Assassin's Creed: Lineage

This is a short half an hour film directed, by Yves Simoneau in  association with /</gispan style="font-style: italic;"/>/giUbisoft</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">Hybride Technologies</span><span style="font-style: italic;">,</span> is a build-up, an intro to the game  “Assassin's Creed II” .

Italy, 1476. <span>When the Duke of  Milan is brutally murdered, the Assassin Giovanni Auditore is dispatched  to investigate. The answers he uncovers implicate Italy's most powerful  families reaching all the way back to the Vatican itself. As Giovanni  draws closer to the truth, he becomes hunted himself. He must expose the  conspirators before he joins their ever growing list of victims.</span>


For  being merely just a side-project, a bonus feature of sorts, “Assassin’s  Creed: Lineage” is extremely well done. Beautiful CGI rendered  locations could put many big budget projects to shame, aided by splendid  costume designs makes this a visual delight and leave you with a wish  this was a full feature. It doesn't come as a surprise if we see some of  <span style="font-style: italic;">Hybride's</span> works: "Sin City",  "300" and James Cameron's "Avatar" just to name few.


The lead  actor Romano  Orzari physically reminded me a little of the legendary Armand  Assante. He also played Nicky in "Punisher: War Zone".  The rest of the  cast is mediocre, mostly because of their thick accents. However, there  is not much dialogue here, and after all this can be considered an  amateur filmmaking project so we can turn a blind eye.

The above  average soundtrack wasn’t composed by Jesper Kyd, the game’s composer,  but George S. Clinton. It just sucks that the ending is actually the  beginning. “The conclusion… is in your hands” – i.e. go play the game.  Nevertheless, "Assassin's Creed: Lineage" is very impressive and a  recommendation even to those unfamiliar with the source, like myself for  one.

Rating: 8/10

- review by Ventilation Shaft