Acharky and I have fully explored the memories of Haytham Kenway, and discovered a twist so shocking it knocked us straight out of the animus. When we return, what awaits us in the colonies?
(As a heads-up, this week’s recording are terribly audio balanced because I forgot to do a sound check after restoring my PC. That blame lies solely on me, and I do deeply apologize.)
Streamed at https://www.twitch.tv/newdarkcloud
Conceptually, I like the idea of giving the player control of the villains first, presenting a situation in which they act heroically and do something genuinely benevolent, even if it’s towards selfish ends. Narratively, there are many interesting directions a writer can go when they allow the player to see the world through the antagonist’s eyes. However, there are two critical problems with the way this idea was executed in Assassin’s Creed 3.
The first is one we’ve already touched on. As a series, Assassin’s Creed sanitizes any philosophical or ethical discussions, sticking purely to broad, surface-level themes that vaguely gesture at nuance without actually participating in it. For this reason, they can’t offer an actual motivation behind Haytham and the Templars’ actions. We don’t have an example of what “control” or “order” mean or what the Templars fear might happen if they don’t exercise it. Any attachment the player has formed to Haytham’s group is driven largely by the sheer charisma of Adrian Hough’s performance as the man himself and Neil Napier’s rendition of Charles Lee.
Which leads in the second because that charisma almost instantly dissolves once these characters are cast fully into the villain role. In particular, Charles Lee’s metamorphosis from the puppy dog who was happy to help Haytham free the slaves to a maniacal bastard attacking “savage” children is so abrupt it gave me whiplash. Any nuance that might have been implied or gestured at thrown out the window since they burn an entire village down the moment we switch control to the game’s actual protagonist.
Thankfully, I know enough about Ubisoft’s catalog not to expect any better. In any other circumstance, it would be shocking how badly bungled this shift is.
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