entrusted with two partners to find a tomb in the area of ​​Jerusalem and get a certain important artifact from it. In this tomb, Altair meets face to face with crusaders, who also look for value. He decides that this is a great chance to destroy Robert IV de Sable, the grandmaster of the Templars. Having shown arrogance, the assassin failed the attempt on the life of de Sable and set up his partners under the blow of his partners. He returned with nothing to Masiaf, where he told the elder al-Mualim (Nast. The name Rashid ad-Din Sinan, “al-myalim” means “teacher”) about its collapse. Unfortunately, Altair, one of his partners survived, losing his hand and brother, and returned to the fraternity. Moreover, he brought with him the desired relic- a "part of Eden". At this time, Robert de Sable led his army to Masiaf in order to return the treasure. And although Altair helped the Assassins fight off, he was accused of all the victims of this attack and admission to the three main principles of the fraternity: “Do not turn the blade against the innocent”, “Hide in sight”, “Do not substitute the Brotherhood”. Al-Mualim kills Altair.
It suddenly turns out that the assassin is not dead. The teacher showed him only an illusion. However, it was completely reduced in the rank, and the level of trust in it fell. In order to restore his reputation in the eyes of the Brotherhood and find the “world in himself”, Altair must kill nine important faces in three cities: Damascus, Acre and Jerusalem. From this moment, the main adventure begins.

The punishment of Altair al-Mualim

The main character begins to kill one goal after another. After the murder, each Templar talks about his role in the Order, as well as his motivation and goals. Over time, Altair understands that all his victims are interconnected. Someone sells weapons, someone disposes of provisions and labor, someone writes laws. The most recent goal of the assassin is Robert de Sable, with whom he fights before the eyes of King Richard himself. Having killed a grandmaster, the hero goes to Masiaf, where he sees the consequences of his work. It turns out that al-Mualim betrayed the Brotherhood- used the "part of Eden". It has a special property- controling the human mind. The teacher decided to enslave the population of Masiaf, and Altair only killed those who wanted to take possession of the artifact, competitors of al-Mualim. In a heavy battle, the assassin kills the traitor and wants to destroy the artifact, but then decides to leave him to himself, hoping to find his application for the benefit.

In the present time, Warren Vidik managed to detect an artifact with the help of desmond, after which he received an order: to eliminate the bartender. Lucy decides to discuss this with a doctor and retires, leaving a desmond of one. As for the main character, he began to notice different symbols on the floor, on the walls in his room. He understands that he has gained "eagle vision". This ends the first part. With a hint of continuation ..

The same symbols in the room

Game process

As mentioned earlier, Assassin’s Creed is a game with an open world, expanded freedom of movement, unlike the same GTA, as well as a new word in the stake genre, mixing with the crowd. At the beginning of the game, there is a little training explaining the basics of management and interaction with people. Unfortunately, the management is not very comfortable, there are errors in moving (when trying to climb somewhere, the assassin may jump out of the wrong place or even fall). The combat system is also unlike other games from a third person. A couple of types of attacks, captures, evasions and counterattacks. But over time, the fighting is also boring and comes down to waiting for the enemy attack and subsequent counterattack, fatal for the enemy. Having studied the basics of mechanics, you can go to the open world.

Assassin must prepare before each murder. For this, every city has its own "investigations". There are several types of them: deliver information from point A to point B;to kill several guards;imperceptibly steal the letter;overheard a conversation;accompany the informant;beat the herald, as well as collect several flags. To obtain a pen, which needs to be stained with blood targets, you need to conduct at least three investigations. Unfortunately, this is one of the minuses of the game. Over time, these tasks are boring, and their execution is rolling into routine. What can not be said about the main murders. Each of them differs from each other with its details. Most often there are several ways of penetration and waste, you can commit murder both quietly and noisy. This does not affect the plot, but the variety of ways of penetration, waste and actions pleases.

Assassin has only 4 types of weapons: an ordinary sword, a dagger with throwing knives, fists, as well as a corporate weapon of the assassin, a hidden blade. The entire arsenal can be used in different ways, and with the same hidden blade you can act in battle. After the murder of each goal, Al-Mualim rewards the hero with new weapons or equipment.
One of the main innovations that has become a kind of symbol of almost all the games of the Ubisoft synchronization tower. Climbing each, Altair examines the terrain, opening new sections of the map and tasks. Yes, this also rolls into routine over time, but some species are impressive with the eyes of the eagle.

As for the “living crowd”, for 2007 it can be called a breakthrough. People react to every action of the assassin. If he climbs somewhere, then phrases are in his direction, like “he is drunk?»On the streets you can meet traders who are suitable for people;beggars, pretending only to Altair, because it seems to them that only he has money;mentally ill, which pushes only people in a white hood. The last two types are really irritating, and the hand involuntarily climbs to the attack button to pile. With free movement, this is not forbidden, but with an active task it is better to refrain. Fortunately, after passing the game, they can be killed without loss of health.

Speaking of health. Here his role is played by "Synchronization points". Their limited amount, and they are replenished if the user does not "violate the dogma of the credo". Their number can be increased by performing different “tasks in the crowd”, synchronization of the towers, as well as killing the main goals.

Also introduced into the game and collecting. For all the locations of the game (Akra, Damascus, Jerusalem and the intermediate location of the kingdom), flags of different fractions (Templars, Saracens, Hospitalles) are scattered. Plus there are several dozen special opponents-crusaders. They are stronger than ordinary enemies, but they are killed still simply.

For faster movements between locations in Assassin’s Creed there are horses. In the first third of the game they are very useful, because the distance between the cities is quite large. After the opening of all cities, fast movement becomes available.

Horse Battle

In the present tense, the entire gameplay boils down to simple walking around the rooms, as well as eavesdropping dialogs in certain situations and reading mail on the computers of the Vidik and Lucy. Of the dialogs, you can find out, for example, that the special device of the "Eye of Absthers" will be launched on December 21, 2012, just on the day of the "end of the world", which different predictors prophesied us so much.

On the similarities of the plot of the game and the real story

The game has both similarities and differences with real history. So, in Assassin’s Creed many truly existing personalities, such as the same king Richard Lion’s heart, Salah ad-Din (mentioned constantly, but was not shown), Wilhelm Montferratic and Garnier de Napluz. Even the fortress of Masiaf was really the refuge of Khashshashinov from 1140 to 1260. However, it is worth remembering that the game, although it is based on real historical events, the plot of the game is distant and has almost nothing to do with the events of the third crusade. Many characters, including the main character himself, are fictitious, the age of some Templars differs from what was actually in those years (for example, in the game Wilhelm Montferrata looks, if not young, then somewhere in the area of ​​40 years; in fact, in 1191 he was at a respectable age, and he died not in Acre, but in the city of Tire).

Funny moments

In March 2008, on the eve of the Assassin’s Creed release on PC, Russian and English versions of the game leaked to the Internet. Funny fact: the English version suffered from mistakes, bugs and glitches, while Russian worked relatively normally. This leak (as much as a month before the official release) hit the sales of the game. 700 thousand copies versus 40 thousand in the West. Naturally, there was no investigation, and soon found a potential culprit of the occasion. It turned out to be an employee of a company who at home found a license copy. In Russia, guilty of the game leaks were also found and were arrested.

In February 2013, on the Danish channel TV2 there was a report on the situation in Syria. And everything would be fine, but only one of the frames was … an Assassin’s Creed screenshot. The company’s employees commented on the “terrible” mistake.

Assassin’s Creed was clearly created with a back to continue. Open final confirmation. The game itself was accepted quite warmly by the players and the press. Therefore, it was not surprising when Ubisoft announced in 2009 Assassin’s Creed 2. But about this next time ..

P.S. The blog is updated. Now with pictures. 🙂 I could not add them due to low karma, heh.