ASSASSIN’S CREED: GOLD / STARRING: RIZ AHMED, ANTHONY HEAD, DANNY WALLACE, TAMARA LAWRANCE / WRITER: ANTHONY DEL COL / PUBLISHER: AUDIBLE / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
As with any entry into the Assassin’s Creed canon, this new Audible release features historical intrigue and a cast of larger than life characters spread across two timelines. In one, Isaac Newton is assisted by the blind assassin Omar Khalid in tracking down a counterfeiting ring aimed at bringing Britain to its knees, while in the present day Aliyah Kahn, a card shark with a talent for numbers, aids an Assassin team aimed at foiling a Templar plot involving a new form of spying software. All very familiar in the AC world.
And it’s that familiarity that gives Anthony Del Col’s original story its strength.
If you’ve played, read or viewed an entry in the Assassin’s Creed universe then you’ll be back on safe ground here. There is a gravitas to the plotting, a depth to the world, and enough danger and deceit to keep you listening. Rather cleverly, Del Col renders his assassin protagonist Khalid blind, adding credence to the medium. And with an exemplary voice cast including Riz Ahmed and Anthony Head, you are swept along on an adventure through 17th-century London. The modern slant is also thoughtfully drawn, with Kahn (voiced by the impressive Tamara Lawrance) both a credible and likeable heroine.
Not everything is successful; the plot at times loops around seemingly unguided assigning suspicion on one character in this chapter and another in the next, and Newton becomes irritatingly eccentric in places. But there is little time to dwell on these missteps as the pace is rarely less than frantic.
There is much to enjoy with Assassin’s Creed: Gold, and it is a worthy addition to the canon. But if there is one major failing it is that the worlds conjured by the games, and even the film, are so visually rewarding. So integral is this aspect to the stories that you can’t help but miss their presence somewhat with this audio.
