Assassin's Creed Series

The Assassin's Creed Series Synopsis

Assassin's Creed is a historical fiction action-adventure open world stealth video game series, and as of 2012,  consists of four main games and a number of supporting materials. 

All of the Assassin's Creed games take place in 2012, featuring the protagonist Desmond Miles, a bartender who is a descendent of a line of Assassins; though raised as an Assassin, he fled his nomadic family to seek out a more common lifestyle. 

He is initially kidnapped by the mega-corporation Abstergo Industries, the modern-day face of the Knights Templar who are aware of Desmond's lineage. Desmond is forced to use the "Animus", a device that allows him to experience his ancestral memories. 

While in this machine, Abstergo Industries ( led by Dr. Warren Vidic ) attempted to access the genetic memories of Subject 17's ( a.k.a Desmond Miles ) ancestors to locate several artefacts known as "Pieces of Eden", that hold great power, to control mankind and alter its fate, bringing humanity into a single unified group.

Desmond is later rescued by a small team of modern-day Assassins and taken to a secure location; agreeing to work with them, Desmond uses their version of the Animus to continue to experience the memories of his ancestors to discover the locations of additional Pieces of Eden so they can be recovered before Abstergo can do so. While experiencing these memories, some of their abilities are genetically leaked into Desmond, known as the Bleeding Effect, giving him some of the Assassin skills of his predecessors at the cost of living with multiple sets of memories and personalities in his mind.

Within the Animus, Desmond experiences the memories of Altaïr ibn-La'Ahad, an Assassin during the Crusades, and Ezio Auditore da Firenze, an Assassin in Italy during the late 15th and early 16th centuries of the Renaissance, both of whom came into contact with a Piece of Eden known as "The Apple". While following the storyline with Ezio, other Pieces of Eden become known, such as "The Staff" as well as a second apple. Throughout these events, Desmond learns of allusions to the prophetic end of the world in 2012 from a former Animus test subject, Subject 16, as well as from holographic figures of a species pre-dating humanity. These beings, people of "The First Civilization", call themselves Minerva, Juno and Jupiter.

The three figures explain that their species created humanity, who then rebelled against them. A massive solar flare nearly wiped both their species from the planet and destroyed their entire civilization, the three failing to prevent it after having potential solutions transferred to their central vault, now hidden in modern day New York, from vaults across the planet.

With their numbers falling, The First Civilization attempted but ultimately failed to interbreed with humanity, leaving bloodlines of First Civilization and human hybrids such as Altaïr's and Ezio's, Desmond himself a unification of the two. These hybrids have access to the 6th sense of knowledge, which presents itself in the games as "Eagle Vision". Through the visions Ezio sees with the pieces of Eden, Desmond is provided with the locations of the hidden vaults and must use the central vault to complete their work and prevent this catastrophe again.

Assassin's Creed 

Cast

• Kristen Bell as Lucy Stillman, an aide and research assistant at Abstergo Industries. 
• Phil Shahbaz as Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, the shining star of the Syrian sect of the Assassin Brotherhood. 
• Nolan North as Desmond Miles, a bartender and Altaïr's descendant. 
• North also voiced Abbas Sofian, a member of the Syrian Assassin Brotherhood. 
• Phil Proctor as Warren Vidic, a disgraced scientist and former Ivy League professor of ill repute. 
• Peter Reneday as Al Mualim, the Mentor of the Syrian Assassin Brotherhood. 
• Haaz Sleiman as Malik Al-Sayf (credited as "Malik A-Sayf"), the one-armed bureau leader and dai in the rich district of Jerusalem. 
• Alain Benatar as Jabal, the bureau leader and rafiq in the poor district of Acre. 
• Carlos Ferro as the bureau leader and rafiq in the poor district of Damascus. 
• Jean-Philippe Dandenaud as Robert de Sable, a French Crusader and the eleventh Grand Master of the Knights Templar. 
• Ammar Daraiseh as Tamir, a Saracen black market merchant in Damascus. 
• Hubert Fielden as Garnier de Naplouse, the tenth Grand Master of the Knights Hospitalier in Acre. 
• Jake Eberly as Talal, a Saracen slave trader in Jerusalem. 
• Harry Standjofski as William of Montferrat (credited as "William de Montferrat"), an Italian Crusader and Richard the Lionheart's regent in Acre. 
• Fred Tatasciore as Jubair al Hakim, Damascus' Saracen chief scholar and leader of "The Illuminated". 
• Tatasciore also voiced Abu'l Nuqoud, Damascus' Saracen merchant king. 
• Richard Cansino as Majd Addin, Saladin's regent in Jerusalem. 
• Arthur Holden as Sibrand, a German Crusader and the first Grand Master of the Knights Teutonic in Acre. 
• Eleanor Noble as Maria Thorpe, Robert de Sable's steward. 
• Marcel Jeanin as Richard I, a.k.a. Richard the Lionheart, England's French "absent king".

The Story

Desmond Miles, a bartender, is kidnapped by the Abstergo Corporation. There, Desmond is forced to interface with the Animus, a device that is able to replay the genetic memories of the user's ancestors. In Desmond's case, they seek information about his ancestor Altaïr ibn La-Ahad, an Assassin during the time of the Third Crusade. Within the Animus, Altaïr's memories reveal that he was attempting to stop Robert de Sablé from taking an artifact from a temple, but broke all three of the Assassins' Brotherhood's tenets in the process. 

The Brotherhood leader, Al Mualim, demotes Altaïr to the rank of Novice, and assigns him the task of assassinating nine people to regain his former status.

As Altaïr completes the assassinations, he finds that each was a member of the Templars searching the area for "Pieces of Eden", artifacts similar to the one de Sable attempted to steal. Altaïr eventually faces de Sable in front of King Richard, and kills him; with his dying breath, de Sable reveals the existence of a tenth Templar: Al Mualim. Returning to the Brotherhood, Altaïr finds Al Mualim in possession of a Piece of Eden that is able to control people's minds. Altaïr is forced to fight his way through innocents to reach Al Mualim, and engages him in battle. Altaïr eventually sees through Al Mualim's tricks using the artifact, and kills him. Upon approaching the artifact, Altaïr is surprised to find it displays a projection of the Earth marking several spots around the globe.

At this point, Desmond is brought out of the Animus, his purpose served. He comes to learn that Abstergo is a front for the modern-day Templars. Abstergo is now set to use the locations on the map seen by Altaïr to find more Pieces of Eden, believing that they must collect the artifacts to control the world's population in order to stave off the projected end of the world in 2012. Desmond's life is spared by Lucy Stillman, one of the Abstergo scientists who is actually an Assassin mole. Left alone in his locked room, Desmond discovers (through "the Bleeding Effect" from his time spent in the Animus) that he can observe numerous messages in blood on the walls and floor left by a previous test subject (Subject 16) that foretell the end of the world.

~ zMacca

Assassin's Creed II

It is the second video game installment of the Assassin's Creed series, and is a sequel to the 2007 video game Assassin's Creed. The game was released for video game consoles in November 2009, and for Windows in March 2010. Its direct sequel, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, was released in November 2010.


Cast

• Roger Craig Smith as Ezio Auditore da Firenze 
• Kristen Bell as Lucy Stillman 
• Nolan North as Desmond Miles 
• Fred Tatasciore as Mario Auditore 
• Carlos Ferro as Leonardo da Vinci 
• Manuel Tadros as Rodrigo Borgia 
• Romano Orzari as Giovanni Auditore da Firenze 
• Ellen David as Maria Auditore da Firenze 
• Claudia Ferri as Paola 
• Angela Galuppo as Claudia Auditore da Firenze 
• Elias Toufexis as Federico Auditore da Firenze 
• Carlo Mestroni as Antonio de Magianis 
• Lita Tresierra as Rosa 
• Michel Perron as Uberto Alberti 
• Roc LaFortune as Carlo Grimaldi 
• Alex Ivanovici as Lorenzo de' Medici 
• Ivanovici also voiced Bartolomeo d'Alviano 
• Arthur Grosser as Jacopo de' Pazzi 
• Arthur Holden as Emilio Barbarigo 
• Danny Wallace as Shaun Hastings 
• Eliza Schneider as Rebecca Crane 
• Cam Clarke as Clay Kaczmarek, a.k.a. "Subject 16" 
• Harry Standjofski as Silvio Barbarigo Il Rosso 
• Tony Robinow as Marco Barbarigo 
• Vito DeFilippo as Gilberto, a.k.a. "La Volpe" 
• Yuri Lowenthal as Vieri de' Pazzi 
• Andreas Apergis as Francesco de' Pazzi 
• Apergis also voiced Checco Orsi 
• Margaret Easley as Minerva 
• Nadia Verrucci as Sister Teodora Contanto 
• Anne-Marie Baron as Annetta 
• Cristina Rosato as Caterina Sforza 
• Shawn Baichoo as Niccolò Machiavelli 
• Baichoo also voiced Antonio Maffei 
• Amber Goldfarb as Cristina Vespucci 
• Phil Proctor as Warren Vidic

The Gameplay

Assassin's Creed II takes place within several regions throughout late fifteenth-century Italy such as Venice, Florence, Forlì and the Tuscan countryside.  The Animus 2.0, a new version of the machine of the same name present in Assassin's Creed, provides in-game context for changes and additions to several game elements.  The player may now swim in water, and Eagle Vision — the ability to identify specific people and landmarks — can now be used in third-person view and while moving.  A young Leonardo da Vinci is present in the game, aiding the player by creating new weapons from translated "Codex pages" that Altaïr, the original game's main character, left behind for future Assassins' analysis and insight. Additionally, the player can hire different groups of non-player characters, such as mercenaries, courtesans, or thieves; these groups can be used to fight, distract, or lure guards, respectively. A day and night cycle has been added to the game, giving the game more of a sense of time, in addition to setting missions and events at certain times of the day. The combat system is more complex than that of its predecessor, with the ability to disarm opponents using counter-attacks while unarmed. Da Vinci provides the player with specialized weaponry, such as the dual hidden blades, poison blade and the miniature wheellock firearm, which are all based on schematics found in Altaïr's Codex pages.

Like Assassin's Creed, characters based on historical figures are present in the game, including Leonardo da Vinci, Niccolò Machiavelli, Caterina Sforza, Lorenzo de' Medici, the Pazzifamily, and Pope Alexander VI.

The Plot

Assassin's Creed II begins immediately after the events of the first game in 2012; Desmond Miles is still trapped by Abstergo Industries after being forced to use the Animus device to revisit genetic memories of the Assassin Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, and has discovered prophetic warnings from Subject 16 (a previous captive) describing the end of the world. He is soon rescued by Lucy Stillman, a mole for the Assassins within Abstergo, who takes him to meet two other Assassins, historian Shaun Hastings and computer expert Rebecca Crane.

They request that Desmond use their version of the Animus, the Animus 2.0, to relive memories of another Assassin, Ezio Auditore da Firenze, to train Desmond in the ways of the Assassins through the "Bleeding Effect" ( referenced in the synopsis ) of the Animus. It is also revealed that apart from training Desmond as an Assassin, the Assassins also wish to find out more information about the foretold "Vault". Desmond also finds various glyphs left by Subject 16 in the Animus, which, when decoded and assembled, form a brief video of a man and woman, "Adam" and "Eve", running through a futuristic setting called "Eden".

Ezio's memories begin during the Renaissance in the 15th century, where his family is ensnared in a political plot, and his father and brothers are hanged. Ezio, following his father's last advice, finds his father's Assassin tools, and flees the city with his mother and sister to the safety of his uncle Mario's villa in the countryside. Mario assists Ezio in discovering the people behind the conspiracy.

As he identifies and assassinates more and more political figures, Ezio also gains several allies, including Niccolò Machiavelli and Leonardo da Vinci, the latter of whom helps Ezio improve his equipment using schematics found in Altaïr's Codex pages.

Eventually, Ezio identifies the mastermind of the plot: the Spaniard Rodrigo Borgia, who ultimately sought to bring down the Medici family in Florence with the help of the Pazzi family and the Doge of Venice. Ezio finds Borgia in possession of the Apple — a similar Piece of Eden that Altaïr had recovered centuries ago — and learns that Borgia believes himself to be "the Prophet" that will lead the Templars to a fabled "Vault". Ezio is able to confront Borgia with the help of his allies and recover the Apple, but Borgia flees before he can be killed. The modern Assassins discover that several years of Ezio's memories are inaccessible from the Animus. Desmond can only revisit those starting in 1499, where Ezio and the Assassins plan to attack Borgia (now Pope Alexander VI) at Vatican City. Ezio corners Borgia and strikes him down, but refuses to kill him, as he knows that it will not bring back his family.

Ezio uses the Apple and the Papal cross (which is also a Piece of Eden called the Staff), and discovers the entrance to the Vault. Inside, he is astounded when a holographic figure, calling herself Minerva, appears. Speaking directly to Desmond and those monitoring him in 2012, she explains that she was part of a far more advanced society that initially co-existed along with the early humans on Earth before they faced each other in war. A global catastrophe occurred that nearly wiped out both sides, and the survivors joined together to construct "temples" across the Earth to allow humans to prevent a similar catastrophe in the future. Before the hologram disappears, she warns Desmond— by name —that "the rest is up to you". 

Shortly after recovering this memory, Desmond and the others are forced to flee with the Animus 2.0 from their location as Abstergo troops surround it. As the team heads towards a new safehouse, Lucy explains that there are newly-discovered weaknesses in the Earth's magnetic field; a solar flare striking this weakness would cause a similar level of global destruction as described by Minerva. Desmond resolves to help the Assassins find these temples, and prepares to reenter the Animus, knowing that Ezio may hold the answers they seek.

~zMacca