Skip to main content
GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+ The Games, Movies, TV & Comics You Love
flag of UK
UK
flag of US
US
flag of Canada
Canada
flag of Australia
Australia
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Games
  • TV
  • Movies
  • Hardware
  • Video
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Guides
  • Deals
  • More
    • PS5
    • Xbox Series X
    • Nintendo Switch
    • Nintendo Switch 2
    • PC
    • Platforms
    • Tabletop Gaming
    • Comics
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
    • Newsletters
    • About us
    • Features
Total Film
Gaming Magazines
Gaming Magazines
Why subscribe?
  • Subscribe from just £3
  • Takes you closer to the games, movies and TV you love
  • Try a single issue or save on a subscription
  • Issues delivered straight to your door or device
From$12
Subscribe now
Trending
  • Gamescom 2025 schedule
  • Gamescom
  • Battlefield 6
  • New Games for 2025
Don't miss these
Enzo Favara in a dark room during a cut scene in Mafia: The Old Country.
Open World Games "Comparisons like this are why we never get open-world GTA-style games anymore": Mafia: The Old Country is the latest new release to be compared to Rockstar's commitment to realism, and fans are getting tired of it
Best PS2 games
Final Fantasy Final Fantasy 10 dev reminds players obsessed with retro-style PS1 graphics in modern games that, back in my day, those graphics were a problem
A crop of the MindsEye key art for a review header
Third Person Shooters MindsEye review: "An uninspired and forgettable sci-fi action adventure that feels like a Netflix movie you watch while on your phone"
A warrior overlooking ruins on a grassy field beneath a grey sky in Shadow of the Colossus
Games The games industry might be built on borrowed ideas, but new ones have to come from somewhere – even if Fumito Ueda says "the era of game mechanics is over"
The Witcher 4 tech demo trailer screenshot of Ciri chatting in a market
Games The Witcher 4 design lead says the problem with yellow paint in games is subtlety: "Someone went into this specific spot and painted a yellow line ... at that point it's not necessarily believable"
Battlefield 6 multiplayer screenshot
Battlefield Battlefield 6 developer explains there's no visual filter, every level in the new FPS simply has "the actual atmospheric vibe of each particular location"
How to enter GTA 5 cheats
Grand Theft Auto "This dude’s gonna single-handedly delay GTA 6 for several years": Bold truth seeker asks if GTA 5 street signs are actually legal, commissions a mod that corrects Rockstar's many mistakes
Assassin's Creed Shadows screenshot showing female protagonist Naoe
Assassin's Creed Assassin's Creed Shadows abandons one of the best features of Valhalla, Odyssey, and Origins, as Ubisoft confirms that Discovery Tour won't be heading to Japan
best zombie games
The Last of Us Former The Last of Us artist says "ultra realism slows everything down" when it comes to game development, and "chasing" it has "negatively affected many"
Shadow of the Colossus
Adventure Games "The era of game mechanics is over": Shadow of the Colossus director says games have explored so many ideas that "whether you like it or not, it's better to sharpen the existing mechanics"
Key art for Dune Awakening showing the major characters in front of sand dunes, military bases, and a sand worm
MMO Games "We want to stay true to Dune": After the dragon flamethrower ruffled some feathers, Dune: Awakening producer promises fans "you won't be running around in pink pool floaties"
Baldur's Gate 3 screenshot showing companion Shadowheart, a young half-elf woman with long tied-back black hair
RPGs Baldur's Gate 3 dev says AAA is "perversely fascinated" by indie games, because those devs still understand how to make good ideas that aren't reliant on data
Silent Hill 2
Horror Games Players debate characters' looks in everything from Marvel Rivals to The Witcher 3, but Silent Hill 2 devs sent them a warning 24 years ago: "Maria was sexier when we first started out, but her plunging neckline gave us too many technical problems"
Adventure Games Legendary Shadow of the Colossus and Katamari Damacy creators think Roblox's popularity is proof we're past the point where graphics really matter to players
Bioshock Infinite screenshot showing Elizabeth about to hit someone with a book
PC Gaming If "good is the new bad" in games, flawed experiments won't have time to grow into future GOTYs
  1. Games
  2. Action
  3. Assassin's Creed
  4. Assassin's Creed Unity

6 ways history makes video games look dull

Features
By Matthew Elliott published 1 June 2017

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Real life is ALWAYS more interesting

Real life is ALWAYS more interesting

'Real' and 'historical' are trigger words for some people. They conjure images of pale Wednesday afternoons learning about revolutionary loom technology and seed drills. To the feeble minded, the past is nothing more than gold to be melted down then recast into the next Assassins Creed game. Well, I've had enough.

This is the moment I dramatically finish my flagon of research, wipe the the frothy residue from my beard, and slam down my facts on the tavern table. History kicks ass, and I intend to prove this in the most sensible, moderate way possible: by making history and video games fight, like angry crabs on the beach. Be brave, take hold of my mailed gauntlet, and let's learn: here are six things history does better than games.

Page 1 of 7
Page 1 of 7
The Dashing Antihero - Nathan Drake vs Bohemond of Antioch

The Dashing Antihero - Nathan Drake vs Bohemond of Antioch

You could throw a shoe in Gamesville and it would hit a loveable rogue, but since were talking history I'll go with Nathan Drake. Yes, he's killed enough pirates to populate a (realistically very dangerous) city, but he's relentlessly chipper and looks great in a scarf.

In contrast we have Bohemond of Antioch, who perhaps was more anti than hero. This rugged Norman leader was such a chunky baby that he was nicknamed after the legendary giant Buamundus Gigas. During the First Crusade, he had Anna Comnena swooning, and he personally scaled the walls of Antioch. Bohemond was a crafty, conniving, medieval Drake - albeit one with an entire army at his disposal, who broke a promise to the Emperor of Constantinople and ended up stealing an entire city. Stick that in your celadon oil lamp, Nate.

Page 2 of 7
Page 2 of 7
The Elite Unit - Resident Evils S.T.A.R.S. vs the Gurkhas

The Elite Unit - Resident Evils S.T.A.R.S. vs the Gurkhas

Resident Evil's Special Tactics And Rescue Service sound pretty efficient, don't they? Well, they should actually be called Special Hopeless Idiot Team. Here's why: they get trapped in a mansion by some dogs; their helicopter pilot abandons them at the first sign of trouble; and their master of unlocking doesn't even carry a lockpick. And thats the frikkin' Alpha Team: only one of Bravo Team survives, leading me to assume that Charlie Team all died making breakfast.

Instead, let Umbrella deal with the Gurkhas. The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration the United Kingdom honours system, and the Brigade of Gurkhas has been awarded 26 of 'em. Notable recipients include 411 Lachhiman Gurung, who blew off his own arm throwing back enemy grenades, before defending a trench literally single-handedly for over four hours. For S.T.A.R.S., the Raccoon City incident was a disaster; the Gurkhas would sort it out in an afternoon.

Page 3 of 7
Page 3 of 7
The Indestructible Guy - Adam Jensen vs Rasputin

The Indestructible Guy - Adam Jensen vs Rasputin

Any game with regenerating health makes you moderately indestructible, but for the purpose of comparison I'm picking gravel-voiced scowlborg Adam Jensen from Deus Ex: Human Revolution. He gets chucked through glass, strangled, and shot twice in the head. He survives, thanks to a cybernetic upgrade which includes built-in sunglasses and fist chisels. Impressed? You shouldn't be.

While the facts of Grigori Rasputin's death have certainly been embellished, he did take some killing. Rasputin was a peasant faith healer who became a figure of public vilification due to his alleged influence of the Russian government and Tsarina. Firstly, he survived being stabbed in 1914, making a full recovery. Then, on the night of his death in 1916, he was allegedly poisoned and shot twice, after which Rasputin woke up and tried to strangle one of his assailants before attempting to escape. A third bullet to his brain killed him, after which his body was savagely clubbed and thrown in a river. You know, just to make sure. If you don't want to play a game where you control a mechanically upgraded Cyber-Rasputin on a quest for revenge, I'm not sure what you want from life. 

Page 4 of 7
Page 4 of 7
The Genius Inventor - Eli Vance vs Nikola Tesla

The Genius Inventor - Eli Vance vs Nikola Tesla

If I wasnt completely rigging this fight, I'd have chosen Lucca from Chrono Trigger here. Instead, I'll go with Half-Life's Eli Vance. Eli built Dog (big robot, not really a dog, less shit than it sounds) and carried out crucial work on teleportation. He also designed the Gravity Gun, for which all gamers should be deeply grateful. Is any of this enough? Hah! No.

Nikola Tesla gets the nod, and I when I say 'nod' I actually mean, "let's coil up and make things resonate, you sexy science warlock". He's the father of modern electricity, because screw you Thomas Edison. He let Guglielmo Marconi use 17 of his patents to invent the first radio telegraph system. He identified x-rays, predicted radar, and obtained around 300 patents outside of his numerous inventions, most of which remained unprotected. He also spent $2,000 on repairing a pigeon he was in love with - yes, an actual pigeon - but I'm ignoring that.

Page 5 of 7
Page 5 of 7
The Feisty Teen Heroine - Lara Croft vs Joan of Arc

The Feisty Teen Heroine - Lara Croft vs Joan of Arc

This is Lara Croft: Ooh, isn't life hard? My family is wealthy but I'm troubled, and now me and my supporting cast of cobwebby, stereotype sidekicks are being menaced by a feral wizard with an army of oafish mercs. Now, I'm not suggesting that Crofty has it easy - she survives being shipwrecked, maimed, and mummified - but can she compare to the awesome power of history-o-fact?

Chienne, s'il vous plait. By the time Lara was having a wobble about offing a deer, Joan of Arc had led armies, chatted with the Archangel Michael, helped lift the siege of Orlans, and been martyred by the English. Incredibly, she did all this despite being born a peasant - and, perhaps even more damningly for the time - a woman. Admittedly, her story ends with her agonising death by burning, as opposed to triumph over evil and resulting therapy, but I doubt well ever see a St. Lara of Abbingdon.

Page 6 of 7
Page 6 of 7
The Heroic Dog - Shadow from Dead to Rights vs Sgt Stubby

The Heroic Dog - Shadow from Dead to Rights vs Sgt Stubby

Representing dogs in games, we have Shadow from Dead to Rights: Retribution. Shadow can gnaw off enemy gonads and fetch weapons like a normal dog would fetch slippers. He can also sense an enemy's heartbeat, which would seem useful and perhaps even romantic if I hadn't just been talking about scrotums. On the downside, he's called Shadow, which is what you'd call a dog if you had a tattoo of a fallen angel and played in a metal band called Blasphemy Fist.

In contrast, we have Sgt. Stubby: a pooch with the same rank as Sgt. Slaughter. Allegedly the most decorated war dog of World War I, Stubby took part in 17 battles and four offensives. He learned to warn his unit of incoming gas attacks and locate injured soldiers in no mans land. Stubby earned so many awards that the women of Chteau-Thierry made him a tiny coat to pin them on, making him look both impressive and utterly adorable. What a good boy.

Page 7 of 7
Page 7 of 7
CATEGORIES
Android iPad iPhone PC Gaming Wii-u Nintendo PlayStation PS4 Xbox Xbox One Platforms Mobile Gaming
Matthew Elliott
Matthew Elliott
Social Links Navigation
Hello! I'm Matt, group commissioning editor for Future's games division. My ideal game would be a turn-based beat 'em up set in Lordran, starring Professor Layton and Nico from Broken Sword. There would also be catapults and romance. Follow me @MGElliott for Darkstalkers gifs and advice on how to tie a cravat.
See more PC Gaming Features
Read more
Enzo Favara in a dark room during a cut scene in Mafia: The Old Country.
"Comparisons like this are why we never get open-world GTA-style games anymore": Mafia: The Old Country is the latest new release to be compared to Rockstar's commitment to realism, and fans are getting tired of it
Best PS2 games
Final Fantasy 10 dev reminds players obsessed with retro-style PS1 graphics in modern games that, back in my day, those graphics were a problem
A crop of the MindsEye key art for a review header
MindsEye review: "An uninspired and forgettable sci-fi action adventure that feels like a Netflix movie you watch while on your phone"
A warrior overlooking ruins on a grassy field beneath a grey sky in Shadow of the Colossus
The games industry might be built on borrowed ideas, but new ones have to come from somewhere – even if Fumito Ueda says "the era of game mechanics is over"
The Witcher 4 tech demo trailer screenshot of Ciri chatting in a market
The Witcher 4 design lead says the problem with yellow paint in games is subtlety: "Someone went into this specific spot and painted a yellow line ... at that point it's not necessarily believable"
Battlefield 6 multiplayer screenshot
Battlefield 6 developer explains there's no visual filter, every level in the new FPS simply has "the actual atmospheric vibe of each particular location"
Latest in Assassin's Creed
The pack shot for Assassin's Creed Mirage featuring Basim
Two years and one Assassin's Creed Shadows later, Ubisoft is giving AC Mirage a "surprise" free DLC after saying it was done with the game
Assassin's Creed Shadows screenshot showing female protagonist Naoe
Assassin's Creed Shadows beats Mario Kart World and Elden Ring Nightreign to be the top-selling 2025 game in Europe this year, but EA Sports FC 25 has still managed to sell more
Assassin's Creed 3 director says Ubisoft put "a lot of pressure" on devs to "add play time" and "bulk" out games with RPG elements "to delay resale as GameStop was the only one making any money on that transaction"
Looking over the countryside in Assassin's Creed Shadows
Assassin's Creed Shadows developers are focusing on improving "what we already have," but they're adding at least one new open-world activity in post-launch updates
Assassin's Creed Shadows cinematic screenshot
Assassin's Creed Shadows canon mode doesn't include romance because it's too "personal": "It was better to not make it canon"
Assassin's Creed Shadows
Ubisoft explains why Assassin's Creed Shadows ditched social stealth, but says it's likely not gone for good: "Our stealth team chose to put 100% of their energy on the moment-to-moment tactical shinobi experience"
Latest in Features
Cropped key art for Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles shows two characters stood side by side.
45 minutes of Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles has me certain that Square Enix "rebuilding" the remaster after losing the original source code was worth the effort
Where Winds Meet hands-on preview
I played Where Winds Meet and fell in love with the RPG's open world so fast I could barely pay attention to any of the missions
Borderlands 4 screenshot shows someone holding a weapon forward towards the camera.
"We tend to commit to the bit": Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford talks Borderlands 4, the evolution of looter-shooters, and $80 game discourse
Valor Mortis
Ghostrunner devs abandon parkour for Valor Mortis, a first-person soulslike that might explain why the rest of the genre follows Dark Souls' lead
A mech firing a machine gun in the desert in Menace
Menace is an XCOM-Warhammer hybrid that makes turn-based strategy feel like an immersive sim, and for the first time in my life I'm playing a game that seems made for me
Metal Gear Solid 5 showing Snake and Ocelot looking to the horizon in front of more soldiers
10 years later, Metal Gear Solid 5 remains a masterpiece that was never going to live up to its own hype
  1. Kaser clad in black and Victor in white clash swords in Lost Soul Aside
    1
    Lost Soul Aside review: "We (don't) have Final Fantasy Versus 13 at home"
  2. 2
    Hell is Us review: "The lack of waypoints and explicit objectives is a double-edged magical sword that pulls me deep into its harsh world"
  3. 3
    Shuten Order review: "The Danganronpa creator's new multi-genre mystery feels like a forgotten DS cult classic I would have been obsessed with"
  4. 4
    The Rogue Prince of Persia review: "I roguelike but don't roguelove this freerunner – there's just not enough to stand out"
  5. 5
    Shinobi: Art of Vengeance review: "So close to being to a pitch-perfect revival of a classic series, but just can't quite line up the killing blow"
  1. Jacob Elordi as the monster in Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein
    1
    Frankenstein review: "A classy, if somewhat safe, adaptation"
  2. 2
    Weapons review: "A twisted fairytale that bests Barbarian"
  3. 3
    The Fantastic Four: First Steps review: "An occasionally thrilling heroic adventure that sits safely within a B-tier MCU range"
  4. 4
    Superman review: "A triumphant reinvention and a promising start for the DCU"
  5. 5
    Jurassic World Rebirth Review: "An unscary sequel that needed a little more time in amber"
  1. John Cena as Peacemaker holds a gun to the head of a different John Cena as Peacemaker in Peacemaker season 2.
    1
    Peacemaker season 2 review: "Darker and sadder than the first year, but there's still a lot of fun to be had with the 11th Street Kids."
  2. 2
    Wednesday season 2 part 1 review: "Complex and exciting but weighed down by too many subplots"
  3. 3
    Alien: Earth review: "Arguably the franchise's strongest outing since James Cameron's Aliens"
  4. 4
    King of the Hill season 14 review: "Hank Hill himself has evolved into a much more open and accepting person"
  5. 5
    Eyes of Wakanda review: "A creative premise shortchanged by the runtime and Marvel bloat"

GamesRadar+ is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Review guidelines
  • Write for us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...