In my more obscure days as a games journalist I had explored this topic before but I thought it fitting to come back to it with news of Assassin’s Creed II looming at the E3 conference this year.

Remember that when Assassin’s creed came out in late 2007 it was a year of game releases studded with controversy.  We had the Byron Report looming from the British Government in another fruitless effort to prove that game violence influences real violent tendencies for children.  The absolute ludicrous and false claims made by Cooper Lawrence that even Jack Thompson called ridiculous.  On that note the now defunct Florida State Lawyer was doing just about anything he could to relate video games to controversy and boost his own career as a result.  On top of all that, none of us who paid attention to the Manhunt 2 controversy will ever forget how drawn out and ridiculous it became, then when it was finally released barely a word was spoken about it.  The end of 2007 was rife with ridiculous claims and studies that sought to demonize video games, it is how I actually started getting into game journalism to try and do my part to exonerate games and prove them to be an art form.

Thus it was to my great surprise that Assassin’s Creed passed without so much as a whisper when many had deep concerns about the controversy the game could in fact unleash.  Right from the get go when you put the disc in your tray the first thing you see is an image of many people of many races holding hands across the world.  Above that it states that Assassin’s Creed was developed by a team of many races, religions, and nationalities.  Instantly I was put at ease a little because this showed that at the very least the development team knew what could happen if people took their game the wrong way.

Needless to say their fear was a valid one.  For those of you who don’t know anything about the game (in which case then your a rare breed of gamer) the basic rundown is that your an assassin from some kind of neutral party that has to carry out assassinations in a crusades era Middle East.  You kill your way through many of the cities in the Holy Land and many Middle Eastern warrior cultures and European knightly orders.  Now the problems that could have arrisen from people are numerous, some more valid than others.

From a Christian perspective some could easily take offence to the numerous NPC’s who cry out in the streets to crush the Christian invaders.  I obviously do not have to tell you how both sides viewed the Crusades as a holy war for the Holy Land.  So anyone who takes their religion in what I would kindly call “too seriously” could easily take offence to what many whispered was a sympathetic view towards the Muslim faction in the game.  Thankfully these whispers stayed whispers, because as mentioned before video games were already being pegged as responsible deviant sexuality, school shootings, child obesity, and violent behavior in young children.  The last thing the already besieged game industry would have needed was a religious controversy.

Now I find it very important to tell all of you that I will only examine this game from a moderate Muslim perspective and that I am not Muslim and do this with all the possible respect to Muslims as possible.  I am not very religious and have a healthy respect for every religion and belief (except Scientology).  It is my understanding that the depiction of the Ark of the Covenant in Assassin’s Creed could potentially be offensive as it could imply a legitimacy for the Christian invaders and cement their claims that the Holy Land belongs to them.  Needless to say that I believe this is more of nitpicking than any kind of legitimate offense to Muslims.

Ultimately I congratulate Ubisoft for not tip toeing around any perceived possible controversy and focused on the game.  This in my opinion shows true dedication to the game itself they are working on and a willingness to deal with any and all controversy after the fact.  Had they decided to water down the experience so as to not provoke any watchdog groups the Assassin’s Creed wouldn’t have been the tour de force that it was.  Specifically, the choice to keep the tension in the cities with Crusader’s patrolling the streets and the native NPC’s crying out to expel the barbarous invaders.  In choosing to keep the game charged with energy that could possibly offend Ubisoft did a truly awesome thing in putting the game first.

I’ll be looking back at some of the controversial games that have upcoming sequals to be unveiled at E3 in the nnext few days.  Check back soon for a look back at the possibly demented controversy that surrounded Mass Effect and Fox News.

-Ichi

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