The Hidden Blade Assassin's Creed in Depth

The Hidden Blade's member spotlight turns to YurkleNorf for September. Some of us know him better as bobbyrk on GameFAQs, where he has been the resident expert on Assassin's Creed games from the beginning. Here's what he had to say in our interview:

Tell me about the first time you played AC.

Rather than answer this directly, I'm going to start by my very first introduction to the series - reading the GameInformer cover article from June 2006. After reading that, I knew it would be a hit series. In fact, I bought my 360 JUST for Assassin's Creed. Now, the first time I played Assassin's Creed, I sort of knew what to expect from some of the promotional material and whatnot, but seeing it in action, seeing the crowds, and how movement was so fluid, was just a wow moment for me; being that aside from maybe Conan, it was my very first "next-gen" game didn't hurt either.

What do you like most about the games?

The overall story for sure, even though it's taken some twists and turns that may have been unnecessary and the presentation hasn't always been up to par.

What AC accomplishment are you most proud of?

Well, this isn't actually an in-game accomplishment, but it does have to do with the games, I promise! Back in 2009, I wrote up a pre-release FAQ for Assassin's Creed 2 that caught the eye of the dev team, and Corey May himself sent me an email saying that the team really liked my work and wanted to thank me and send me a shirt. Coming home from classes and spotting that email just made my jaw drop.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3aJZM4LYBw

Minimalist Approach to Full Synchronization
This video was produced in response to a request by Jedted:
http://www.thehiddenblade.com/suggestion-video-walkthroughescape-debt

[From the forums - stabguy]

So I had fun with the Bureau leaders. Apart from the main conversations Altaïr has with them throughout the game, they all say something different anytime you go back to them. Here are when you can pester the poor fellows :
- Before the investigations : right after having had the first conversation with the Rafik upon entering the city, he will say some lines if you lock onto him.
- While investigating : these happen if you go back in the Bureau without enough information to get Al Mualim's marker.
- Before the kill : you finally have the feather from the Rafik and the permission to go kill your target yet you stay in the Bureau and talk to the leader.
- After the kill : after having shown the blood soaked feather to the Rafik and before returning to Masyaf.

If some spoiler tags are shorter than others, it's because at some occasions the Rafik either didn't talk or repeated a line he had said in a previous memory block.

http://youtu.be/ctlVm6C3m9c
[Front-paged by stabguy]

Both Dante and Silvio appear in Cheaters Never Prosper memory. This is where you fight to win the golden mask. Preassassinating either of them has a different result. The first step in all this is to avoid teleporting into the fight ring by jumping into the water after accepting the challenge. This was originally discovered by Vanitas (LadiciusFMU on YouTube). Now for the preassassination part.

Dante Moro: Grab the guard you're fighting and move him at Dante to move him around. This is basically the exploit of moving characters who normally couldn't be moved in the game. When you move him near the edge of the nearby dock be careful that the guard doesn't fall in the water which would instantly fail the mission. After Dante has fallen in the water continue to fight the guards. When the cutscene happens Dante isn't there. This causes a glitch where the scene doesn't end and the mission has to be restarted to continue.

Silvio Barbarigo: Do basically the same thing with moving him to the water. I also did that to the guy heralding the fights. This time the scene ends and you are able to progress through the game. But even more hilarity occurs without those characters in the game. In the next scene the camera stays on Ezio (it seems the camera is focused on the herald during that scene). And in the final scene Ezio is on stage alone and Dante is handed an invisible mask.

I put away my Assassin's Creed disc when Assassin's Creed 2 was released about 21 months ago. Shortly afterward, I lost the disc, and I was pretty much convinced that I would never see it again. Much to my surprise, I found the disc about a month or two ago, and I started playing it again a few days ago. It was nice to play Altair again...

http://youtu.be/ykVZCkcSFYI
[Front-paged - stabguy]

As you all may know the purpose of Stealth Hidden Blade in VR training is to kill the targets with the hidden blade only. However... that is not entirely true. Besides being able to use fists and pick up weapons from dead enemies you can also loot them for ammo. And that is how you can get the highest record. How much ammo you get or if you get any at all is based on chance. The highest amount of ammo you can get at one time is three throwing knives and two bullets, and you need exactly that much ammo to save the most amount of time. Since getting that much ammo is based on luck you have to keep trying again and again for it.

I also include the route I took: Start off by jumping at the first target and performing a high profile moving kill to take him down fast (I killed him from behind instead of from in front because Ezio pulls the hidden blade out faster, which saves about a second). Then I run to the corner of the platform and kill two targets with throwing knives. I then jump from the corner to a beam and then to the target on the ground. If you aim the jumps carefully you can kill that target right after you're done rolling on the ground. Then I run up the free running platform on the right and climb up the wall to the next target. I use a high profile ledge assassination for a fast kill. Then I jump to the edge of the platform and take out the target below with a throwing knife. I jump onto the beam and when I reach the end I jump forward and take out a target with the hidden gun. Then I jump onto another beam to take out the last target. I'm thinking that if I was in the right spot I could have immediately jumped to the last beam after taking out the second to last target. And as you may have noticed my practice route was a little faster than my world record so it can be beaten!

PatrickDeneny is The Hidden Blade's featured member for August. Today marks the one year anniversary of the Featured Member column. At first there were naysayers who didn't believe we had enough "worthy" members to support a monthly spotlight. Looking back on the past year, I'm pleased with the caliber of our guests and with the effort they put into their interviews. There are many more distinguished members who we haven't gotten around to yet!

Today is about Patrick. We did something a little different this time. Most of the questions were submitted by former featured members:

Tell me about the first time you played AC.

I first played AC after buying the game off a friend who ended up with two copies (but that’s another long and uninteresting story). I bought it more out of convenience and as a favour to him, rather than with a view to really enjoying it but I fancied a new game so thought, ‘Why not?’ I struggled with the controls at first and kept making Altair drop off ledges or run aimlessly at seemingly-unclimbable walls.

Once I was out in the open, however, I started to find my feet. I still remember climbing my first viewpoint and synchronising, watching the Kingdom spread out in all directions below. That music, beautiful but strangely sad(?), still makes me shiver.

What do you like most about the games?

It seems obvious but I love the fact that they are open-world/sandbox, and even more so than other similar games. Unlike most single-city sandbox games, ACI and ACII allow you to explore multiple bustling and intricately detailed cities with a great deal of freedom. You aren’t limited to walking the streets but can clamber and run all over the rooftops and buildings, including many famous landmarks!

The freedom also extends to gameplay. Sometimes I’ll try to complete a mission as quickly as possible (usually making a hash of the assassination in the process) but other times I’ll just fancy wandering around the seemingly endless cities, going from district to district and absorbing the atmosphere, or killing a few guards. It’s this freedom to do what I please that draws me in.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dT6UgX8hOFs
[Front-paged, stabguy]

Port Authority is an assassination in the sequence thirteen's Bonfire of Vanities. The eagle strike is done from the nearby viewpoint. Start off by assassinating the two posted guards by the stairs to the port. You'll need one of them to lure with so I throw one of them down into the water and the other at a certain place right next to a building. Then I climb up and get the attention of an archer. I climb up to a higher roof and get in open conflict using a throwing knife (if I was detected on the same roof level I would have desynchronized since stealth is a requirement in this mission. However, thanks to the "already exposed" exploit I don't have to worry about failing the mission as long as I'm still exposed). Now in open conflict, I rush into the port area and onto the ship where I take out a couple of guards to make this easier. Now that the target is chasing after me I lead him to the spot where I left the dead body and escape his detection. He notices the dead body and stays in that spot. Then I climb up the viewpoint, hang by the edge and perform a side jump. I grasp the ledge of the building and lock onto the target. Even though I'm tapping the attack button the air assassination isn't that fast (probably because Ezio is hanging by his arms).

Accidental Deaths: Here are two cases in which the target might accidentally die.
1. When he is jumping off the ship and onto the port area. This is probably affected by how many other guards there are since they bump into each other in such small spaces.
2. When he leaves the port area he makes a small jump. This could also cause him to fall into the water.

Another Accident: This happened while I was recording, so I thought it was worth showing. I manage to kill all the guards on the ship and get the No Hitter achievement. The target flees as a result.

http://youtu.be/_spopjdW4KY
[Front-paged. stabguy]

Sunday Stroll Stunt: This stunt is done from a viewpoint, nearly high enough that the fall kills Ezio. Start off by poisoning a character to make the target flee (apologies that I poisoned a civilian, just trying to save time ). When the target flees you want to stay within forty meters to avoid desynchronization. You need to quickly climb up to the spot on the viewpoint before the target passes by that area. As you can see there are two different outcomes. One is a side step kill animation. The other is a stationary kill animation. One more thing to note is since Ezio is down to no health squares when he hits the ground there is a short slow motion effect.

Tripwire: Basically the same as the Sunday Stroll Stunt except the target is killed with a manually aimed hidden gun. I kill a group of guards to avoid open conflict.

Long Shot: What I like about this one is it gives me a reason to use the sprint board. Get to the area where the archer is patrolling on the platform overlooking the bonfire. Kill him and use his dead body to make the target flee, lock on and aim the hidden gun. The mission fails when you are 40-60 meters from the target. I don't know why that is, but I think it might be affected by how fast you and/or the target is moving. I get fifty five meters when I choose to shoot. I might have been able to get a little more, but the mission would usually fail and I didn't want to take any chances.

--- front paged by Ian ---

Here's a little Variety Pack on the mission "Follow The Money" (Sequence 5) where you have to take out silently the guard inside the Pantheon. It includes: Air Assassination, Eagle Strike, Stunt Assassination and a Parachute-Drop Assassination.