The Expedition!

What do I do when I am not in not working? Well, then am at my apartment hanging out with my roomies or my friends but that happens seldom. What happens more often is that I am left stranded with my laptop. It is such a place where there is something in for everybody. If u are a geek , u get documentaries if u are movie junkie you get lotoso movies but for a whimsical guy that I am you also get TV serials. The good thing about it you don’t have to invest 3 hours and there is no such thing of disappointment  of investing 30 minutes a day. So this is what I do , perhaps I used to do!!!!!

The first encounter was friends , I still watch its season on random basis. When in college mass bunk was a tradition. Life was so much simple when there was no laptop. In those times,I had actual friends now I have the database. So when there was mass bunk , friends used to hangout & I used to hangout with FRIENDS!!!! All this while I was in search of perfect set of Ross, Phoebe and Chandler. There is only one first time and this was hell awesome. So that is how the interest was generated. If you don’t have anything to do and u don’t want to watch a movie, opt out for the serial. This paradigm helped me out till June of this year and then there was replacement. 

Serial watching spree was subdued by an Expedition! I had just finished watching Lost. Good serial. I will write of it in some other place. But necessity is the mother of inventions. And I invented such a thing that would amalgamate two longtime interests of mine History & Video Gaming. This was the deadly combination and the influence of one such cocktail hounds me as I write this blog. Video Games they always have my interest. Before June of this  year Age Of Empires 3 was the best I had but a new brick is  now added to my wall. Perhaps I have new wall entirely !!!!

The phenomenon is Assassin Creed!!!!

Tenants of the Creed.

Frankly put I am not fond of open world gaming. Neither using a sword instead of Magnum Sniper 615 is not my type. I hated Prince of Persia due the same thing. You play in the block with your sword. Why would anybody play that, was what I thought. But something was different in Assassin Creed. Its has got two story lines. One story line is in 2012 and that progresses as the story progresses and another storyline is in historic times. As mentioned in earlier blog I have an appetite for history. This game has the mix of it in the such great proportions that I got carried away in I-don't-have-anything-to-do kinda way. Whatever be the game in the series the plot remains the same. You are led upfront to the Assassin vs Templar war. The war is waged to posses a artifact. The artifact is called Apple of Eden. Once you have it you become the source of unlimited power. Speaking of time line. There is second timeline to this game. You experience it by going into machine called Animus!!!! The people at Abstergo Industries claim that human DNA not only has the memories of oneself but also of his ancestors. They also are modern day templars. So what they do is capture a guy called Desmond Miles , who has DNA of an assassin. They make him go in the Animus to experience the genetic memories of his ancestors. That’s all!!!!

Altair-Ibn-Lahad

Journey was begun. At first you are Altair-ibn-Lahad, the assassin during third crusade. You don’t feel so badly about the guy. But what really drives your gaming experience is the story. Story of an arrogant Assassin who had to lose it all to gain everything all over again. You have 9 memories to complete. The experience of newness , and open world gaming in 11th century made me tour deep into game. The game as such was simple. After having the basic skill of fighting , Running from rooftops to rooftops , Combating and throwing knives you have everything you need to excel in game. But for me that was not it. The question that drives my psyche is "Why we do what we do" apart  from  " how to do it?" and so I took the topic of assassination quiet seriously. A couple of my friends who have earlier played the game helped me set my perspective on this subject and then I transgressed at pace. Swords started to feel ecstatic , ridding a horse felt more dear than driving a car. Hidden Blade is now my most favorite weapon which even overshadows other weapons of mass destruction. As a player you travel to the cities Jerusalem, Acre, Damascus, Maysaf. I finished the game only to find me 

desperate to wait for next installment in the series.

Enter Ezio Auditore Da Firenze!!!!!

Ezio Auditore Da Firenze

After having experienced the best of Assassin Creed I bought the next game Assassin Creed II. The genetic memories take you into Renaissance. If story was the ace feature in the earlier version , Presentation was the crux in this. When the people like Leonardo da Vinci are ur friends who design the spectacular gadgets that is when you know you have got yourself a treat .This protagonist is actually the object of why am writing this blog. I am utterly obliged by the virtual reality by living the life and times of the guy-turned man-turned master Assassin. Now we are talking. The guys life falls in pieces when he loses his family to treachery. When the elder brother , father and younger  brother are hanged in public. I would be lying if I say that didn't hurt. All I could think for the next couple of days is now what? The expedition of 

revenge lands you in Tuscany, Forli and Vatican.

Ezio's family lost to treachery

You are so furious after this cut scene that you wanna bring all your Assassin skills back. This is what you acquire step by step but presentation in such a game is Period specific. Clothing, Architecture and most important part Economics. . The protagonist in earlier game was driven by duty, but the one in this game is driven by revenge. But as the story progresses and he starts getting the answers about the origin that is when you start enjoying. Because there comes a stage where u neither are the assassin nor a nobleman. Transition phase is the toughest in ACII. But when you are on the other side of the river that is when you get the taste of assassination. I don’t know why the antagonist was spared but still each and every part of the game was thrilling. Adventurous and thrilling ride with leonardo da vinci just paid off.Assassin Creed II is a prolonged series which has two further installments.   Brotherhood and Revelation.

Ezio in Colosseum Memory 8 Seqence 2 

Lucreiza Borgia

ROME, is the first of 16 places , I want to visit before I die. GOD answered my prayers in form of AC brotherhood.  In this installment you don’t have to travel from cities to cities the entire game is set in ROMA.Rome is beautifully designed and there were only some parts that were annoying for having to go all the way round the cliffy areas. Once you accept that things will often "pop" onto the horizon as you approach, it does look good and play well. The cut scenes are great apart from some weaknesses in the facial animation, which put it a step behind some other games where it looks better and has better lip synch. The characters remain engaging as well, although I missed some of the humour from AC2 – Leonardo in particular was such fun in 2 but here he seems too drab and a little dull compared to who he was originally. Ezio remains a great character to play while the modern characters are also stronger and more fun. Most of the landmarks are tailor made to its actual detailing architecture. Also the makers of the game have not messed with the history too much. The characters in the game Ceasre Borgia , his on-my-my sister Lucrezia are real and complicated relationship that they share is real fun. The game also has got the flashbacks of the love stories of Ezio and Cristina Sforza. Man this game is totally like a hindi movie in 80's. This has got everything(gana hai , bajana hai , emotion hai) the modern gamer is looking for and I fell like being lucky to have been blessed with such a beautiful game.

Ceasre Borgia

As before the game plays really smoothly and with a decent amount of variety. Naturally everything involves going somewhere, doing something and then going somewhere else, but the missions are well constructed and the challenged to do them "100% Synch" by achieving additional challenges makes them more interesting and essentially increases the difficulty for those that wish to try it. Around the main narrative though there is loads to be done. I really liked the addition of the Borgia towers to be cleared, the war machines and the many smaller missions for thieves, mercenaries etc that are scattered around. The collectables are still in place but this time the ability to unlock and buy maps makes this so much less of a chore. Developing the Assassins is a nice idea – not nearly as deep as it could have been but quite good and handy for calling them and earning money. Redeveloping Rome is quite easy to do – a bit pointless considering it surprisingly leads to no achievement but not having to go to one place to do it or get money (the Villa in AC2 was a "once an hour" chore). The little challenges from the various guilds are a nice idea as well and a good example of just how many little things there are to do if you want to do them; none of them will extend the game forever but I enjoyed doing all these things in between story missions – sometimes I would play for a couple of evenings without advancing the story at all. Getting out of the animus is also a nice addition even if it isn't particularly meaningful till the end.

What kept me engaging is that you feel like a batman doing the missions. Be it any version this has kept me engaging like a book and now AC Revelation is being in the backyard as I write this blog. Totally , looking forward to playing that one. The series was such a success that they have now launched AC 3 with totally new hero. I am afraid as the people wont feel so dearly about Connor as they feel about Ezio !! The Expedition was quiet glorifying till now which is about to get even better.

Long Live The Creed!!!!!