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If you think about it Assassin's Creed 3: Brotherhood is an experiment for the entire game industry. In general many games avoid certain topics and attempt to not be controversial. Offensive is fine, just not political or divisive. An example is how EA backpeddled so hard when people complained about the ability to play as the Taliban in the new Medal of Honor.
The Japanese, especially Nintendo, are quick to avoid any potential controversy. For example, based upon my experience Nintendo would not publish any "Christian game" since the company heads consider Christianity too divisive. Which it is...Jesus does not refer to the Word as sharper than a two-edged sword for nothing. It divides families, sets brother against brother.
In contrast Ubisoft has given a lot of freedom to the writers of the Assassin's Creed titles.
They've explicitly written their worldview into the story and been given the freedom to assert controversial beliefs. I wrote about this previously in The Truth Agenda of Assassin's Creed 2. In that game the primary message was that there is no objective truth. Truth is subjective.
I started playing AC 3: Brotherhood this past week. The trend continues with political hot potatoes being bandied about. I was interested to see references to recent events like an architectural problem from 2007. But even the recent US Health Care Reform Bill and a 2010 decision by the US Supreme Court is given mention. So far, right-wing figures, both historical and contempary, are being targeted as objects of derision and fictional conspiracy. Communism is spoken of in a "positive" sense since the enemies of the Assassin's, the Templars, see it as a way to break their control of the populace.
That's what's new. What was expected is for the Bible and Christianity to be targeted as well. Instead of general philosphical or religious issues, the activities of the Church itself have so far been the target of criticism and sarcasm. For example, the description of bankers describes how the Bible says not to charge interest. Yet the bankers, and the Roman Church, did it anyway in a hypocritical roundabout fashion. While Roman Catholic Church Law may have contained this law the Bible is more complicated in regards to interest. Another example is how people were bribed via being threatened by eternal damnation if they did not take certain actions.
There are a bunch of other topics that AC3: Brotherhood has broached upon but I think you get the idea. So far I agree with most of the insights. I've long said that if you think about it the Bible is largely a narrative about how badly people can screw up. So it should be no surprise that Christians, whether they're sincere in their beliefs or not, should not continue that trend.
I'm still early in the game but I'm holding out hope that the writers will not be biased in their entire presentation. A balanced perspective in writing a character would show how even great sinners can have positive attributes. A good example of this is a novel series called Tyrants and Kings by John Marco. Even a good man can give the order to drop a nuclear bomb.
Assassin's Creed 2 gave me reason to doubt, but I'd like to see if there will be a positive portrayal of a historical figure specifically mentioned to be a Christian. I'll create a Part 2 to this article once I've finished the game entirely. In the meantime, wassa-matta-you, Altair?
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