A hooded man works his way onto a moving train. He’s moving fast, killing guards if there’s no other choice. He reaches the door that will give him what he’s looking for and opens it. Confused he aims his rifle upon innocent wife and kids. He made a terrible mistake. The man he wanted to eliminate is right behind him, his hidden blade moves too slow…
Assassin’s Creed: The Fall tells you the story of Nikolai Orelov, an assassin during the 19th century in the Soviet Union. Nikolai is a whole new assassin and doesn’t have direct ties with the more familiar Assassins like Altaïr and Ezio. Telling a brand new story in the Assassin’s Creed world by the use of a comic book isn’t the most logical thing to do but it sure was worth the effort.
It’s hard to adapt one of the most famous gaming franchises out there and turn them into a successful comic. But that’s exactly what Cameron Stewart en Karl Kerschl did. They created a beautiful comic book where the story plays a very important and prominent role.
The story is all about the idealistic Assassin brotherhood that desperately tries to take down the dictatorship of the Templars. The only downside is that the Templars have a mystical piece of Eden in their possession. Without spoiling the story it’s up to our new assassin, Nikolai, to stop tsar Alexander III before things get really ugly.
The character of Nikolai is created with a lot of love and although some of you may think the style of the comic ‘too cartoony’, it matches the story perfectly. Bright colors go hand in hand with dark colors in this story and that has everything to do with the personality of the new assassin. Nikolai isn’t another cold blooded killer, he’s a family man and tends to take a blow once in a while. It’s those small things however that make a more human assassin of Nikolai. As reader you’ll find it pretty easy to connect with him and he’s a real asset to the assassin family.
With every assassin comes a modern day man. Like Desmond and Ezio, Daniel Cross once lived the life of Nikolai. But where Nikolai is a trustworthy man, Daniel is more like a drug addicted lowlife. He doesn’t even know he’s part of a bigger picture. The life of his ancestor he often sees are just illusions for him, it’s hard to believe that he was once a mighty assassin. Later on in the story both protagonist will develop a deeper bound and will prove themselves quite interesting.
If we look at the comic with a pure technical look we can conclude that it’s a very rich comic. Although it is written and drawn by two different men, their different styles never are visible. As reader you won’t notice the difference between the drawings and you won’t be able to pick out certain pieces that are written by one author.
The art is very vibrant and at the same time dark. It’s perhaps not the most realistic interpretation of the franchise but the cartoon style serves it well. It fits a character as Nikolai better. The Fall is the first comic of the new trilogy and we’re dying to see what will happen next in this intriguing story.
It’s a good start for a trilogy and a must have for the fans. Assassin’s Creed virgins don’t have to be afraid to read this, they’ll understand the story without the background of the games. The creators did their best but still have a huge story to tell. We can only hope that two more comic books are enough to really bring this new assassin to life. To be continued.
