Assassin's Creed Devs Don't Hate the British

[Bill Nye the Zombie]

To be fair, though, you were kind of the bad guys.

And you needed the french to win.

We'd rather lose than ally with them.

Well, we did fight them in a big Quasi-war (That's what it's called) like 10 years after the Revolution, and the Peace Treaty we signed with Britain was behind the French's backs so it's more like we used them to get Independent. We were British, so we never liked the French, especially after fighting them from the mid 1600s to 1754. Also, fun fact, The U.S. never made a permanent alliance until 1948 with NATO. We took Washington's farewell message to heart, in some areas

 

[Daystar Clarion]

I'm kind of saddened that nobody seems to have picked up that my "latent historical resentment" referred to the French and English. I was hoping to get some soccer flame wars going

Allow me to oblige...

*ahem* We were robbed by that blind, hapless, bias wanker of a referee and in a fair game we would have been at least 3 goals clear by the end. You know it you smug frogs with your wine and your cheese and your... Riviera! Yeah that's right you think you're all that don't you well why don't you put down our women and go surrender to the Germans some more?

Will that do?

Hey, hey, hey.

We'll be having none of that. It is not our place to judge the courage of the worlds leading nation in quality, second hand, unused rifles.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

Uh sorry to burst your bubble there Funk, but the Revolution was NOT a guerrilla war NOR would it have been one of the first.

To be fair, though, you were kind of the bad guys.

And you needed the french to win.

We'd rather lose than ally with them.

See? Latent historical resentment. I knew it!

If we really wanted to keep America, we would have

Wasn't worth the loses though.

All I hear is "Waa-waa-waa-waa Why can't WE have an assassin?!"

As far as I know the Assasin is a British/Native American hybrid... If anyones not getting assasins its the Americans. xD. . . I mean, the only people who 'do' get an assasin this time around are pretty much extinct.

http://gamestatics.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/assassins_creed_3.jpg
Yep Real tea drinker this one.

I'm surprised that nobody seems to be considering the possibility that the mournfully waving, slightly tattered American flag is actually a subtle ironic statement. This great symbol a freedom and equality getting torn from within or something like that. Something designed to sail waaaaaay over the heads of the sort of people who would critisise the game for looking 'unpatriotic'? Maybe I'm giving Ubisoft too much credit, but it's always seemed that way to me. When the patriotism (especially in a series with AC's history) looks like it's being caked on far too thick to be serious, I'm inclined to look closer to see if anything can be read in between the lines.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

I'm kind of saddened that nobody seems to have picked up that my "latent historical resentment" referred to the French and English. I was hoping to get some soccer flame wars going

Allow me to oblige...

*ahem* We were robbed by that blind, hapless, bias wanker of a referee and in a fair game we would have been at least 3 goals clear by the end. You know it you smug frogs with your wine and your cheese and your... Riviera! Yeah that's right you think you're all that don't you well why don't you put down our women and go surrender to the Germans some more?

Will that do?

Hey, hey, hey.

We'll be having none of that. It is not our place to judge the courage of the worlds leading nation in quality, second hand, unused rifles.

I laughed at that far more than I probably should have done. Bravo. xD

 

[Squilookle]

No, they don't hate the British- They'll just fill up the trailers with killing of the Brits -and ONLY the Brits- and let the average American's animosity towards the Brits do all the work for them. Same bloody thing, guys.

Conor isn't a colonist, nor totally British. He's a Native American. He's someone who lived originally here and his people and way of living were destroyed by the colonists, through disease, cheating, pillaging and raping. This was not a good guys versus bad guys war, this was a bad guys vs even badder guys war. [All I ask is that Conor at least spends 5 minutes looking at the side he is fighting on and says "Jesus christ guys, what the fuck?" and maybe assassinates one.

Really, yes, that's what I want. I want Conor to kill at least one blue coat. Just one, then I'll be happy. You kill a single man in a blue coat (who is not in disguise, no cheating) and then I will be totally satisfied. I don't care if the mainstream media in America may see it as controversial that you kill one of the people who fought for independence in their great country, I want you to have the balls to say "They weren't all that good" and dirty your blade with someone tangibly responsible. Do it and I will never ever make any jokes about the connection of the French and cowardice.

Yeah, EXACTLY. Ubi, just show us that the Native American Assassin is willing to kill both sides (as he would be perfectly justified in doing, goddamnit) and THEN we'll talk about portrayals.

 

[TotalerKrieger]

This may have been covered earlier, but wouldn't it make more sense for the Assassin to be fighting the American revolutionaries? Correct me if I am wrong (very likely) but weren't many of the founding fathers of American independence significant figures in the Freemasons...and the Freemasons can trace their origins back to the Knights Templar (??..or did Dan Brown just make that up). I stopped playing the series after AC2 but I seem to remember the Templars being the primary antagonists of the series.

I suppose it is all moot as no developer would risk creating a game in which you slay American minutemen...maybe a few based out of North Korea or Iran.

 

[Amnestic]

Spoiler

That's a picture of our AC3 Assassin riding horseback with George Washington.

Not about Britain vs. Colonies. Totally you guys.

 

[Bill Nye the Zombie]

No, they don't hate the British- They'll just fill up the trailers with killing of the Brits -and ONLY the Brits- and let the average American's animosity towards the Brits do all the work for them. Same bloody thing, guys.

Conor isn't a colonist, nor totally British. He's a Native American. He's someone who lived originally here and his people and way of living were destroyed by the colonists, through disease, cheating, pillaging and raping. This was not a good guys versus bad guys war, this was a bad guys vs even badder guys war. [All I ask is that Conor at least spends 5 minutes looking at the side he is fighting on and says "Jesus christ guys, what the fuck?" and maybe assassinates one.

Really, yes, that's what I want. I want Conor to kill at least one blue coat. Just one, then I'll be happy. You kill a single man in a blue coat (who is not in disguise, no cheating) and then I will be totally satisfied. I don't care if the mainstream media in America may see it as controversial that you kill one of the people who fought for independence in their great country, I want you to have the balls to say "They weren't all that good" and dirty your blade with someone tangibly responsible. Do it and I will never ever make any jokes about the connection of the French and cowardice.

Yeah, EXACTLY. Ubi, just show us that the Native American Assassin is willing to kill both sides (as he would be perfectly justified in doing, goddamnit) and THEN we'll talk about portrayals.

Can the blue coat be Bennedict Arnold? Because then thats two birds with one stone, Americans hate him, and you get to kill a patriot. But I do think we will be teaming up with Redcoats at some point to kill Templar Americans. I just want to see how many Historical figures we get to meet during the game, and how many we get the chance to kill.

 

[Riobux]

In all seriousness, this is actually an interesting thought. We have a great many readers from the various parts of Great Britain - do you feel that Assassin's Creed III is unfairly targeting you? Is it going to be odd playing a character who stalks and kills your great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfathers?

I do believe it was a game really better off avoiding. We're still in an age where America seems to scream "hoo-rah" at pretty much every opportunity with games seeming to remind me of this constantly (complete with American accents for stories not based in the current world)) and America still obsessing over the Independence Of America enough to re-enact it. Yes, Assassin's Creed III was going to offend some of the British, but it's hard not to feel a sense of offence when you get the feeling this game was catered to the American "hoo-rah" crowd. It's not the fact English are portrayed as the enemy that's the sour point, I've killed many English people in games (even in the original Assassin's Creed as you fight the Christian Crusade), it's how loaded the war is in modern culture and how there were so many other historical events that could of been used instead (e.g. French Revolution and Victorian England) that would of been interesting. The war is loaded enough that I once faced abuse on X-Box Live due to my accent as Americans were quick to remind me that we lost the war to them.

I'm still going to go into the game cautiously optimistic as usual, I just can't help but feel there were better historical events that could of been used. Something less loaded.

 

[ZeoAssassin]

I really hope they are right about this....from the E3 demos I have been getting the vibe that Conner is only allying himself with the colonists out of necessity as opose to truley believeing in their cause (enemy of my enemy and all that) and later on in the game the American Templars reveal themselves (Freemasons and such) later on.

Honestly from all the trailers and box art we saw i get the feeling its all for marketing's sake since the SECOND people start seeing Conner off a colonist/founding father looking templar the media would have a shit-fit about the 'evil anti-America" game and "HOW DARE UBISOFT SPEAK ILL OF THE FOUNDING FATHERS!" yada yada yada.

 

[Metalrocks]

i was waiting for this.
even if they dont intend to be anti british, showing connor killing some americans to balance it all out, would be already a good move.
maybe it was the beginning that connor kills british and later on in the game, the americans want him dead, try to capture him or what ever, due being corrupted by the templars, and he has to fight them off.

 

[C.O.C]

It's definitely going to be weird having to kill outright British bad guys, I mean there have been loads of British sounding badguys but actual Brits not so much.
However given that I lived a long while in the welsh bit of Britain where the attitude is as long as England don't win we're happy (No really people in Wales prefer to see England lose than Wales win.) I guess the attitude has rubbed off on me because as long as I get to take out some french men, preferably while using there elite fighting technique of running away, and maybe one or two genuine American guy, who have to be part of a mission or the plot and not just because I'm throwing a tantrum at the game for making me kill so many Brits, then I'll be just fine.

P.S I wasn't joking about that welsh business I've seen T-shirts with ABE on them ABE standing for Anybody But England.
P.S.S For any Americans reading this Wales is a lower part of England but sometimes the people around there get confused and think there a different nationality weird right?

 

[Mr C]

My country has an imperialist past. This is a fact if we need to be the bad guys in a game so be it. I've spent a large amount of my gaming time murdering Germans, Russians and people from imaginary Arab countries. If it's our turn I can get over it.

Besides, the game looks promising and the Assassins Creed games are about taking out the Templars. Given the time period, it makes sense (to me) from the point of view of the series universe that the Templars would be behind the most powerful country at that time.

 

[tmande2nd]

Why do people shrug and go "eh its just nazis/terrorists" in most modern shooters, yet when it goes past that its suddenly evil?

I mean, its just a game I doubt Ubisoft is going to show the Brits being all evul, if they showed both sides equally in AC1.

 

[Innegativeion]

Spoiler

That's a picture of our AC3 Assassin riding horseback with George Washington.

Not about Britain vs. Colonies. Totally you guys.

You expected a sequel to game where you could share a bro-hug with leonardo da vinci that is set in revolution-era America to

NOT

have you exchange dialogue with George Washington?

 

[Khanht Cope]

I'll start by saying this thread seems like blatant trollish baiting. I don't think complaints about racial bloodbaths are all that sensible, considering the thought of what went down in Italy in the last few games. It's a little more sensitive than that however in the nationalistic revisionism issues in play.

As said by another user already, I challenge Ubisoft to at least demonstrate one bluecoat assassination with some kind of weight; because I have major doubts on their guts for living up to their talk of pluralism.

Saying: "we're not going to make all the British the bad guys" doesn't inspire much confidence if you're also going to consider the fighters on both sides to be British.

I just can't envision anything more significant than one or two token C or B grade founding fathers (there were like 50 of them), if not just a generic military official or pro-Patriot nobleman. I greatly doubt any major founding fathers will be targets. GW later becomes President, so he's going to be fine.

 

[Kodlak]

Is it me or are they having to put a 'I'm not racist disclaimer' with every game now?

Do they really think that since I'm British that I will hesisitate to kill someone in AC3 because they are the same nationality. (Spoiler: Hell No!)

 

[Al-Bundy-da-G]

Can we assassinate Benedict Arnold? Will that shut him up Calumon?

 

[=HCFS=Discoman]

Of all the wars to choose from, and they choose the War for American Independence?
How about a cool war, like the Spanish-American War? After all, that war never technically ended.
Okay, that could actually be cool, now that I think about it.

 

[RN7]

I actually think that the Ubisoft Montreal guys have a more accurate depiction of the Revolutionary War here- even with the templar vs assassins thrown ine. Like Funk said, it was a British Civil War. It was more like the Bolshevik Revolution (just replace the ties to communism with the desire to become independent of the British Crown's supposed mistreatment. It's a semi-functional comparison.), or even the American Civil War. One side, the British colonists, felt that they weren't getting all the rights and treatment they deserved as British citizens. Independence actually wasn't on their minds till a point in time close to the war itself. The other side believed the colonists were being outrageous. Both sides were kind of pushed to the brink by actions of another. And because they didn't let the colonists have any say in Parliament at all, which would have resolved several of the issues. I really dislike it when it's portrayed as the evil British government wanting to take away the righteous American patriots' freedom. But I suppose that's what living in America does. I am interested to know how the British view the war, both from a patriotic and historiographical standpoint.