Keeping It Real – You’ve Made a Murderer of Me

Keeping It Real is a weekly column that tackles various issues and thoughts regarding video games.  Sometimes silly and other times thoughtful, Dana keeps it lighthearted but opinionated every Tuesday.  One week it could be video games as art, and the next week it might be about furnishing your house in Lord of the Rings Online (okay, maybe not that).

I like to think that in real life, I have a very strong moral compass and I even feel guilty for things I don’t even have any control over.  Killing people to achieve a goal, however noble, would be impossible for me.  But in Assassin’s Creed II I became Ezio, an assassin living in the Italian Renaissance.  Prior to Assassin’s Creed II, I had never played any of the games in the franchise.  They never held any real interest for me, so they went ignored until I got my hands on the Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood multiplayer during the Sony Holiday Event back in October.

A lot of things were spun into motion during that event and my love for Assassin’s Creed was only one of them.  I was given a quick and brief breakdown of the game’s objective, which basically boiled down to kill or be killed.  After playing for about twenty minutes with Don and some others from various media outlets, I was hooked.  I’ve played quite a bit of Prince of Persia in the past and while it’s all very similar feeling, I feel as though Assassin’s Creed is the superior game and sometimes I’ll find myself running around Venice just to admire the beauty of the city.

Assassin’s Creed II has frustrated me on so many different levels, but it’s still fun.  There have been times when I would miss my target by a hair and fall to my death or make a mistake that I very well knew was stupid but made it anyway.  I lost count of how many times I forgot that I’m not actually Spider-Man and can’t swing on windows like Peter Parker and wind up going splat on the cold, stone floor. Every now and then I’ll sit there and curse the controls for giving me a hard time, especially when there’s a timer above my head counting down the seconds until I would have to start all over again.  I hate timers so much and I wish they didn’t exist in games.

Small irritants aside, I appreciate how the game remains regionally accurate.  I’ll accidentally bump into a towns person carrying a crate and they’ll loudly exclaim, “what are you, a Southerner!?” Which makes me both laugh and feel a bit insulted. I am Italian-American and still have some family living in Italy.  They were all primarily living somewhere in Southern Italy, where they owned a farm.  That’s basically what people did down there – farm work.  Northern Italy is where it was a lot more industrial, so consequently there’s a divide between the North and the South.  I appreciate small things that sustain realism making it into the game.

I also happened to notice that Ezio’s character design is starkly different from the typical male lead (i.e., hot) and on a recent trip to the Silver Snail Comic book store on Queen Street West in Toronto, I became enamoured with all of the Ezio figures that adorned the walls.  I would have taken them all home with me if I could, though I realize it would be considered creepy to have them decorating my living room.  His entire outfit is my favourite from any game I’ve ever played and most people who know me realize that I have an unabashed huge crush on the guy.  It’s just a little regrettable that he’s kind of a man-whore, and I can’t stand Caterina. I would much rather see him with Rosa.

One evening I was challenged by Rosa to climb the cathedral as quickly as possible and I sighed languidly when yet another timer appeared.  I picked an unusual place to climb and began my slow ascent.  A group of courtesans were directly below me, and instead of moving over to another window I decided to continue climbing anyway.  Naturally, I messed up and fell. I landed loudly on top of one of the girls beneath me.  They shrieked and laughed while their friend rolled around on the floor moaning, while Ezio scrambled to get off of her and then tried to climb the window again.  I fell again, right on top of the same woman.  I repeated this about six times and couldn’t help but curse and laugh at the stupid AI as I continued to fall on top of the same hooker over and over again.  Move, you stupid girl! Get out of the way!

Something else I wasn’t expecting was the length of the game.  I feel like I’ve been at this forever now and I think I’ve spent well over 30 hours on the game.  Games these days just aren’t very long and frankly, they just don’t give you as much bang for your buck as they used to, unless you’re playing an RPG (I have about 134 hours clocked into Dragon Age: Origins). As much as I am enjoying Assassin’s Creed II, part of me just wants it to end so I can move onto Brotherhood.  I should probably stop myself and enjoy the experience, but the story is getting very convoluted and I find myself not even listening to the NPCs anymore as they give me a new mission.  It usually just involves me wandering off to stab someone or steal something, both of which I have become very skilled at.  In fact, sometimes I just downright disturb myself. I clap my hands together in glee and tell my friends that I just had my “best kill ever!”  I’ve become adept at slitting archers’ throats before they’re even aware of my presence and delight in looting their bodies before they fall off the roof and to the ground.  What’s wrong with me?!

Assassin’s Creed might just be one of my favourite franchises and I would have completely skipped it if not for the small taste of Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood’s multiplayer, so if you’re in the mood for something distinctly different I would recommend picking that up.  If I had a hat, I would tip it in Ubisoft’s direction for creating such a memorable experience, and while it isn’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination, it definitely served its purpose: It made me laugh and provided me with a lot of amusement while I butchered people to bits.

I’ve talked a lot about my exploits with maiming people in a virtual setting, so the question is… do video games make people violent?  I’m still going with no, as I have no intention of hurting anyone that comes between me and a treasure chest.  Though it isn’t an RPG, Assassin’s Creed still allows me to pretend that I’m someone else for a little while. It’s this form of escapism that have always made video games so appealing to me and I am willing to bet other gamers probably feel the same way to some extent.  In game I am a skilled murderer, but in real life I’m just your average woman who likes to play make believe every once in a while.