Assassin's Creed V: Messiah

Assassin's Creed V: Messiah is a 2013 historical action-adventure open world video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It is planned for release in mid-2014

It is the seventh main installment in the Assassin's Creed series. The story is set in Judea during the Maccabean Revolt, and follows Yehoshua Hershel, a solitary Jewish Rabbi Assassin who is tasked with infiltrating the Seleucid Dynasty's inner circle of Templars. The game focuses on exploration in an open world, this time through a desert map, where reaching oases is the main objective. Stealth, combat, and multiplayer are also key aspects in the game.

Gameplay
There are three main cities in the game; Jerusalem, Jericho, and Hebron. These cities are set in a large, desert covered map, with the cities of Shechem, Cana, Bethlehem, Tziporri, Wadi Haramia, Bethoron, Gaza, Samaria, Emmaus, Edom, Maresha, Beth-zur, and the ruins of Scythopolis spread out across the map. The River Jordan and Dead Sea serve as borders to the east and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. The map is also set into three regions, Idumea, Judea, and Samaria. Some areas of the map are arid desert, some mountainous, and some temperate grassland. Small villages and nomad settlements can also be found throughout the map. Nomad settlements spawn randomly and can be found in many different places across the map, and can be used for selling goods or escaping the harsh desert...for a price.

The game introduces a new feature: Exposure. If the player is out in the open desert too long, their exposure meter will go up, rendering the player slower and more groggy with impaired vision. The exposure level can be lowered by visiting cities or finding oases before the player dies from exposure. Sandstorms and bandits are also potential dangers.

Transportation across the vast desert is mainly by camel, although horses are mounts in the game as well. Fast Travel is also implemented in the game as well, as is a boat system on the River Jordan. Mounts also suffer from exposure. Camels are more hardy mounts and will last longer in the desert, while horses will not last very long and are good mostly for short distances. Elephants are also rideable mounts, and can inflict damage on enemies. The player can also choose to travel with caravans to prevent attacks by bandits.

There are more than 50 oases spread out across the map, and are the primary source of hunting in the game. The animals available for hunting include: leopards, onyxes, foxes, crocodiles, lynx, gazelles, honey badgers, elephants, and scorpions. Leopards, crocodiles, honey badgers, elephants, and scorpions are predators, and will attempt to attack the player. Crafting is also in the game, including craftable campsites and water canteens for larger exposure meters. Poison arrows can also be crafted from killing scorpions.

The game is similar to the last in the fact that the player is working at Abstergo Industries. Hacking and puzzle-solving are also included in the present-day.

Multiplayer is also included in this game, and is similar to the other versions.

Protagonists

 * Yehoshua Hershel (Assassin, main protagonist)
 * Saul Simon (Assassin friend of Yehoshua)
 * Mikhail Brugany (Sudanese Assassin and bodyguard of Judah Maccabee)
 * Eli Kohler (Assassin messenger)
 * Judah Maccabee (Assassin Maccabean leader)

Antagonists

 * Bakr Hamam Ahmed (Killer of Yehoshua's wife, right hand man of Emmanuhel)
 * Emmanuhel (Mysterious Seleucid Templar Warlord)
 * Spyros Matthias Papadapolous (Assassin turned Templar)
 * Iaonnes Simonides (Seleucid Templar Grandmaster)
 * Nicanor (eleucid main General)
 * Hyam Novak (Templar record keeper)
 * Apollonius (Seleucid Templar General)
 * Seron (Seleucid Templar General)

Towns and Cities

 * Jerusalem
 * Jericho
 * Hebron
 * Bethlehem
 * Beth-zur
 * Samaria
 * Cana
 * Shechem
 * Tziporri
 * Wadi Haramia
 * Bethoron
 * Gaza
 * Emmaus
 * Edom
 * Maresha
 * Antioch (story only)

Forts
Forts are large, enemy structures located outside of towns and cities the player can capture using siege weapons. The player must destroy the forts defences and then kill the residing General inside.
 * Fort of Bethlehem
 * Fort of Maresha
 * Fort of Hebron
 * Fort of Jericho
 * Fort of Emmaus
 * Fort of Shechem
 * Fort of Samaria
 * Fort of Tziporri
 * Fort of Beth-zur
 * Fort of Wadi Haramia

Oases
There are over 50 oases spread out across the map, all varying in size, shape, and wildlife. All of the oases are found in the desert, and can be used to lower your exposure level.

Settlements
Settlements are small residential areas spread out across the map, with small populations and some goods to sell.

Nomad Settlements
Nomad settlements are small, randomly generating residential areas inhabited by nomads. Nomad settlements can be found all over the map. Some nomads are friendly, and will offer you water or shelter. Some are not as kind, and will sometimes try to pickpocket you or attack you on sight.

Swords
Swords are the main weapons of the game, and are carried by the player. Swords can be upgraded and bought as the game progresses.
 * Scimitar
 * Khopesh
 * Mycenaean Sword
 * Bronze Sword
 * Ivory Sword
 * Shortsword
 * Iron Sword
 * Appollonius' Sword
 * King David's Sword

Daggers
Daggers are smaller and quicker, and can be thrown at enemies.
 * Bronze Dagger
 * Iron Dagger
 * Ivory Dagger
 * Double Bladed Dagger

Spears
Spears are a new feature in the game, and can be thrusting as well as throwing weapons. Spears can also be used as pole-vaults to reach high places.
 * Bronze Tipped Spear
 * Iron Tipped Spear
 * Dory
 * Javelin
 * Double Tipped Spear

Bludgeons
Bludgeons are a heavier weapon and are more powerful than swords, albeit slower.
 * Wooden Club
 * Bronze Club
 * Iron Club
 * Ivory Club
 * Bronze Mace
 * Iron Mace
 * Mikhail's Mace

Bows
Bows are the main source of long range weaponry in the game. Scorpion poison can be equipped to the tips of the arrows to deal more and longer lasting damage. Bow tips can also be lit on fire for sieges.
 * Composite Bow
 * Assyrian Bow
 * Long Bow
 * Crossbow
 * Gastraphetes
 * Tri-Shot Crossbow

Other
Hidden blades are a necessity in the game for stealthy kills. The sling that, according to legend, killed Goliath. Grappling hooks can be used to scale buildings, and do damage to enemies. The blowgun comes with, sleep, poison, and madness darts. Smoke bombs can be used to escape a confrontation in a pinch.
 * Hidden Blades
 * David's Sling
 * Grappling Hook
 * Blowgun
 * Smoke Bombs

Siege Weapons
These weapons can be used while in a large-scale battle or attacking a fort.
 * Catapult
 * Battering Ram
 * Siege Tower
 * Ballista

Unlockable Outfits

 * Rabbi's Robes
 * Assassin's Robes
 * Apollonius' Armor
 * Seron's Armor
 * Maccabean General Armor
 * Judah's Armor

Buyable Outfits

 * Desert Wander Robes
 * Bandit Armor
 * White Robes
 * Black Robes
 * Camoflauge Robes
 * Merchant Robes

Challenge Outfits

 * Seleucid Armor (Capture all of the Seleucid Forts)
 * Nomad Robes (Find 10 Nomad settlements)
 * Ragged Robes (Pickpocket 200 gold)
 * Courier's Robes (Complete all Dead Sea Scrolls Missions)
 * Saul's Assassin Robes (Complete all Assassin contracts)
 * Hunter's Gear (Complete all the Hunting Missions)

Fauna
There is a large amount of fauna found in the world, mostly in oases. These include:

Non-Aggressive

 * Onyxes
 * Lynx
 * Gazelles
 * Foxes

Aggressive

 * Leopards
 * Crocodiles
 * Honey Badgers
 * Elephants
 * Scorpions

Mounts

 * Horses
 * Camels
 * Elephants

Setting
Assassin's Creed V: Messiah is based in around 167 BCE to 160 BCE in Judea and it's surrounding areas. Three main regions comprise the map, Judea, Idumea, and Samaria. Numerous cities, oases, settlements, and forts are sprawled out throughout the map. The Mediterranean Sea borders the map on the west, while the River Jordan and the Dead Sea border the map on the east.

Plot
Yehoshua Hershel is a well-known and celebrated Assassin, and one day returns home to find his wife murdered and someone fleeing from the scene. Hershel chases after the man into the desert, but can only recover the man's robe; the robe of a Templar. Yehoshua fell into a deep depression after the murder of his wife, and spent years living in a temple at Jerusalem as a Rabbi to try and forget his sorrows. One day, Seleucid soldiers enter the temple, and order for it's destruction. Yehoshua refuses, and is captured after a chase and is sent to the dungeons of the Seleucid fort at Acra. After escaping, Yehoshua locates his friend, Saul Simon, who is involved in the Maccabees, a Jewish rebel group looking to overthrow the Seleucids. Saul invites Yehoshua to join the Maccabees, and Yehoshua hastily accepts. Yehoshua then meets Judah Maccabee, the leader of the Maccabees who is also an Assassin.

Judah sends Yehoshua out to capture three Seleucid encampments with five other Assassins. They successfully capture the first two, but the third camp was waiting, and sprung a trap on the Assassins. Only Yehoshua and Mikhail Brugany manage to escape the Seleucids. Judah then sends Yehoshua back to the fortress Acra in Jeusalem to find important documents kept by the Seleucids. After sneaking into the fortress, Yehoshua takes the documents, only to be stopped by the man that killed his wife, Bakr Hamam Ahmed. Yehoshua recognizes the man's robe, similar to the one he had lost years earlier. The two engage in heated combat, but Bakr is able to escape through a tower window, and sends twenty or so guards in to capture Yehoshua.

After defeating the guards and escaping the fortress, Yehoshua heads back to Judah, and gives him the documents. After reading the documents, Judah announces that the Seleucids work for the Templars, and aim to capture Judea because there is a rumor of a mythical artifact hidden in a temple that can control the minds of other people. Judah then announces the first planned attack on the Seleucids, the Battle of Wadi Haramia. Yehoshua, Saul, and Mikhail are then asked to infiltrate the Seleucid camp at Wadi Haramia at nightfall.

The Assassins take large amounts of the enemies arrows and swords, and the main attack force comes in and finishes the job. Judah and Yehoshua then confront General Apollonius and defeat him, and Judah takes his sword.

Yehoshua then is sent out to Hebron by Judah to uncover the identity of the elusive Emmanuhel. Yehoshua meets with his contact, Eli Kohler, and learns that Emmanuhel is a Templar Warlord funding the Seleucid army from an unknown location.

Yehoshua reports back to Judah, who sends him to Maresha, the location thought to contain Emmanuhel. When Yehoshua arrives, he seeks out Hyam Novak, a former Templar messenger. After capturing a fleeing Novak, Hershel kills him and takes his papers, detailing Seleucid attack plans and the rough location of Emmanuhel. Yehoshua takes the papers back to Judah, who was preparing to ambush the Seleucids at Bethoron.

Judah tells Yehoshua to come with him to the battle, and the Maccabees ambush the Seleucids, who were waiting for the ambush. Yehoshua and Judah push through the army to try and kill Seron, the general in charge. After a brief battle, Seron is killed and a dark-cloaked figure is seen riding away with a bundle of scrolls.

Yehoshua rides after the cloaked figure on his horse, and eventually catches him. The man is Spyros Matthias Papadapolous, a former Assassin. Yehoshua lets the man live as long as he gives the exact location of his master. Papadapolous agrees, and gives him the name of the owner of an inn in Bethlehem.

Yehoshua sets off for Bethlehem, but when he arrives the inn is empty. He follows horse tracks out into the desert until he comes upon a Templar camp. By cover of darkness, he kills the sentries. As he is entering the main tent, a wooden club hits him in the back of the head and knocks him out.

He wakes up in the middle of a sandstorm with his hands and feet bound and his horse nowhere in sight. He somehow struggles out of the sandstorm, and wanders back to Bethlehem, where he recovers for days. Yehoshua met the inkeepers daughter, Tali, and fell in love. The two stayed together in Bethlehem for two years before being approached by Saul Simon.

Simon asked Yehoshua to return to his post as an Assassin, but Yehoshua declined, saying that he was happier in Bethlehem. While Yehoshua was out farming one day, a group of roudy Seleucids rode into town and took four or so women as captive back to their fort. Yehoshua, enraged, went after the Seleucids and brutally killed all of them in their fortress. Tali, horrified at what Yehoshua had done, fled Bethlehem.

Yehoshua, once again depressed, rejoined the Maccabbes, so he could destroy the Seleucids. Judah at that point was a successful leader, having all but won the war.

Yehoshua joined the attack on the fortress Acra in Jerusalem, leading a battalion of troops. Yehoshua uses a catapult to plast a hole in the side of the fort, and then leads his forces in. Yehoshua leads his battalion higher into the fort, and eventually comes across Bakr Hamam Ahmed. After a wild and acrobatic battle, Yehoshua is able to kill the Templar.

The fortress is not able to be taken, so Judah send Yehoshua to Samaria, where Emmanuhel was thought to be hiding. Yehoshua arrives at Samaria, and confronts the mysterious Emmanuhel after sneeking into his mansion and dispatching his guards. Emmanuhel then proceeds to try to take control of Yehoshua's mind with the device he had seized while Yehoshua had been absent. The pent up hate and discipline in Yehoshua's mind did not give in to the device, and he eventually prevailed and stabbled Emmanuhel with his hidden blades. Exhausted, he collapses on the floor of the mansion.

Saul Simon finds the unconsious Yehoshua, and brings him back to Jerusalem for healing. Once revived, Yehoshua hides away the device, afraid that Maccabee might use it for wrongdoing. While he is recovering, the Maccabees suffer a loss at the Battle of Beth-zechariah, and Mikhail and Eli Kohler are killed. Yehoshua decideds to destroy the device once and for all, and throws it into a well being sealed.

Once fully recovered, Yehoshua sets out to find the Templar Seleucid Grandmaster, Iaonnes Simonides. Simonides was living like a king in Jericho unbeknownst to the rest of the population. Yehoshua sneeks into the Grandmaster's mansion, and captures him. Yehoshua then hands the Grandmaster over to Judah, who manages to convince the Grandmaster to sign a truce.

Soon though, the Seleucids regroup and drive the Maccabees out of Jerusalem. Yehoshua stays to fight, but is badly wounded and is taken prisoner by the Seleucids. Yehoshua is held captive in the dungeon of Antioch, and is tortured brutally. Saul Simon and Judah eventually rescue Yehoshua, and they kill many of the Seleucids in the fort.

The Maccabees then gear up for the final battle, the Battle of Adasa. The battle is intense, and Yehoshua is eventually able to hack his way through to Nicanor, the last Seleucid General, and kill him after an intense battle. Yehoshua is then praised by Judah, and offered a seat next to Judah in the royal court. Yehoshua refuses, and spends the rest of his days roaming the wilderness as a wandering Rabbi. The player is then free to free roam for as long as they want.

Sequence 1

 * Homecoming-Yehoshua returns home after a successful contract
 * Murder!-Yehoshua must chase down the murdere

​Sequence 2

 * The Rabbi-Yehoshua must defend his Temple from the Seleucids
 * Escape Acra-Yehoshua must escape the dungeons at Acra

Sequence 3

 * Saul Simon-Yehoshua meets with his friend, Saul Simon, and becomes a Maccabee
 * Judah, I Presume?-Yehoshua meets Judah Maccabee
 * On the Third Night-Yehoshua must capture the two enemy camps, but on the third is ambushed
 * Run, You Fools-Yehoshua must outrun the attacking Selucids

Sequence 4

 * Infiltrate Acra-Yehoshua must break into Acra and steal the documents
 * Bakr-Yehoshua must defeat his wife's killer, Bakr Hamam Ahmed
 * Escape Acra, Again-Yehoshua must kill the Seleucids and escape Acra
 * Important Papers-Yehoshua must give the documents to Judah

Sequence 5

 * Wadi Haramia-Yehoshua must sneak into the enemy camp and steal their weapons
 * Fight for Wadi Haramia-Yehoshua must defeat 15 Seleucids
 * Kill Apollonius-Yehoshua must kill the General Apollonius

Sequence 6

 * To Hebron-Yehoshua must travel to Hebron
 * Eli-Yehoshua must find Eli Kohler
 * Report Back-Yehoshua must report back to Judah

Sequence 7

 * To Maresha and Emmanuhel-Yehoshua must travel to Maresha to find Hyam Novak
 * Hyam-Yehoshua must capture and kill Hyam Novak
 * More Important Documents-Yehoshua must give the documents to Judah

​Sequence 8

 * Fight for Bethoron-Yehoshua must kill 20 Seleucids
 * Kill Seron-Yehoshua must kill the General Seron
 * The Cloaked Man-Yehoshua must follow the cloaked figure into the desert and capture him

Sequence 9

 * To Bethlehem-Yehoshua must travel to the inn in Bethlehem
 * Follow the Tracks-Yehoshua must follow the horse tracks to the Seleucid camp
 * Sandstorm-Yehoshua must escape the sandstorm and return to Bethlehem

Seqence 10

 * Rescue Mission-Yehoshua must recue Tali from the Seleucids
 * Heartbroken-Yehoshua must return to Simon and the Maccabees

Sequence 11

 * Back to Acra-Yehoshua must lead the siege on Acra by firing the catapult
 * Fight to the Top-Yehoshua must fight his way to the top of the fort
 * That Dammed Arab-Yehoshua must kill Bakr Hamam Ahmed

Sequence 12

 * To Samaria and Emmanuhel-Yehoshua must travel to Samaria
 * House Call-Yehoshua must break into the mansion and kill the guards unheard
 * Resist-Yehoshua must resist the control of the device and kill Emmanuhel

Sequence 13

 * To Jericho-Yehoshua must travel to Jericho to fin Ionnes Simonides
 * Break In-Yehoshua must break into the Grandmaster's house and capture him
 * Careful! Fragile Goods-Yehoshua must deliver Ionnes to Judah

Sequence 14

 * Defend Jerusalem-Yehoshua must defend Jerusalem from the Seleucids
 * Escape from Antioch-Yehoshua must escape Antioch with Judah and Saul

Sequence 15

 * The Final Battle-Yehoshua must kill 30 Seleucids
 * Kill Nicanor-Yehoshua must kill the General Nicanor
 * Epilogue-Yehoshua wanders the desert as a Rabbi warrior for the rest of his days

Hunting

 * Fox Champion-Hunt15 foxes
 * Onyx Champion-Kill 12 Onyxes
 * Gazelle Champion-Kill 18 Gazelle
 * Croc Champion-Kill 10 Crocodiles
 * Elephant Champion-Kill 6 Elephants
 * Scorpion Champion-Kill 20 Scorpions
 * Jaguar Champion-Kill 9 Jaguars
 * 8 Nights-Kill 8 of each animal

Assassin Contracts

 * Bethlehem Contracts-Kill 5 Templars
 * Jericho Contracts-Kill 8 Templars
 * Hebron Contracts-Kill 8 Templars
 * Samaria Contracts-Kill 5 Templars
 * Jerusalem Contracts-Kill 8 Templars
 * Desert Templars-Kill 10 Templars

Thief Missions

 * Bandits-Kill the bandits and return or keep the money
 * Nomads-Kill the nomads and return or keep the money
 * Caravan-Stop the caravan robbery or steal from it
 * Templars-Kill the Templars and return or keep the money

Forts

 * Fort of Bethlehem
 * Fort of Maresha
 * Fort of Hebron
 * Fort of Jericho
 * Fort of Emmaus
 * Fort of Shechem
 * Fort of Samaria
 * Fort of Tziporri
 * Fort of Beth-zur
 * Fort of Wadi Haramia