Time Travel discussion

I have finally got round to playing the first Assassin's Creed game which I had bought on PC about 2-3 years ago! All I knew about the game is it looks to be set in the medieval times, in the middle East. What I did not realise until I started playing it is that is has an awesome SF high concept and I had absolutely no idea that it involved time travel!

Well I say time travel but it might be debatable if it is strictly so and maybe classed as "not quite but close". For me it, though it deserves the TT classification.

Here is the concept of the game:

Its often stated that we only use 10% of our brain capacity. Some SF stories like to use the rest of that 90% for hidden super psychic powers etc. Well in this game, that 90% contain memories, not of our lifetime but of our previous lives in history, our re-incarnations as it were. OK its like hypnotism I suppose but here its a very high tech version. Story is that a large drugs corporation (present day setting) kidnaps an apparent assassin (though he denies he is) and forces him to relive parts of his previous life of a sect group assassin in the Middle East during 12 century.

I say it is time travel, at least as an observer but from his previous life's perspective. No different to last BOM we had, House on the Strand.

Is a stunning game, I'm halfway through it. The story is intriguing with underlying mysteries to unravel both in the past and present. The second two sequels are touted to be even better so I am really excited to play these games.

Has anyone else played these? Do you think it deserves a time travel classification?

I have been intrigued by this series, but I have never played it. Know that I know it involves time travel (even "close to"), I am going to have to check it out.

Oh please do, John. Just a couple more things to bear in mind.

If buying the PC version, get the Director's Cut as that has additional gameplay and improvements.

Also, most people seem to recommend using a controller pad because the game is a console port and perhaps this might be the better advice if you are more of a console games player. However, I personally found it a lot better to use keyboard/mouse combo but I would only recommend if you are used to playing PC games with the usual WASD key movements which I think you are anyway.

Only $8.89 at Amazon.com. Half the price of some other sites and console versions.

http://www.amazon.com/Assassins-Creed...

My computer is probably not equipped to handle the graphics, especially on the newest game. I will likely go for the Xbox version as this is my favorite platform for this type of game.

Probably best, and the game was after all originally an X-box game anyway. I just dont understand why they cost double the PC price :( But that's pretty much across the board with all games.

I love this game, it is amazing. The Xbox version is like watching a movie, except the player gets to decide what happens.
Wish they made a Jeep Wrangler Assassin's Creed Special Edition instead of the Call of Duty version.
Okay, well, the Call of Duty is pretty cool, but you know what I mean... haha
Like I need anything else to distract me from writing!

Have you played all 3 E.B? I am still playing the first one which is becoming somewhat repetetive as I progress but the plot is still an intriguing mystery both past and present. I hear the games get better with each one which excites me because the first game is pretty awesome itself despite the repetetive nature in the gameplay.

I enjoyed the first game and loved the second game. The second one was set in Italy and really beautiful. There were also a couple games between parts two and three continuing the Italian storyline but I think I had my fill by then. I've barely started the AC3.

The concept for reliving the past is not so much a past lives thing. They're ancestral memories. A PSP installment of the series ended with the pov transitioning from the assassin to his newly conceived child. I love how the idea of the sci-fi machine letting you relive these memories lends itself to the matrix style presentation, level loading and resetting.

I thought the first game got repetitive but at the time and for a long time after, I thought it was the best looking thing on x360. I also started to see my character as a Green Arrow-esque superhero with my throwing knives taking out street level Templars bullying citizens from my perch on rooftops. Once spotted, it was fun picking them off as they tried to climb to my spot. Continuing on that hero theme, you get smoke bombs in part 2 for some rather dramatic exits from dangerous situations.

Assassin's Creed is one of my favorite game series. I agree, the first one gets too repetitive, but the sequel is way better, and I would probably say Assassins' Creed: Brotherhood (sequel to the sequel?) is probably the best of the series. To run around in a fully-realized virtual Rome is a lot of fun. A Renaissance scholar even consulted during the development of the game for more accuracy, so you get a good sense of the history and geography of the city. I also heard somewhere that it would take you several hours to walk from one end of it to the other.

I just finished Assassin's Creed 3, set in Colonial America during the Revolutionary War, and I'm a little disappointed with it. There were some amazing things in it, but overall the game never felt as cohesive like the previous installments. I don't want to spoil anything, but it's definitely worth playing, regardless.

Overall, it's an amazing series. And being an assassin is cool too, if that's your thing.

Yes, I appreciate the attention to detail and historical accuracy along with the fiction. I also like that in AC2 I could turn on subtitles and get translations for the Italian. It might not of been very useful Italian like "rest in peace" but it made me think that a game could teach you a foreign language if it tried. I'm imagining a fish out of water story of an American in a foreign culture trying to make his way in that world.

SOunds like a great way to learn Italian, probably more effective than online tutorials!

Tej wrote: "Have you played all 3 E.B? I am still playing the first one which is becoming somewhat repetetive as I progress but the plot is still an intriguing mystery both past and present. I hear the games..."

Yes! III is my favorite, I am partial to the time period it is set in. The MC is half Mohwak/half English, which I love (he's like the MC in my book, haha). I think they put tremendous research and thought into this series of games, they are so true to life, and the historical details are spot-on.
If you love the one you're playing now, you are in for a pleasant surprise as you get to the next two!

Ooooh I really want to play those next 2 games, getting impatient. Question, is it ok to just do the minimum investigations in each area of the first game? Any other benefits to do all apart from gaining completion trophies? The investigations dont really offer much in variety so they become quite samey.

Okay, I finally decided to buy the original Assassin's Creed game for Xbox 360. I'm loving the game, but find the idea of being able to physically manipulate the past just by accessing someone's past memories a bit of a stretch. I think my favorite part of the game is the "leap of faith."

Ha! I thought the leaps of faith were more unbelievable. You're not doing anything to change the past. You have to do what your ancestor did. I thought it was a clever way to keep you on the scripted game path where going too far off (or dying) gets you out of sync. The side missions could be viewed as memories you don't have to relive but still happened.

...as for my problem with the leaps from hundreds of feet into a pile of hay, maybe they are the distorted memories of an overly confident (and lucky) assassin who had an inflated ego.

Climbing to the high point to make the leap of faith is always my favorite part, although I never saw how a barrel of hay really cushioned your fall much (especially if you don't hit the right button, you just sort of casually jump off the ledge to your death. I've done that plenty of times).

Using your DNA to access your ancestor's memories is a bit of a stretch, but like Scott said, it works well within the mechanics of the game and story and keeps you on the right "path," so to speak. With sandbox-style games like this, I prefer to be nudged a little on where to go in the game, as opposed to wandering around aimlessly for hours.

My major gripe after playing through the whole series is how much time I've spent watching a guy in the best shape of his life run and climb and swim and fight, while I just sit around and expand on my couch.

While I know nothing about evidence or theories on ancestral or genetic memory, I'm fascinated by memory in general and any idea that we might be able to relive them in more detail later, whether through modern Memory Regression or future technology akin to the Animus in this game. I find it interesting how some memories are more intense and detailed than others and how so often, memories of our dreams are so fleeting. It seems like it would be a great way to be with long lost loved ones again, if only for a moment. ..hmm that sounds like an idea for a story where a character becomes obsessed with living in a moment from the past.

Scott wrote: "While I know nothing about evidence or theories on ancestral or genetic memory, I'm fascinated by memory in general and any idea that we might be able to relive them in more detail later, whether t..."

Wow, that does sound like a great idea for a story.

Assassins Creed series is incredible and I'm with EB...the latest one was the best....or shall I really say most finely tuned. The whole concept behind how the character relives points in time through his ancestors is an incredible take on a Time Travel concept.....the idea of our Ancestors experiences being encoded in our DNA.....if Science could find a way for us to relive stuff like that would be amazing. Some people now I have claims to having past life experiences....so it would be great if a science developed behind the whole idea

The concept used in Assassin's Creed reminds me a lot of the memory retrieval system used in the book The Kronos Interference, which we read as a group a few months ago. As I recall, the protagonist was developing a way to retrieve old memories and record them for later play back. The example he presented at a conference was a memory from a Jewish concentration camp. What I don't remember is whether they were able to retrieve the memories only from living people. Of course, I could be remembering the whole thing wrong. Maybe someone else who read the book could clarify or corroborate this for me.

John wrote: "The concept used in Assassin's Creed reminds me a lot of the memory retrieval system used in the book The Kronos Interference, which we read as a group a few months ago. As I recall, the protagoni..."

I think the memory was from already dead people. You referring to the beginning of the book where he was giving a lecture, right?

Fringe TV series delved into the exact concept in the first season. To be honest, its a very unlikely concept but I love the idea!

Finally finished the first game which took me a while because I was completing other latest games in between.

The concept remained fascinating and the sandbox world was exquisite...until I got bored of it. It was so repetitive right to the end.

Love the story but it was executed quite drily, though I enjoyed the main protagonist who was held captive and being regressed.

But there was no resolution at the end, obviously left open for the sequel but literally a cliffhanger ending which annoyed me.


The controls were rather awful too.

I give it a 7/10 for its pioneering gameplay and concept.

I will move onto the second game only because it promises to be a far better experience according to critics.

Well I started playing the second game now and wow, what an improvement in both gameplay and in narrative. The new protagonist, Ezio is a really fun character. The narrative flows much better with a lot more humour. Desmond is also fun and sounding more like the Nathan Drake from the Uncharted series (Edit: Just looked it up...IT IS the same actor as Nathan Drake!)

The game literally picks up where the first game left off (I am still angry about that first game ending, it wasnt even a cliffhamger, it was a nowhere ending like as if it was just a break for a commercial).

The regression plot is still fascinating but I am a little puzzled. Is Desmond regressing to a past life, or an ancestor?

Blown away by Black Flag!

I am also a huge fan of the Assassins Creed series. With AC2 and brotherhood as two of my favorites and also a little disappointed with AC3 (I wanted so bad to love this game as I thought the new time period would be great, but the game just didn't seem as fluid as the others). Now with the new installment "Black Flag" This is by far my favorite.

The characters are amazing. More dynamic and multifaceted then they have been in the past. The whole game feels like a rolling epic adventure with so much to do. Sometimes I just like sailing around the sea as my crew sings shanties. Even the new twist with Abstergo enterprises is creative and innovative.

The story line takes on a life of its own as I could just sit and watch all the cinematic clips together as a film without even playing and be satisfied.

Hope you all try this one out!

Rrrrr...

E.B. wrote: "Wish they made a Jeep Wrangler Assassin's Creed Special Edition instead ..."

Want this!

I'm still playing number two :( I got distracted with the new Batman game that came out...and other stuff...:(

But loving the second one, big improvement on the first game, will get back on it when I'm done with the Bat, especially after reading Matt's mouthwatering post of Blag Flag!

Question. I see many spin off Assassins Creed games...what order order should they be played in because there is no numbering?

The main installments in the series were released in the order below and intended to be played in this order. (To be fair I have never played Revelations)I am not sure beyond that.

Assassins Creed
Assassins Creed II
Assassins Creed Brotherhood
Assassins Creed Revelation
Assassins Creed III
Assassins Creed Black Flag

Matt wrote: "E.B. wrote: "Wish they made a Jeep Wrangler Assassin's Creed Special Edition instead ..."

Want this!"

Somebody needs to get on it! :)

Matt wrote: "The main installments in the series were released in the order below and intended to be played in this order. (To be fair I have never played Revelations)I am not sure beyond that.

Assassins Creed..."

Thanks Matt! So after I finish this game (II), I need to play Brotherhood and Revelation then Assassins III...oh man I am so far away from Black Flag. Assasin's Creed X will be out by the time I get there!

Tej wrote: "I'm still playing number two :( I got distracted with the new Batman game that came out...

I have to ask how you are liking this game, its on my radar. I heard the game was suppose to be transitioning to a more "open world" game. Which are my favorite types of games.