titular creed , Ezio Auditore , a charismatic playboy and a Florentine nobleman , who has since joined the likes of Mario and Master Chief in the pantheon of video game icons . ( A confession : I referred to Ezio as an Italian Batman running on Roman rooftops in my college application essay , a sentiment I fondly chuckle at .)
If the first Assassin ’ s Creed was a gateway for my interest into history , the second opened a floodgate of passion that gushes to this day and refuses to abate . History was not relegated to the background in these games . It was brought to life through vivid design and rich detail , which were woven into the historical tapestry of the games , and not placed upon it like eye-popping candy on a carpet . The improvements to the graphics and the fast-paced combat made the pleasure of playing even greater . No longer was I at the mercy of a sticky joystick over whether I ’ d leap over a chasm or plummet into it face-first ; instances of me ragequitting diminished considerably . The overall effect of these updated but familiar elements was the sense of a world that actually existed beyond the dry lectures of middle-school teachers .
This was and still is partly due to a little disclaimer that appears at the beginning of each game ( with minor rewording depending on the title ), following the sparkly Ubisoft icon that brings to mind the vague shape of a shellfish : “ INSPIRED BY HISTORICAL EVENTS AND CHARACTERS , THIS WORK OF FICTION WAS DESIGNED , DEVELOPED AND PRODUCED BY A MULTICULTURAL TEAM OF VARIOUS RELIGIOUS FAITHS AND BELIEFS .”
So by the company ’ s admission these games demonstrate a collective effort to import a sense of cultural complexity , if not always in fidelity to accuracy , to the emotional richness of its human characters . The vast array of stories they ’ ve told , spanning time periods of different cultures , customs , and religions - be it Renaissance Italy , Colonial America , Victorian England , the Caribbean during the Age of Piracy - always seemed to have an eye for the stray detail that made the games that much more involving , whether it was an attention to costume configuration , or an architectural replica of Brunelleschi ’ s Duomo for you to explore . Their