Chris Sanderson reviews Assassins Creed #1…
Charlotte de la Cruz is overeducated and underemployed, wasting her time in a dead-end job in San Diego, and spending her free time chasing down conspiracy theories on the dark side of the internet.
When a real-life conspiracy crashes into her life, she’s pulled into the orbit of the Assassins, a mysterious organisation of principled killers with roots stretching back thousands of years – and users of the stolen Animus technology, which allows them to experience the memories of their ancestors as if they were there!
This series story is written by Anthony Del Col and Connor McCreery – both members of the team who created the Kill Shakespeare series. The artwork was covered by Neil Edwards from Wales here in the UK who has previously worked on Doctor Who comic issues.
Issue #1 introduces us to our main character, a regular up to all hours of the night playing games on the Abstergo game system which bears a lot of resemblance to an Oculus Rift. Is Facebook the real life Abestergo!? I kid. The system the character uses transports her through time where she plays as a character kicking a lot of ass co-operatively with another friend. After completing this section of the game she heads to bed informing the audience she has a big interview tomorrow. And from there her journey begins. The story is very fast paced for its first issue, one moment she is at home playing a game the next she is in an interview then there are people at her apartment who we are all too familiar with calling themselves The Brotherhood trying to recruit her, and this is all within the space of 3 to 4 panels.
The main characters name is Charlotte, she is targeted by Abstergos dummy company known as “World Share” who as in the games seem to be Templar related based on how they wonder around in their suits and fancy office buildings. Charlotte is seen as being rather abrasive and very condescending in her interview before she realises she doesn’t have much of a chance of getting the job. Despite her aggressive nature she happens to work at a bank, where she takes on a Good Samaritan role for an elderly lady where she breaks the rules and is left looking over her shoulder. This is where the fast pace really comes through as she is seen going home and there are intruders within her home calling themselves the Brotherhood. At this point she gets a knock at the door where the World Share employees show up to apparently also recruit or potentially kill her. After a fight between the two parties break out she is told to jump out the window where she wakes up at a safe house of The Brotherhood and from there her journey begins as what appears to be an assassin stepping into the Animus that’s very similar to the one Desmond used in Assassins’ Creed 2 but well find out more in the next issue to see how her training goes.
The entire comic has a very Matrix feel to it, like she’s being hunted by those in the real world and told to wake up. The scene where The Brotherhood and the World Share get into a fight is also very Matrix-esque and bears resemblance to the Free your Mind jump sequence of the first movie, which gives off a very dream world type feel to this series. The pacing although quite fast at times tells the story well and make me want to jump into the next issue, which I will be reviewing as soon as it arrives on my desk. If you are a fan of the game series and other Ubisoft works based in the Assassin’s Creed universe it’s worth picking this up as it explores what the Assassins are doing beyond the larger characters we are used to seeing in the main games.
Pacing is quite quick, although I wouldn’t have minded a few extra pages to expand a little more on the main character and to get a little more info on the in game Animus we see at the beginning.
Rating – 8/10
@ChrisSanderson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng&v=Hmyh_bg7NJc
Originally published October 16, 2015. Updated April 14, 2018.
