The Top 7… historically inaccurate historical games

Wait, that's not how it happened!

Words: Mikel Reparaz on September 12, 2011

Back to Article

64 comments

View as:
Newest first
Oldest first

IChooseUAntistaMON - September 13, 2011 1:36 p.m.

Didn't you already do this?
- Reply
- Report
CitizenWolfie - September 15, 2011 1:59 a.m.

I thought that too. Something to do with figures in games being historically inaccurate?
- Reply
- Report
psycho ninja 4 - September 16, 2011 7:03 p.m.

Historical figures and games are both very different. Oh and its got the link to the Historical figures being inaccurate underneath the article to. :{
- Reply
- Report
ross-carter - September 13, 2011 1:31 p.m.

Sooooo didn't feel like putting in Jean d'ark into this artical? The english armies have demon pigs on their side :D
- Reply
- Report
GamesRadarMikelReparaz - September 13, 2011 7:26 p.m.

It falls under the Genji Clause.
- Reply
- Report
SideOfBeef - September 13, 2011 12:48 p.m.

Good top 7, though I'll admit I didn't read all the way through. Some day I will though, and it will make me a better person.
- Reply
- Report
Thequestion 121 - September 13, 2011 12:33 p.m.

Wow, I learned a lot from this Top 7
- Reply
- Report
lovinmyps3 - September 13, 2011 10:47 a.m.

Great Top 7. As a history buff (and student) I really enjoyed this. Thanks Mikel! I'm usually willing to suspend my disbelief though.
- Reply
- Report
FortyVsZero - September 13, 2011 9:18 a.m.

Fantasic article Mikel! Learning is fun.
- Reply
- Report
Yeager1122 - September 13, 2011 9:01 a.m.

Great top 7 but i dont mind the historicall inacuracy the disabeleif is what makes it fun.
- Reply
- Report
philipshaw - September 13, 2011 7:06 a.m.

Great top 7 and number 1 is so spot on, the story is one of the reasons I stopped playing it. That and the stealth sections being god awful
- Reply
- Report
CommandantOreo - September 13, 2011 6:20 a.m.

While the AC games aren't always accurate, they do try to. For example, if a character doesn't historically die at a time, they don't die. Rodrigo Borgia for example. I was all like WTF at the end of AC2, but after doing some reesarch, it made sense.
- Reply
- Report
ultimatepunchrod - September 13, 2011 5:55 a.m.

great top 7 Mikel as per usual. i always read them when you write them.
- Reply
- Report
Stabby_Joe - September 13, 2011 3:39 a.m.

Huh, this is one of those few Top 7s where I have played all the games. Great article though! It's interesting really in regards to the Rome: Total War as to many it is considered the best of the Total War games. Now while I haven't played any of the recent TWs on the account of my PC being on the fritz for a good couple of years, I wounder just how accurate Empire and Shogun 2 are. In basic video game logic, colour coding factions is inevitable. What about Rome: Total War Barbarian Invasion? A lot less pink in that game... and other things haha!
- Reply
- Report
jmcgrotty - September 13, 2011 2:18 a.m.

A few things: First, THANK YOU for not doing audio versions of Top 7 lists. I was pretty annoyed at the thought of them existing, but haven't seen any more since the first one. Another problem in Medal Of Honor: Underground is the use of suits of armor. Full suits were for show only, and not actual combat. They were too unwieldy and heavy. In combat, they would have stuck to chainmail or another light form of armor. This next one isn't meant to be as rude as it seems, but.. ElDudeorino, you mentioned you had a history degree and are unemployed. Isn't that kind of redundant? History is one of those degrees that give you very little real-word skills. I think that it was safe to assume that, based on the odds, it was a given that you were unemployed.
- Reply
- Report
ElDudeorino - September 13, 2011 10:42 a.m.

While history doesn't lead directly into any designated field, apart from teaching I suppose, you pick up a lot of important job skills. Skills like research experience, critical thinking, reading comprehension and writing are all things you take away from studying history.
- Reply
- Report
corndog501 - September 18, 2011 11:13 p.m.

He's actually right, I'm a history major and I know plenty of people with history degrees who don't work in a job related to their degree. It really is pretty wide open. Personally I'm going into teaching, and probably do a research novel over the Spartan's (culture, politics, military tatics, etc) or possibly an in-depth analysis and interpretation of Homer's "The Odyssey" (If you can't tell, I loooove the Ancient Greeks). Also, I would've looked at Assassin's Creed II and Brotherhood over the first one, since those two try to push the historical a little more than the first. Though there is some truth in those two, most notably the character of Leonardo da Vinci. Yes it is true that he moved to Venice for a period of time to work on a contracted painting. And yes he did draw the blueprints for the "Da Vinci Weapons" seen in Brotherhood (whether or not he actually tried to build some of them is unknown). As for whether or the "assassins" in the game existed could be thrown up for debate. History is rewritten constantly as we discover more about ourselves and our predecessors. Maybe someone will dig up an ancient hidden blade tomorrow, who knows? Maybe tomorrow we'll dig up another "Rosetta Stone" that will allow us finally decipher the ancient Linear A language of the Minoans!
- Reply
- Report
4fromK - September 13, 2011 1:22 a.m.

Samurai Shodown would fit in well here, although its a solid list overall. Casting a Catholic Missionary who was put to death by the shogunate as the antagonist and having him be some sort of evil wizard demigod is kind of a dick move, especially when the game contains a whole lot of rich historical background. "Tokugawa, you filth! I despise thee!"
- Reply
- Report
AuthorityFigure - September 13, 2011 12:35 a.m.

I don't think it's fair to liken an assassin with a suicide bomber. Suicide bombers believe they are doing god's will, and that the act is righteous, and that non-combatants deserve to die. Also, suicide bombers are an exclusively religious group. Likening a mercernary to that is pretty slanderous.
- Reply
- Report
GamesRadarMikelReparaz - September 13, 2011 1:13 a.m.

The actual Assassins/Nizari Ismailis WERE an exclusively religious group, who DID believe they were doing God's will. They don't appear to have had a reputation for indiscriminate killing, which I think makes them more admirable than suicide bombers, but they were still religiously motivated suicide attackers. The willingness to die is a big part of where their infamy comes from. I drew the comparison with bombers not to condemn the Assassins, but to point out their similar, self-imposed martyrdom. Of course, if you're just talking about lowercase, mercenary assassins, i.e. modern hitmen, then that's something else altogether.
- Reply
- Report