Obsessor's Creed: A Game

I am a casual gamer, but as much as I obsess over some games, I'm surprised this is only my second gaming post since this blog's inception, and although I've only played one version from the Assassin's Creed series of five games, I know I will enjoy the other's when I get around to them.

My infatuation began over two years ago when I attended E3. Ubisoft was promoting the third installment for a future release date of Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood. The big push was that you were able to compete against other players who were also AI assassins.

The basic premise: Be an assassin, plan your attacks, strike without mercy, then either blend in to make your getaway or fight to escape. And depending on which game you're playing, you are an assassin in either: Jerusalem, 1191AD (The Third Crusade), Italy, 1490AD (The Italian Renaissance) or the upcoming The American Colonies, 1775AD (The American Revolution).

It was the fact that you got to play an assassin from the past - with limiting weapons and defined skills - that initially intrigued me about this series. As the assassin, you are sent on vengeful missions across town, traveling over rooftops and climbing structures, or on ground, blending in with the locals or hiring thieves and courtesans to distract guards to reach your target. It is the perfect blend of action pack excitement, puzzle solving, and stealth techniques, which are not usually combined so well in other games. Not to mention that the maps and graphics are just freaking gorgeous. I have only played Assassin's Creed II, which takes place in 1490AD Italy. All the cities you visit (including Florence and Venice) are historically mapped and recreated. Not to mention that many of your targets were actual people during that time period and you can learn about their real life exploits in the game, if you so choose (fun for history buffs). In fact, the final "boss" is the currently popular Pope Alexander VI, Rodrigo Borgia, because of the Showtime TV Series, The Borgias. Although not an obsession, I do enjoy the series (Season 2 being 10x better than Season 1), and apparently the next title in the Assassin's Creed series: Brotherhood, picks up right where Part II left off and introduces Lucrezia Borgia and her brother, Cesare, whom were suspected of having an incestuous relationship. Here's a review of Assassin's Creed II, which goes into far, far more detail:



Every title thus far, with the exception of Assassin's Creed III (because it will not be released until October 2012) has received excellent reviews by both critics and gamers. I'm not recommending plopping down $500 for a gaming system to play these games; however, if you do own a systme that supports this series, I highly recommend doing what I did and test if you like Assassin's Creed by starting with Part II (maybe even Part I). Being a couple of years old now, they're bargain-bin cheap. I hope this series continues on for a while, maybe even going into the future, as long as Ubisoft continues to produce the series without rushing. At one new title a year, I can see them getting sloppy. By the way, if I had any voice about where they should go next, it would be America, 1870 (The Old West).

For anyone who's interested, here's the demo of Assassin's Creed III, the American Revolution years, I waited over an hour in line to see at E3 this year, now available immediately on YouTube . Although it looks good, minus the senseless killing of a deer which bothers me, I think I will probably like Italy better:

WoW! 12 Million People Agree

Late last night, after watching GLEE (more on that obsession later), I wanted to jump into the world of Azeroth and kick some Alliance ass. This is something I like to do with my evenings. Long ago I came to the realization that I must organize my little obsessions so that each one receives an adequate amount of attention. So, since the beginning of my unemployment, here is what my current daily schedule looks like:

8:00am - Wake-up
8:30am - Breakfast/coffee (yet another obsession)
9:00am - Work (writing/research/search for job... and now blogging)
1:00pm - Lunch
1:30pm - More Work
4:00pm - Catch up on recorded shows/Netflix
6:30pm - Dinner/More TV
9:00pm - Play World of Warcraft
1:00am - Go to bed

Am I getting off subject? - Not really.

So imagine my surprise last night when I sat in front of my computer at 9:00pmish and discovered that WoW had an update... that lasted three and a half hours! Yes, that is how long the update took to download and install.

Now, I still consider myself somewhat of a "n00b" (newbie player who older players avoid like the plague because they don't know what the hell they're doing). I first began playing around May of this year, thanks to my little sister whom I hold totally responsible for this obsession. When I first started playing, I played a lot. For hours and hours every day. But that’s how obsessions work with me. I obsess then my interest becomes manageable.

Now, I still continue to play most days, but not every day and not for multiple hours; however, last night confirmed that my little obsession with World of Warcraft isn’t over. Maybe I’m just like a cat?... put the dry food in front of me, I’ll ignore it, but take it away, and prepare to get your eyes ripped out of your head, which is kind of what I felt like doing.

So I returned to the TV. Albeit, this did allow me more time to catch up on my DVR shows, but do you think I enjoyed them as much? And what good is a DVR when I actually let the commercials air because I used each commercial break to run back to the computer to see where the download percentage was at?

And if you think I’m crazy for obsessing over a game, just know, for you non-WoW players, that World of Warcraft has a load screen that states, "Take everything in moderation, even World of Warcraft".

Good advice. Perhaps one day I’ll actually use it.