Funny that, I' ve had it freeze on me twice too.
I JUST finished the game and I have to say that the cliffhanger has pissed me off in
a good way. It definitely means that there is an Assassin' s Creed 2.
SPOILER-----------------------------------------------------------------
What happens in the end is that the 9 men who you are supposed to kill turn out
to all be bastards anyway, regardless of what they said during their passing, it also
turns out that Al Mualim is also one of the " discoverers" of the ancient treasure and
has the exact same desire as the 9 you' ve just " feathered" .lol
During the passing of Robert he tells you that there were 10 people that found the
treasure (Al Mualim) being the tenth, so Altair being the badass he is asks Robert who the tenth man is. because all that are " selfish" must die. The twist here is
that Al Mualim wanted you to kill the other 9 so that he wouldn' t be bothered about
his treasure that he had you fetch in the beginning, and Robert was en route to
amass an army to get it back from him. Having tracked down the " real" Robert,
Altair executes him and heads back to Masyaf where Al Mualim has made an
impressive turn around on the saying " Nothing is real and everything is permitted"
yes, you' ve heard this before " there is no spoon" as long as you have the
treasure.
Al Mualim demonstrates this by hijacking the minds of the residents of Masyaf
and making them spew nonsense about " The Master" and stuff.
Eventually when you get to the entrance of the Assassin' s stronghold you need to
fight a couple of your brainwashed brothers who are as strong as Templars (taking
2 health bars at a time) but not as annoying when it comes to them countering you
and kicking you in the nuts.
Ironically you' re saved by Malek (the literal one-armed-bandit) and you proceed
to the actual fortress, Altair advises him that the men aren' t themselves and to
stay your blade on as many of them as possible, note: This is funny because of
what happened earlier and what happens later.
Getting into the fortress, you' re met by a slew of docile NPC' s just standing there,
the numbers are phenomenal as are the graphics, at which point you gently brush
them all to the side, getting into the main foyer of the fort and exiting into the
lavish rear garden that used to be bundled with the temptations of the flesh.
Here it is that the games first " unnatural occurences" happen. Altair is frozen by
forces unbeknownst to him, that is until Al Mualim reveals his one-eyed b@st@rd
self, and goes on about " Nothing is real, everything is permitted" and reveals the
tool of treasure he is using to manipulate people' s thoughts and visions (the
treasure from the beginning). He states this is what everyone is after and now he
has it, and isn' t fond of sharing it with the other 9 idiots you just laid waste to.
Upon saying this, he brings back the 9 people you just assassinated and you have
to fight them ALL.
Along the way you' re thinking.... Hmm, this battle is oddly easy, until you down
your first member again and find it' s one of your brethren (way to take your own
advice Altair).
Then you fight Al Mualim, own him and are taken back to the future where the
treasure has uncovered the location of 12 treasures, but the guys that have you
captive profess to only needing one of them but are going to take the 12 for
safety anyway.
After the conversation is done and it is time to actually leave that hell-hole of a
room, you suddenly get " Eagle vision" in the present and notice strange markings
EVERYWHERE in the Animus room, and when you go back to your bedroom and
use the eagle vision... A cutscene ensues and Desmond begins to wonder what
exactly was here before him.....
...... Then THE BLINKING CREDITS RUN!!!!!!
Assassin' s Creed 2 set in the present? Masyaf resurrected? Vidic being Al Mualim
incarnate? The 9 making a Return? Lucy being part of the Assassin' s Creed and
kicking ass with you in the sequel?
Who knows? But the game is an interesting set-up or an amazing franchise.
The transitioning between the future and past is the best I have seen outside of
using a Time Machine.
If you want me to detail the fight between Al Mualim and Altair, I can, just ask
KombatFighter, but I hope this has been enough for you.