Assassins Creed 2

Assassins Creed 2: Now Available



Synopsis:

Assassin's Creed II begins immediately after the events of the first game in 2012; Desmond Miles is still trapped by Abstergo Industries, the modern-day face of the Knights Templar, after being forced to use the Animus device to revisit genetic memories of the assassin Altaïr, and has discovered prophetic warnings from Subject 16, a previous captive, of the end of the world. He is soon rescued by Lucy Stillman, a mole for the Assassins within Abstergo, and takes him to meet two other Assassins, historian Shaun Hastings and computer expert Rebecca Crane. They request that Desmond use their version of the Animus, the Animus 2.0, to relive memories of another assassin, Ezio Auditore da Firenze, not only to learn of the location of more Pieces of Eden which Abstergo is seeking, but to also train Desmond in the ways of the assassins through the bleeding effect of the Animus. During his exposure, Desmond finds himself briefly struck by a puzzling memory of Altaïr and his lover, a former Templar named Maria who became pregnant with his child. Desmond also finds various glyphs left by Subject 16 in the Animus which decoded and assembled to form a brief video of a man and woman, "Adam and Eve", running through a futuristic setting called "Eden". Ezio's memories begin during the Renaissance in the 15th century, where his family is ensnared in a political plot, and his father and brothers are hanged. Ezio, following his father's last advice, finds his family's assassin tools, and flees the city with his mother and sister to the safety of uncle Mario's villa in the countryside. Mario assists Ezio to discover the people behind the conspiracy, leading Ezio from Florence, to San Gimignano, Forlì, Venice and eventually to Rome. As he identifies and assassinates more and more political figures, Ezio also gains several allies including Niccolò Machiavelli and Leonardo da Vinci, the latter of whom helps Ezio improve his equipment. Ezio eventually identifies the mastermind of the plot, the Spaniard Rodrigo Borgia, who ultimately sought to bring down the Medici family in Florence with the help of the Pazzi family and the Doge of Venice. Ezio finds Borgia in possession of the Apple, the same Piece of Eden that Altaïr had recovered centuries ago, and learns Borgia believes himself to be "The Prophet" that will lead the Templars to a fabled "Vault". Ezio is able to confront Borgia with the help of his allies and recover the Apple; Borgia flees before he can be killed. Ezio's allies reveal they are all Assassins, and see Ezio as their Prophet, allowing him to join their ranks. Several years of Ezio's memories are inaccessible from the Animus, and Desmond only can revisit those starting in 1499, where Ezio and the Assassins plan to attack Borgia, now Pope Alexander VI at Vatican City. Ezio corners Borgia and strikes him down, but cannot come to kill him, as that will not bring back his family. Ezio uses the Apple and the Papal cross, which is also a Piece of Eden, and discovers the entrance to the Vault. Inside, he is confused when a holographic figure, calling herself Minerva, appears. Speaking directly to Desmond and those monitoring him in 2012, she explains that she was part of a far more advanced society that initially co-existed along with the early humans on Earth before they faced each other in war. A global catastrophe occurred that nearly wiped out both sides, and the survivors joined together to construct temples across the Earth to allow humans to prevent a similar catastrophe in the future. Before the hologram disappears, she warns Desmond, by name, that "the rest is up to you". Shortly after recovering this memory, Desmond and the others are forced to flee with the Animus from their location as Abstergo troops surround it. As they head towards a safehouse, Lucy explains that there are newly-discovered weaknesses in the Earth's magnetic field; a solar flare striking this weakness would cause a similar level of global destruction as described by Minerva. Desmond resolves to help the Assassins find these temples and prepares to reenter the Animus.

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Mass Effect 3

Mass Effect 3: Holiday (2011)


Synopsis:

Earth is burning. Striking from beyond known space, a race of terrifying machines have begun their destruction of the human race. As Commander Shepard, an Alliance Marine, your only hope for saving mankind is to rally the civilizations of the galaxy and launch one final mission to take back the Earth. The story is the 'epic conclusion' to the story started in Mass Effect and continued in Mass Effect 2, as well as the conclusion of Commander Shepard's story. The tone is expected to continue to get darker, yet also bring back some fun and lightness and include a lot more humor. The player's choices in the previous games are expected to have a much more significant impact on the plot than the choices in Mass Effect had on Mass Effect 2. As Mass Effect 3 is the end of the planned trilogy, the developers are not constrained by the necessity of allowing the story to diverge, yet also continue into the next chapter. This will result in a story that diverges into wildly different conclusions based on the player's actions in the first two chapters. The story between Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3 is planned to be told through DLC for Mass Effect 2. The Lair of the Shadow Broker downloadable content is the first piece of DLC to begin to expand the story in preparation for Mass Effect 3. Arrival is the second and final piece of DLC that will expand the story and bridge the gap between Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3.

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Elder Scrolls V Skyrim

Elder Scrolls V Skyrim: November 11, 2011



Synopsis:

Plot Skyrim is not a direct sequel to Oblivion; rather, it is a new chapter in the Elder Scrolls series, set two hundred years after the events of Oblivion. In the premise to Skyrim, the Empire began ceding territory to the Elven nations it once ruled, because there was no heir to the Emperor's throne. The Blades had no one to defend, and gradually died, were murdered, or secluded themselves from the rest of the world.[14] After the king of Skyrim was assassinated, a civil war broke out amongst the native Nord race – the majority being those who wished for Skyrim to secede from the Empire, and the rest being those who wished for Skyrim to stay in the Empire. As with previous Elder Scrolls games, Skyrim begins with the player character as an unknown prisoner. The player character eventually learns that Skyrim's civil war is last in a sequence of prophetic events foretold by the Elder Scrolls, who also foretell of the return of Alduin, the Nordic god of destruction. Taking the form of a gigantic dragon, Alduin is prophesied to consume the world. The player character is the last Dovahkiin (Dragonborn), a dragon hunter anointed by the gods to help fend off the threat Alduin poses to Skyrim and Tamriel. Aiding the player is Esbern (voiced by Max von Sydow), one of the last of the Blades. The main quest of the game currently takes an estimated twenty hours to complete, in addition to the side-quests and guilds also available across Skyrim. Setting Skyrim's game world is the eponymous province of Skyrim. It is a northern province of Tamriel, the continent on which all the games in the series have taken place. Skyrim is roughly the same size as Oblivion's game world Cyrodiil, which is 16 square miles (41 square kilometers) in area. Within Skyrim lie five cities, larger than Cyrodiil's cities, as well as smaller townships and expanses of wilderness. Much of Skyrim's topography is mountainous, and dragons are frequently encountered when exploring the wilderness. There are over 130 dungeons scattered across Skyrim, and when the player enters a dungeon for the first time, the monsters within lock to the player's level permanently, even if visited later at a higher level. Fast-travelling is a returning feature, allowing the player to instantly travel to any location that has been previously visited.

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