The Rhetoric of Assassin's Creed

With the development of new mediums and avenues of entertainment comes the emergence of a new kind of rhetoric aimed at exploring the virtues and issues in video games. In the book Persuasive Games: The Expressive Power of Video Games (2007) by Bogost, Ian identifies and introduces many of the key elements known to the rhetorical devices seen in video games. As the one who coined it, Ian defines procedural rhetoric in the following manner, “Procedural rhetoric, then, is a practice of using processes persuasively."Furthermore, he explains that procedural rhetoric is useful both to the programmer and the player and secondarily adds to his definition by writing, “Procedural rhetoric is a technique for making arguments with computational systems and for unpacking computational arguments others have created.” With this understanding of procedural rhetoric, it is shown that the key element (s) of procedural rhetoric is/are procedural figures such as graphical logic. Graphical logic is an umbrella term for a variety of video game phenomena, which are movement, gravity, collision detection, object physics, and lighting effects. This is packaged together in what is called a game engine.

Since procedural rhetoric is a device used exclusively in video games, one such game called Assassin’s Creed (2007) will serve as an exemplar to demonstrate the effect of procedural (simulation) rhetoric in action. A quick breakdown of the game is necessary to understand how this form of rhetoric is used. It is a historical fiction video game intermingled with science fiction elements. The premise of the game places two protagonists separated by a past and present chronology, the present-day protagonist is named Desmond Miles, a 25-year-old bartender who is kidnapped by a company called Abstergo to serve as a guinea pig for the extraction of genetic memories to locate what is called an Apple of Eden. This leads to the identity of the past protagonist who is named Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, who is a member of a secret society called the Assassin’s Brotherhood (or Assassin’s Order) during the time of the Third Crusades or 1191 A.D/C.E and maintains the rank of Master Assassin before his arrogance leads to his demotion by the Mentor Al Mualim to the rank of Novice. The game depicts an ideological struggle/war between the Assassins and Templars in addition to their pursuit of Pieces of Eden, artifacts created by what the game calls The Ones Who Came Before. These artifacts are capable of controlling physics or affecting minds, and the Templars seek them to reign dominion over humankind, whereas the Assassins seek to safeguard them to protect the free will of humanity. It is a fantastic video game, truly, and depicts a plethora of socio-political themes which could make an excellent Ph.D. dissertation for a Political Science major.

The immediate form to comment on Assassin’s Creed is the movement. The control scheme of the video game is such that it is very immersive, especially by 2007 standards. There is an ability which the game dubs “Eagle Vision” and allows Altair to gain an extrasensory awareness of his environment. Enemies are highlighted in red, allies are illuminated with a faint blue glow, and hiding spots have a white shine to them. However, the importance of the movement details is in how this ability is activated; the player is thrust into the first-person perspective and sees through the eyes of Altair. This point of view allows the gamer/player to feel as though they are Altair, but it also enables the player to experience the 12^th century in vivid detail as Altair travels the Holy Lands, going from Jerusalem to Acre. Another fine point about movement is the game’s free-running/parkouring mechanic, which lets players, through Altair, scale massive monuments and buildings in an awe-inspiring display of athleticism. The agility and speed of Altair are smooth and responsive and allow gamers to feel competent due to Altair’s mastery (despite his demotion) of free running.

Another form to comment on is gravity, which becomes prominent through an ability called a Leap of Faith. All Assassins perform the Leap of Faith to demonstrate their faith in the Creed and to show they have conquered death. After Altair synchronizes with a viewpoint, he spreads his arms like an eagle and dives from his vantage point to a haybale hundreds of feet below him. In defiance of natural physics, Altair survives. The exhilaration of leaping to a certain death bestows the player with a feeling of invincibility. The gravity in the game feels alive and real in a way that creates an immersive experience. Outside of the Leap of Faith, gravity is also present during free running and parkouring. Every time Altair jumps, his body is pulled by forces outside of his control, and he lands either on his feet or by rolling to cushion the impact of the unforgiving stone beneath him. The experience, despite being a simulation, looks and feels natural. Even the act of climbing up structures is beset by gravity as Altair’s muscles fight against the pull of gravity to make it to the building’s rooftop. The action is tedious, displaying the hardship of such an experience. Gamers can almost feel and witness the strain of Altair as he parkours through the game’s cities.

A final form to mention is collision detection, which comes alive in the video game’s combat system. Armed with his Hidden Blade, the Assassin’s most treasured weapon, Altair plunges the steel into the soft flesh of the Templar, who remains unaware of the hidden danger, eliciting a gurgle of surprise before stillness overtakes his target and the body goes limp with death. The game does an incredible job of making the action feel consequential and lethal, as players can believe the fatality of the assassination. The Hidden Blade makes perfect contact with Altair’s targets. Additionally, Altair’s sword is equally as capable of cutting down his opponents in a dance of steel, and the sound of swords clashing against one another is surprisingly pleasing to the ears. The collision detection transforms actions into meaningful things, everything a player does with Altair has consequences. If a player jumped off a building without the safety of a haybale, Altair would die as his body collides painfully with the ground. The sudden stop of falling and killing Altair is exactly what gamers would expect to happen after jumping from deadly heights, so while video games are played to experience escapism, a modicum of realism is often encouraged to invite challenge.

The findings of this examination have shown how surprisingly complex video games can be. Video games certainly do not “turn your brain to mush,” and whoever said video games taught a person nothing is fundamentally wrong. There are many forms which inform how a player is influenced and persuaded by their video game experience. The art of procedural rhetoric is one which is welcomed and deserves more attention in the future as video games become assuredly more complex, as with the introduction of VR gaming (virtual reality).