Waltzing on Rooftops and Cobblestones: Investigating Immersion Through the Sounding of Space, Place, and Temporality in the Assassin's Creed Series

Abstract

Music, sound, and space are all major contributors to the concept of ‘immersion’ in video games, though there is currently little by way of a systematic theoretical model for considering specific relationships between these domains. Isabella van Elferen’s A-L-I model of video game musical immersion provides one of the most integrated approaches to analysing sonic cues, though fails to provide a holistic account of different types of involvement with video-game environments. This is particularly problematic when it comes to investigating the open-world genre, whose enormous game locations and non-linear gameplay style substantially affect player agency through the lessening of narrative and ludic restrictions. By combining elements of the A-L-I model with spatial aspects of Gordon Calleja’s ‘player involvement’ model, I propose a means to explore video game interaction through the lens of ‘spatial involvement’. Splitting this concept into the further concepts of spatial semiosis and spatial engagement, I furthermore propose a means to collectively analyse both the contextualisation of space through wider cultural literacies, and moment-by-moment interaction with the spatial apparatus of the game environment. The Assassin’s Creed franchise provides a fruitful case study for the application of these concepts given both its relationship to the open-world genre, and its close association to the expression of real-world history. The combination of these two qualities allow for the participation in ‘historical experiences of space’ through relationships to particular game environments. Throughout this paper, I will investigate the ways in which the Assassin’s Creed games immerse through the sonic expression of space, place, and temporality, using my proposed synthesis of van Elferen and Calleja’s models.