I Sound Like a Teenager

Or so some kid told me over Xbox Live.

Yesterday evening I was playing a few rounds of multiplayer Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood. I usually have the mic on, just because it's on by default. Normally folks don't talk, even though they have their mics on. When they do, it's usually pretty terse. "Which persona is after us?" "The Courtesans" "Got it. I think I see one coming".

I also leave the mic on because right before you make a kill, it pipes the mic feed from my target into my speakers. So I can hear the person react as I take them by surprise & kill them. It's superbly satisfying to hear the exasperated yells by my targets who were sure I wasn't an NPC. I figure other folks are like me, and would like to hear me squeal when they catch me off guard, so that's yet another reason I leave my mic on.

My most satisfying kill in the game so far was a bench-to-bench kill in Pienza. I believe he was the Nobleman. I saw my target sitting on the bench. I jumped into a moving group of people who looked like they were walking buy his bench. Turns out they were. As I got closer, I peeled away from the group and sat down next to my target. I was sure he was on to me, but he didn't react.

There's a bonus for being really close to your target for 3 seconds before killing them. It's called Focus. I locked on to him as I sat down, and waited those 3 seconds. It was just long enough for him to stop suspecting that I was the Assassin after him. Once I had the full bonus, I went for the kill.

A loud yell emanated from my speakers. "WHAAAAT NOOOOO!" That was a wonderful prize.


But last night, I met someone who could not stop talking. It was like the hyperactive desire for attention that I imagine smaller children have, who keep crying "mommy, mommy, look at this" to show you that they have a marker in their hand. But this guy sounded like he was in his early teens. He was nice enough, but my enthusiasm for his conversation waned quickly.

The first few rounds were entertaining. We were talking a bit of strategy and ability preferences. He went on about how he wanted an ability he didn't have yet. I told him that yeah, that ability was pretty cool. Then he was freaked out when he got caught in a smoke bomb and I "stole his kill", and then again when he scared a target out of hiding and wondered why I didn't chase after him.

"DUDE! He's right there! Why aren't you running after him."
"Chill out. If I run, I'll get 100 points. If I let him hide & get a stealth kill, I'll get 600 points."
"BUT HE"S GETING AWAAAAYYY..."

Clearly, some folks just don't understand the real strategies for high-scoring Assassins.


That said, it turns out I do like talking strategy. There's almost as much thinking involved in stealthily hunting down a target for the maximum number of points as there is quick-twitch reaction mechanics for controlling much of the action. Maybe I'll start engaging folks more before matches to discuss strategy.

Or maybe I'll just keep getting surprise bench-to-bench kills. :)