Welcome to the first ever theme week at Henchman-4-Hire! For some reason, a lot of different aspects of my life became focused on the Assassin’s Creed video game franchise over the past few weeks, so I decided to try something awesome and new and introduce a blog theme week! We’re going to have a lot of Assassin’s Creed posts, jokes and even an Assassin’s Creed-themed List of Six on Wednesday! Also big this week will be a review of the three Assassin’s Creed graphic novels from Titan Books – which marks my first ever semi-professional comic review – as well as my long awaited review of Assassin’s Creed 3! This week is going to be a killer!

The views aren’t so bad either

I am not above making a few puns.

I’m very excited about the graphic novels. You guys have been reading my comic book reviews for months now, and I’d like to think I’m building a fanbase. But all those comics, or the video games and movies I’ve reviewed, were things I bought on my own and reviewed on my own. Now, for the first time, a professional publishing company has reached out to me to review some of their work! I’ve been recognized as a legitimate review blog! That’s pretty exciting. Look for the graphic novel reviews on Tuesday.

And then on Friday, I’ve got my review of Assassin’s Creed 3. It was my most anticipated video game of the year, and I waited until it came out for the PC before playing and reviewing it. I’m really excited for that review as well.

So stay tuned this week, keep coming back and check out all of the Assassin’s Creed fun!

And if you have no idea what the heck I’m talking about, join me after the jump for a primer on Assassin’s Creed!

Assassin’s Creed is a series of video games in which you play an enigmatic and skillful killer, taking out his enemies one-by-one. An assassin, if you will. And he operates by a certain moral code, kind of like a personal creed, if you will. The key aspect of these games is the parkour-like free running, a wonderful system where you run and jump across the rooftops with style and grace, hunting and eventually slaying your targets. Video games have come a long way from Mario jumped onto blocks.

You can see what I mean by watching this brief video:

The story of Assassin’s Creed is large and complex, so I’ll do my best to make it simple. The games tell the tale of an ancient conflict between two groups, the Templars and the Assassins. The Templars want to rule the world through order and power. The Assassins believe in freedom and free will, so they fight against the Templars’ schemes. The Templars are usually a larger and more organized group, whereas the Assassins tend to be smaller in number, often striking from the shadows with skill and ferocity. The conflict has been waged for centuries, and as such, the games usually take place in the past.

In the first Assassin’s Creed, you play assassin Altair in Jerusalem in the year 1191, during the Third Crusade.

In Assassin’s Creed 2, you play assassin Ezio during the Italian Renaissance in the late 15th century. Ezio has a few spin-off games as well, like Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood (AssBro) and Assassin’s Creed: Revelations.

Then Assassin’s Creed 3 was released this year, starring assassin Connor in the American Revolution.

Die, Redcoats! Die!

Tying all of these games together is a larger narrative set in the present day. Altair, Ezio and Connor are all part of the same ancestral lineage, which is traced down to the year 2012 and a man named Desmond Miles. Desmond and his allies are the modern day Assassin Brotherhood, and together they are waging war against the modern day Templars, which have turned into the Abstergo Corporation. Abstergo is trying to find several ancient relics of great power to help them take over the world. To do this, they kidnap Desmond and put him into a machine called the Animus, which taps into Desmond’s subconscious mind to relive the lives of his ancestors.

It sounds a little complicated, but it makes sense when you play the games. Desmond using the Animus is how we’re able to go back and visit all those ancestors in the various games. And Desmond usually has some adventures on his own too, fighting the modern day Templars for control of those ancient relics.

Though truth be told, the Desmond parts of each game are usually kind of dull.

Just stay in that stupid machine, Desmond

And so there you have it, a brief rundown of the Assassin’s Creed video game franchise! There are also some tie-in novels, some comics, action figures, posters and there’s even talk of a live action movie starring Michael Fassbender. Neat! But forget all of that. All you’re worried about this week is tuning in to Henchman-4-Hire’s Assassin’s Creed Week!

We’re going to have some fun!