Why is the hidden blade from Assassin's Creed 1 the most iconic weapon?
Bogdan LashchenkoHere's a video showing why the hidden blade from Assassin's Creed 1 is the most underrated weapon in video game history.
For those who like to read rather than watch, the text version of the material is attached below.
Many of the gamers are wondering what kind of weapon can be the most awesome. What's the first thing that comes to your mind? Fat man from Fallout 4? An executioner's crucible from DOOM Eternal, or maybe even a dubstep gun from Saints Row 4? I agree, I went too far with the last one, but, nevertheless, the gun is nothing like that.
What if I told you that the most iconic weapon in the history of single player video games is the hidden blade from the first Assassin's Creed? So far, I have not come across any arguments on this topic on the Internet and decided to share this opinion with you and show with real examples why this is so. And besides, it will be relevant to talk about this in view of the fact that Ubisoft decided to hold the next Ubisoft Forward in September.
To begin with, for those who do not know what the concept of “imba” means, it should be explained. Imba is a word derived from the English "imbalance", that is, unbalanced, removing balance. Such weapons can be abused during the passage of the game (if the title is single-player), greatly simplifying the path to the end of the game, or have an incredible advantage over other players (if we are dealing with a multiplayer project).
I'll start with the backstory. In 2007 I saw an Assassin's Creed gameplay video. I especially liked the moment when the main character Altair was sitting on some beam on the roof and made a leap of faith into a haystack, as is customary in this game series. At that moment, as a fan of parkour in games, I realized that the new title from Ubisoft is exactly what I will be waiting for and what I will play at the first opportunity.
By the time I heard about the game, Assassin's Creed was already out on consoles, and I had to wait quite a bit, and every PS3 and Xbox 360 gameplay video I watched fueled interest in the game. In the first half of 2008, I had the opportunity to try out the adventures of Altair with my own hands, and at that moment my study of this game began.
My joy knew no bounds, and along with the signature leaps of faith in the game, I appreciated the hidden blade, which later became one of the main symbols of the franchise. As a child, I could not think that this weapon is the most powerful in single player games and will retain this title for at least another 15 years. The game, for a second, this year (November 30) will be 15 years old.
In the first Assassin's Creed, the clever developers skillfully hid the incredible power of the hidden blade in melee mechanics. The thing is that when the player entered the battle, the system automatically took out a sword or knife for him, despite the fact that in the previous battle the player could use his fists or a hidden blade.
In addition, in-game tooltips suggested that a sword is a great offensive weapon, while a knife is best for defending against multiple enemies. Years later, I realized that there is not much difference between them, if you do not take into account the possibility of delivering a strong blow with a sword (if you hold down the attack button). Thus, as a child, in-game tips misled me, and the absence of these very tips (sorry for the tautology) about using a hidden blade in battle made me think that it cannot be used in a fight with enemies.
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We are getting closer and closer to the moment when I discovered the hidden blade for myself from a new, almost invincible side. The first complete passage of Assassin's Creed 1 was given to me with great difficulty only on the fourth attempt, because for me the plot seemed too long, and the actions in the open world and the same tasks quickly got bored. Later, the second part of Assassin's Creed came out, which made a real sensation in the world of computer games, and the hidden blade received an improvement in all game mechanics both in terms of stealth and in open combat, and the main character even got two such hidden knives.
However, even then I had no idea to use this weapon in open combat. In the wake of the hype of the second part of the already successful Assassin's Creed franchise, Ubisoft made an interesting decision to make a short film Assassin's Creed Lineage, which became a prequel to AC II and told the story of Giovanni Auditore, Ezio's father.
There was a scene in this film where Giovanni fought off several frags and delicately used a hidden blade for his own purposes. Then I sat with a blank face and there was a thought in my head, “I didn’t understand.” Almost immediately, I wondered if it was possible to do such tricks in the game itself.
When I again went on the adventures of Altair in the world of the first part of Assassin's Creed and went through the prologue, after receiving the hidden blade, I immediately began to test my hypothesis. In combat, the game still “pulled” the sword from the scabbard to the player, but this time I switched to the hidden blade and began to create an orgy. It turned out that if you learn how to counterattack opponents with a hidden blade, then you can kill them with almost no effort.
How does the quick kill system work in Assassin's Creed 1? The player becomes in a defensive stance and waits for the enemy to hit. If he does not dare to strike, then a mockery of the enemy will help us, which will give him the motivation to hit us first. Next, the enemy delivers his attack and at the moment when the enemy sword almost reaches Altair, the player presses the attack button during a defensive stance, which will allow you to kill any enemy with one blow. If we are dealing with ordinary enemies, then with a high probability one of them will be frightened and will stand in a stupor. At this point, you can get close to them and also perform a one-hit kill without encountering any resistance in your path. It happens that the enemy turns on the taunt and at this moment he can also be caught and killed with one blow. Thus, players can repel the attack of any number of enemies without losing a single point of health, even if it is a squad of 50 people.
The only difficulty in this system is the timing, which requires almost surgical precision and too short a period of time during which you must press the counterattack button. A fraction of a second earlier - and Altair will not have time to counterattack again and get in the face. A fraction of a second later - the master assassin will again get in the face. But if you calculate the time correctly, then absolutely any opponent is turned off with one blow.
When I discovered this way of killing enemies, I first tested how the hidden blade works on ordinary ordinary enemies. After that, he went to test a new method on the ill-fated Templars, of which there were, it seems, 60 in the game world. The Templars are the most powerful enemies in the game, not counting the bosses, and sometimes even surpassing some of the bosses in strength. Consequently, defeating them was a very difficult task, as they masterfully mastered all combat techniques, often counterattacked and delivered strong and especially painful blows. It turned out that they can be killed with one competent counterattack.
My next victim was the usual bosses, with whom you could engage in open combat. Many of them ran away, but there were also those with whom you need to enter into an open confrontation. They also lay down under the inexorable power of a competent counterattack by the skilled Altair. When I got to Al-Mualim and part-time the main villain of the game, with whom the decisive battle was coming, the thought came to my mind: “Well, the most important boss cannot be killed with one blow!”. It turned out that it could. The main boss of the game. One. Blow.
Along with that, I successfully completed the challenge “Complete Assassin's Creed using only a hidden blade (not counting the fistfight in the prologue)” and understood why the system hides this mechanic from the players. However, Assassin's Creed is the only game in my memory that has a legal weapon that kills absolutely any enemy with one hit and does not have any cooldowns and minuses (the ability to use competent timing does not count). Any other similar weapon in games, be it the crucible from DOOM Eternal or the BFG-9000 from the same place, or the same Fat Man from the Fallout series always has some disadvantages: an acute shortage of ammunition, a large cooldown, and so on. There are no such problems with the hidden blade in Assassin's Creed 1.
In the next part, Ubisoft did cut the power of the hidden blade, as a result of which it was no longer possible to make such quick kills with one blow of any enemy. However, the developers have endowed this weapon with new interesting gameplay mechanics and abilities. Now players could kill enemies directly from a ledge, jump from a high roof to enemies, eliminate a target while sitting on a bench, send enemies, shoot from a small gun and pro. Along with this, it is worth mentioning that the parkour in the first part of Assassin's Creed had some hidden mechanics that no one suspects to this day.
Do you agree that the main trump card in the assassin's sleeve, which appeared to kill enemies, is the most imb weapon in single-player video games, or do you remember another, more deadly type of weapon?
Bogdan Lashchenko – content manager at EgamersWorld.Bogdan has been working at EGamersWorld since 2023. Joining the company, he began fillin the site with information, news and events.