These Days I Lead A Very Templar Hating Life

 

Since being home from university, my life has consisted of few things. These include (most but not everyday) job hunting, training, Ps3, deciding what food to eat in the evening, golf and cricket. Mixed in between go reading and TV watching. Yes, that's right it doesn't sound exciting and I can guarantee you it isn't. It was fun for all of 3 days, but everything gets old. Golf and Cricket becomes frustrating (18 bad holes Monday and a shit loss Wednesday), job hunting becomes unsuccessful and begins to get you down, and the others become boring once done to death. The main things that have kept me from getting to the point of writing this blog have been the ps3 game Assassins Creed: Brotherhood and the book "The Sword of the Templar's" by Paul Christopher. To be reading and playing Templar themed entertainments simultaneously came around by complete coincidence.

Now both items are written upon a certain layer of truth. The game was researched well and is based upon truth but then bends it a bit for the story. This made for a confusing but shocking end to the game. The book is based more upon truth and could feasibly be a true story as all events are real and don't delve into the realms of fantasy the creed games do. The book is not finished but already shows the Templar's to be evil, Nazi related catholic colluding nasty pieces of work.

The book and game are similar in that they both portray the Templar's to be deeply intertwined with the Roman Catholic Church. Now being a religion skeptic it's not very hard for me to hate the Templar's and by proxy the Catholics. The game is designed to make you hate them, and hate is a strong word and I'm not committing to it. I'm simply saying it'd be easy to hate them.

The game is enthralling, and no gamer I have spoken to has not enjoyed it. It takes plenty of time and the storyline running through it is superb. You feel like you become the assassin Ezio. Now Ezio is just a memory in the game from 15th century Italy , played through a simulator by a subject called Desmond. The more time in the simulator the more he becomes like Ezio. Desmond is a descendant of Ezio and is supposedly the true savior of the people. He is the chosen one to defeat the Templar's. The majority of the game is based in Rome and is realistic and believable as the story of the cerebral assassin Ezio. It takes a turn for the weird, like previous games, towards the end and this is where my mind exploded out of my ass.

The story uses religious mystery that strays away from reality. The assassin's of the past speak to Desmond in a hologram and advise him to make a decision that shocks every gamer who will have played this game, me included. It almost makes you feel sorry for the Templar's. Almost. Although I have rambled on about Templar hate and the very confusing story of a series of games (that I have tried and pretty much failed to cram into about 6 lines), the theme of this blog can be simplified. Theory's of ancient societies, be it Templar's, Assassins or The Masons interest me. They fascinate me, and I cannot get enough reading material on them. Stories breed strong feelings like hate and empathy and without them being a little based on truth they wouldn't be able to keep me interested and not depressed in my current life period. I am even tempted to buy the Assassins Creed books. Bet you can't wait for my rambling review on them...