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When was the last time you were surprised by a game? Actually, let's get more specific: when was the last time you were genuinely taken aback by a narrative or mechanical development in a big budget console game?For me, it was Assassin's Creed 3. If you've played it, you'll know what I'm talking about; if not, I won't spoil it in case you eventually do. Suffice to say for a game so heavily promoted, so frequently detailed and discussed in previews, trailers and promotional clips to suddenly offer something unknown felt like quite the achievement, particularly in this day and age where internet archaeologists regularly unearth hidden treasures before publishers are ready to reveal them. I respected Ubisoft for managing to keep a lid on it, even if that respect evaporated through the remainder of the game.
But I digress. After a while I began to wonder whether the impact of the surprise had something to do with the fact that almost everything else in the game was a known quantity. I knew about the naval battles, about the treasure-seeking missions. I knew about the enormous sandbox environment that connected the two main cities and the hunting asides therein. I knew which historic events formed the backbone of the narrative. I knew not only the protagonist's name, but almost everything about his character. Heck, Ubisoft itself manages to spoil a key plot twist with an entry in the Animus database - admittedly, I didn't notice that until after the fact, but those immersed in the lore will likely have made that discovery a little earlier than planned.
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