Recuperating chaos magick

How amusing. How droll. The last words of Hassan i Sabah, as whispered to Bill Burroughs, have become part of a new Xbox etc game.

What are the main influences - both gaming and non-gaming - when making Assassins Creed ?

It may look quite strange but I would say there's a direct connection between our inspiration for the story and the setting and the game mechanics. A book called Alamut was an influence. Though this book is a fictional work, it's based on the Historical Clan of Assassins and it prompted the team who were passing the book around to do further research about the Assassins and their time period - the 3rd Crusade. The more we discovered about these people, the more we wanted to make a game about them. Even the Assassin's Creed "Nothing is True, Everything is permitted" fits the game medium perfectly and eventually became the game's title as well as inspiration for a new type of gameplay. Is there a better setting for crowd gameplay that narrow streets from the epic time of the Crusade?

You can apply the creed to the game itself - traditional game design rules that enforce linear level design and restricted gameplay are thrown away. The player is given the freedom to experience this adventure in a manner that fits their individual play style.