Assassin's Creed Series

[Moving Idiot]

An eagle drone... Ubisoft. Ubisoft never changes.

[rtie]

Having watched the gameplay demo a second time it looks far more promising to me after paying more attention to the details.

 

That opening sweeping shot of Bayek's eagle travelling through the various vistas was beautiful, the colours, the textures of terrain, the ripples of the water and the dynamic sky. Then making it's way into more civilised territory, the panoramic view of Alexandria's bay and its famed lighthouse. This is a rare opportunity as most cities we've seen previously still stand today however little of ancient/ classical Alexandria exists. The eagle moves towards more rural environment with rocky outcrops, arid plains and wild animals. All this set against the of a beating drum and horn fanfare that really annunciates the epic scale.

 

I love the fact they've rid of the mini-map and replaced it with a much tidier compass, it really cleans up the screen, I hope we can get rid the XP bar as I don't really give a f*ck what level I am at every given time.

The colour scale looks pretty, animations look pretty, NPCs don't look too lively I would have liked to see more interaction out of them or at least reaction.

Nice to see the silks not clipping with the horse.

Our second view of Medunamun, the assassination target looks fairly low-res, albeit exotic.

The jumping bow kill is cool although the frames look tetchy at time.

I'm glad to here plus see more customisation, hopefully on the level of Unity's.

Levelling looks a better this time around, seems you actually have to evaluate your targets rather than going straight in one man army à la Syndicate where you become way too OP.

 

Combat looks a bit awkward, however better than the previous 3 games. Not as weighty as 2 and looks like it lacks proper force. Kill animation was pretty cool although like the stabs and slashes it lacked weight, you know the kind of weight and force you'd get after planting a khopesh into someone's skull.

 

Curving the arrow thing looked like a pretty sh*t gimmick

 

and f*ck off with the pre-order 10 a minute mission you cheeky c*nts.

 

 

 

Overall it looked great and scale looked big which is what I wanted to see from a game set in Ancient Egypt, hopefully we'll be fighting some dodgy cults dark powers while coming across various historic figures.

[ClaudeSpeed1911]

 

Edit: I got an idea. How about current day era gets replaced with a Brotherhood assassin of the past, who tries to discover an ancestors past? That way, the brotherhood is still there, in the past-future.

 

Edit2: Obviously there's no Animus so how about the future assassin finds a hidden libary to uncover the truth of the past, way before the Brotherhood even existed? These books will be the doors to the sequences is the Cleopatra era, written by the main protag himself.

 

Good reason to finally get rid off the futuristic HUD.

 

You can even have the plot be about them finding an a device like the apple but it got lost through time so the future assassin tries finding it by looking into the past.

[HaythamKenway]

Direct sequels with Bayek or sequels akin to the Kenway trilogy is the question for me, right now. Will we follow interconnected events with different characters or a singular journey akin to Ezio?

So far there was no indication of what path they'll choose. I would say that keeping Bayek as the protagonist would make most sense. Take a page out of Revelations and have him travelling around, sharing his teachings and trying to rally other people to his cause. Center each game around a completely different cast of characters, but keep an ongoing story with an overarching bad guy (not necessarily Caesar - he can very well be used in a similar role as Charles Lee or Robespierre were) whose conspiracy Bayek has to slowly uncover while gathering strenght to challenge him.

 

This could be the first true trilogy in the series, actually. A real arc. Everything else in the series was made up on the fly. Ezio's trilogy was just a chronicle of his life told in three parts. Revelations was a one-off and Brotherhood was an epilogue to II. The Kenway saga wasn't a trilogy either, being a collection of four games, in fact, loosely connected by recurring characters and shared setting. Unity and Syndicate were Ubisoft throwing stuff out in the dark.

 

It's funny how they are winging this lumbering giant ever since 2009. That's both a good and a bad thing. A loose plan allows for more breathing room and creative freedom for individual stories (we'd never get Black Flag or Rogue if it wasn't for AC constantly moving and shifting year from year) and doesn't neuter immediate standalone games for the sake of delayed resolution. But on the other hand there's nothing really holding these games together if there is no clear direction to take. Just look how the Modern Day ended up. The notorious Juno arc is getting wrapped up in an EU comic book. If you only care about the stories of significance, that really move the series forward, Unity and Syndicate might be optional playthroughs in a few years, since they added very little to the lore (Unity detailed the birth of the modern Templars, but Syndicate really was completely inconsequential).

 

A mid-term plan, like having three games clearly planned out and set in stone, might make people more invested in the series beyond seeing these games as isolated annual episodes. I remember all the excitement and speculation during the Desmond era about the story and where it will go next. That doesn't happen anymore. Remember when this series was actually famous for mystery cliffhanger endings? I definitely don't want Ubisoft to go all Mystery Box, god no, but I'd like them to tie the games together a bit better, make more out of the unique serial storytelling they have going on. Assassin's Creed right now is more like an anthology series than a real ongoing story.

Edited June 12, 2017 by HaythamKenway

[Creed Bratton]

It looks like they took some lessons from The Witcher 3 and that's a really good thing IMO.

[Leftist Bastard]

While they probably were winging the Kenway trilogy and had no real plan in mind; i'd say they sort of are one story in the end. These 3 games as a whole are thematically connected by their focus on the dogmatic nature of the assassin's creed and the duality of the Templar/Assassin conflict. III focuses on the assassins, Rogue on the Templars and IV focuses on an outsider and his interaction with both of these dogmas. We see both sides with an impartial perspective to balance it all off.

 

From a story perspective Rogue, IV and 3 are connected by several characters and arcs that seep into each other. Haytham, Achilies, etc. I agree with on more planning making for potentially more compelling games - but I don't really care much for the modern day so if they do it I don't want it to be through that but through the historical parts.

[KratosDrake]

Am I the only one interested on Desmond's son, being a Sage and all? Maybe we're living his memories. Just a wild guess.

[BenMitchell90]

I'd also love to see a real trilogy for this series. Even the Ezio trilogy wasn't really a true trilogy, from a story standpoint - if anything, it's more like a duology of II and Brotherhood, followed by Revelations acting as a Godfather III sort of finale in that it's set years after the first two and explores the protagonist's older years, acting as a conclusion for the character we've been following for all this time. And yeah, the Kenway quartet was a more connected narrative, involving a largely shared setting and recurring characters while following the Kenway family (even Liberation, which is the "odd duck out" of the story, has a Connor guest spot) and a thoughtful and thorough look at the Assassins and Templars and what makes them tick.

 

I'd also love to follow a new Assassin across multiple games. While I do love how the series offers up such a large collection of protagonists, one of the things that made Ezio so special to me was how we followed him and got to know him across three games. I'd love to see this happen again with Bayek, so long as it makes sense for his character and journey in Origins. Connor, Aveline, Edward, Arno, Shay, and Jacob and Evie all got what felt like pretty definitive conclusions to their stories - their foes were defeated and they'd found whatever they were seeking. I guess they could have just brought the characters back for more adventures, but none of them really had loose ends that needed tying up, or enemies that got away and needed to be dealt with. I guess you could make a case for Connor helping with the French Revolution, but I always took Lafayette's line as more of a hint of a future French Revolution game than any real sequel hook for Connor. And yeah, the fact that Arno and Shay never met still feels like a missed opportunity, but then again, Arno weirdly seemed more interested about finding his adoptive father's killer than he did his biological father's. I guess that would make some sense, given that Arno was framed for de la Serre's murder and Elise held him responsible for a while, but I dunno, it still feels weird. Maybe we would have gotten this story if Unity's story had gone over better (and was, y'know, better )? Who knows.

 

But I digress. Point is, I guess we'll see with Bayek. He seems like a really cool character, and I can't wait to really get to know him.

Edited June 13, 2017 by Wu-Tang Forever

[Sunrise Driver]

Copernicus DLC is officially on PC!

 

A month ago Ubisoft updated PC version of AC Brotherhood with previously PS3 exclusive DLC - Copernicus Conspiracy. 6 years after PC release.

So if you have the game, install/download it and enjoy this DLC/Side missions.

 

I'm saying "officially" because Copernicus was available on PC as unofficial addon back in fall 2014 already.

 

It's also available on AC Ezio Collection remaster for PS4/XOne (for the first time on Xbox consoles).

Edited June 28, 2017 by Street Mix

[Journey_95]

The best Assassin's Creed game is Assassin's Creed. The sequels, apart from the very first one, just introduce successive amounts of bloat that don't further the game in any way, they just give you more stuff on the side to do. They're acceptable games, as games go, but so crammed full of useless nonsense that adds nothing but busywork.

 

I remember when Assassin's Creed had the most exciting and innovative concept in gaming. Then we got f*cking Ezio the pin up, and it all went downhill from there.

 

Black Flag was a great return to form. Syndicate was pretty good. The rest have been tedious garbage, IMO. And bear in mind, I have bought every single AC game on release day, I even consider myself to be a "big fan" of the series, but it is so overwhelmingly disappointing that they've never made a game as good as the first since.

 

They need to strip it back and get back to the Assassin's Creed roots.

Wtf is this post? Syndicate was good but the Ezio games and AC3 sucked? Wow

 

It has the most useless nonsense with Unity, the story and characters are sh*t and caricatures etc.

 

And the first one while the writing was great, the actual gameplay was awful. Just the same sh*t repeated again and again

Edited August 5, 2017 by Journey_95

[Journey_95]

How would you guys rank the series?

For me its very inconsistent and kind of lackluster (espeically lately):

1. Ezio Trilogy (The peak of the series, Ezio is such a great protagonist who you really get to know and follow from his birth to his death, the historical characters and events were also integrated in a natural way, and the settings you visit are great. Sure the Templars are a bit too cartoony in AC2 and ACB but I think it was fitting there)

 

2. AC Black Flag (A bit too much pirate esque at times but the outsider perspective was refreshing and Edward is easily the second best main character of the series. His Journey into becoming an Assassin was well done. It had the best side cast as well with memorable characters like Blackbeard, Mary, Adewale etc.)

 

3. AC 3 (After replaying it again I appreciate it a bit more. I still think that Connor is frustrating and matures way too late but Haytham is probably in my Top 3 favourite characters of the series especially after reading his book. Such a compelling and tragic character. The rest of the Templars apart from Charles Lee are also great and the best part of the game. The setting is interesting and even though Connor was too Forrest Gump esque its better than just wasting it)

 

4. AC1 (The writing is fantastic, the targets are the series best with AC3 and I love Altair's conversations with them. I also appreciate Altair more now after his tragic role in Revelations. The Crusades are never really explored in games and even movies and were a great choice. The repetitive missions drag the game down though, its always the same sh*t)

 

5. AC Rogue (The concept is very interesting, finally playing as a Templar but they kind of wasted it. Shay's development isn't very gradual, the Assassins are turned into evil morons for the story to work and it feels very rushed. I like how it connected AC3 and Black Flag though.)

 

6. AC Unity (The French Revolution (one of the most interesting settings) was completely wasted in favour of a cheesy terribly written love story. Arno is awful, just bland and basically a poor man's Ezio. His obsession with Ellise was laughable and the latter is an annoying plot device. Don't even remember the main villian or anyone else apart from Bellec who is the only good character. BUT Paris is probably the best crafted location of the series).

 

7. AC Syndicate (The tone is completely off and it feels like a sh*tty sitcom. I didn't care one bit for Jacob and Evie. The templars return to being cartoony but without the charm of Cesare and Rodrigo, Starrick is stupid and just spends the whole game playing f*cking piano. The gameplay was a big step back from Unity. Its the most generic and safe game of the series).

Edited August 6, 2017 by Journey_95

[chronic lumbago]

I actually loved Syndicate and plan to replay it. Being completely honest here, I cannot point out one single thing about Syndicate that annoyed me. The story was good and I'm glad they eased off the whole assassin thing a little bit.

Oh alright, I have one thing: the assassin who fell in love with Evie annoyed me a little bit and wasn't a well written character.

The city was the most alive in the series, navigating the rooftops was superb, great combat, loved the gangs vibe, train safehouse was something unique, the canal and it's ships looked outstanding, the city felt huge.

 

I understand why people don't like Syndicate for having a bad story or this and that, but I personally enjoyed it a lot and loved the direction this game took.

 

 

Anyways, I've finished Freedom Cry two days ago. Holy sh*t, memory 08 was the most intense and dramatic moment ever since AC3's tribe slaughter, maybe this one was even better.

 

I just wish Adewale had his own full game. I'd take him over Rouge any day. Rouge should've been the DLC and Freedom Cry the full game. I hope we'll see more about slaves in Origins.

Edited August 6, 2017 by fashion

[Journey_95]

I actually loved Syndicate and plan to replay it. Being completely honest here, I cannot point out one single thing about Syndicate that annoyed me. The story was good and I'm glad they eased off the whole assassin thing a little bit.

Oh alright, I have one thing: the assassin who fell in love with Evie annoyed me a little bit and wasn't a well written character.

The city was the most alive in the series, navigating the rooftops was superb, great combat, loved the gangs vibe, train safehouse was something unique, the canal and it's ships looked outstanding, the city felt huge.

 

I understand why people don't like Syndicate for having a bad story or this and that, but I personally enjoyed it a lot and loved the direction this game took.

 

 

Anyways, I've finished Freedom Cry two days ago. Holy sh*t, memory 08 was the most intense and dramatic moment ever since AC3's tribe slaughter, maybe this one was even better.

 

I just wish Adewale had his own full game. I'd take him over Rouge any day. Rouge should've been the DLC and Freedom Cry the full game. I hope we'll see more about slaves in Origins.

I think Unity and Syndicate are both bad, just put the latter last because of the worse city (Paris definitely felt more alive and atmospheric to me) and gameplay (dumbed down).

 

Syndicate's characters were all rather bland (Jacob is a complete joke with no development, Evie tries too hard, Henry who?), the story was predictable and sh*t (a worse version of Brotherhood), villians suckedetc. the gang vibe had potential but wasn't used well. You just have a big gang after like one mission and there are no real characters in it (same for the "evil" gang).

 

The tone was awful, I mean games like AC2 and BF also had humor but it was used well. In Syndicate everything seemed like a cheap ass joke, no stakes or tension whatsoever.

 

I agree that Freedom's Cry was amazing though, Adewale deserved his own game. Disliked his ending in Rogue..

Edited August 6, 2017 by Journey_95

[The Rockstar Gamer 108]

Honestly, I have no interest in the whole Eurasia and Africa except the Ancient India.

 

I always dislike Revelations especially coz I rather dislike those areas. I have never played I or iI or Brotherhood.

Unity and Syndicate made my impression worse over AC Series. I even couldn't understand why a girl like Evie did pay attention to a man like Henry Green! They were all dull games IMO.

 

Rather I'd LOVE Assassin's Creed III and IV.

They were all bright and amazing.

 

East or West, Black Flag is the BEST!

 

 

[chronic lumbago]

I think it's funny how many people (myself included) consider a spinoff game the best game in the series. It's both a great Assassins game and at the same time, the best pirate game ever created.

[Leftist Bastard]

It's a numbered title. Not a spin off.

[Kiffster]

Really enjoyed the first game as well as the Ezio trilogy, and I don't think III was as bad as most people say. Not as good as the previous games for sure, but not bad either.

 

Black Flag however was absolutely terrible. Badly designed towns/villages and world in general that wasn't fun or even remotely interesting to explore, and the whole naval aspect of the game became way too boring very quickly. Gameplay overall was just not very exciting or fun, and it was the last AC game I've played (although I don't think I even finished it. Couldn't be bothered).

 

Always wanted AC to head to ancient Egypt and Origins does look amazing, but I don't know if I really want to dive back into the series. I probably will check out the game eventually though. Have absolutely no interest to try out any of the other games

[UltraZ]

I really enjoyed III, It gave so much depth and it was so underrated. People hate it because they think Connor has no emotion and stuff like that, they don't realize his character was developed so well. And yes, id you ask me, III is the best game in the franchise, following II and Brotherhood. IV was okay, as a pirate game, but it made no sense, since you weren't even playing as an assassin. It was an okay game, yes, but it made no sense. I remember playing III at time of release back in 2012, even i didn't think the game would be so good.

 

Coming to AC Origins however, I don't see it coming to the level of the Ezio Trilogy or III. At most, it might just gain back some fans here and there. Since Unity was a mess, i haven't even cared about the series, played Syndicate and completed it, i forgot half of the story itself.

Also, Egypt doesen't seem a rather interesting destination for an AC game, i would like to see something related to WW1 or anything else.

Edited August 7, 2017 by UltraZ

[Journey_95]

I really enjoyed III, It gave so much depth and it was so underrated. People hate it because they think Connor has no emotion and stuff like that, they don't realize his character was developed so well. And yes, id you ask me, III is the best game in the franchise, following II and Brotherhood. IV was okay, as a pirate game, but it made no sense, since you weren't even playing as an assassin. It was an okay game, yes, but it made no sense. I remember playing III at time of release back in 2012, even i didn't think the game would be so good.

 

Coming to AC Origins however, I don't see it coming to the level of the Ezio Trilogy or III. At most, it might just gain back some fans here and there. Since Unity was a mess, i haven't even cared about the series, played Syndicate and completed it, i forgot half of the story itself.

Also, Egypt doesen't seem a rather interesting destination for an AC game, i would like to see something related to WW1 or anything else.

Disagree on your last point, if they go WW1 or WW2 the series will have jumped the shark. Ancient Egypt is a way better setting for the series, much more potential there (with historical figures like Caesar, Cleopatra, Mark Antony etc.) and they will delve into the origins of the Assassins and Templars

[MrBellicLC]

 

[Creed Bratton]

And yes, id you ask me, III is the best game in the franchise

I'm glad that you enjoyed it so much, but it's really not the best game in the franchise. Not by a long shot. It is filled with terrible and unintuitive design choices, not to mention horrible mission structure and level design. Crafting mechanics and trading alone will put it below almost every other game in the series because of how badly it was implemented. The AI somehow managed to become even dumber, yet the main character became even deadlier. It's really a badly designed game all around. But the game went through development hell, so it's no wonder that it's so messed up.

 

The story and the characters are pretty awesome, though. If that's why you like it so much I can't argue with that.

[Laker23]

 

That lip syncing.

 

Game looks gorgeous though.

[Rockstar Vienna]

Oh... Cleopatra and Caesar in the game.

 

 

[chronic lumbago]

Some more cinematics:

 

 

 

The more I watch, the more I'm tempted to get this. Had my doubts first, but the setting and characters are just too damn interesting.

Gonna wait for the first reviews though but I'm almost sold. Unless something goes horribly wrong, I'm buying shortly after release. No collectors edition or preorder, ubisoft can suck my ahem in that regard. They disappointed me more than enough times with their DLCs. Unless there's a larger expansion such as Jack the Ripper coming, I'm not buying anything.

 

Not gonna replay Black Flag and Syndicate after all. Don't want to burn myself out.

Edited August 22, 2017 by fashion

[Rockstar Vienna]

The more I watch, the more I'm tempted to get this. Had my doubts first, but the setting and characters are just too damn interesting.

Same here, It really grew on me.

[Zello]

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1423508

 

Interesting stuff about an interview Patrice Desilets gave and his thoughts on the series

[acmilano]

I went recently through 'American' saga again and then AC Unity and Syndicate for the first time. Had a lot of fan with all of them but noniced still a lot of glitches and bugs in Unity. Syndicate was improvement. Also,it kinda reminded me on San Andreas and first Saints Row games with gang warfare aspect.

Also see what modern story had become... I actually liked Desmond story and still my favorite mission is when Desmond gets some payback on Vidic and Abstergo. For five games he was preparing for a great finale and then kinda weak ending for him. And pulling Juno out of a$$ was just weird. for what I think is that Ubisoft need to made modern day good,or end in good. Like,in this new Origin trilogy have some modern day,use Galina Voronina or Desmond's son to do some modern missions(at least like in AC3) and end story with Juno in some confrontation,maybe even in cooperation with Otso Berg. After that world will be saved but infrastructure might be damaged enough that Assassins and Templars declare temporary cease fire. Later games then could be stand alone games,with premise that either Assassins or Templars are keep searching for artefacts using Animus/Helix but with out modern conflict,or even some Historians on universities are exploring history with this tool unaware that two secret societies still exists. That could be some sort of solution for a (lack of)modern day,and give some closure for people who are following series since beginnings.

[chronic lumbago]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/rumor-the-next-assassins-creed-in-called-assassins-creed-dynasty.20444/

 

Rumor is, the next AC game is codenamed AC Dynasty, which could hint at China. Take it with a grain of salt, but AC has a trend to leak the next game early since a few games now. Of course, it could be fake.

 

The location is a 100% pure rumor, the name itself, AC: Dynasty is the only "leak".

[rtie]

Pretty much every nation has had a Dynasty at some point in their history. "Dynasty" will likely be a placeholder name, in the past we've seen placeholder names don't have bearings on the plot a la "Comet" for Rogue and "Victory" for Syndicate. While I'd love a game with an oriental theme I feel after the success of Origins they'll continue where they left off.

[chronic lumbago]

That's what I was thinking, if it's true then it's most likely a placeholder name.

 

I think that Ubisoft leaks those names and early concepts intentionally. It happens so many times. Either that or a troll saw through the pattern, which is not that hard to see.

 

While Dynasty could mean anything, it's a buzzword that makes most people think about the Ming Dynasty first and foremost. Just like Victory was a buzzword for Victorian Era London, or Empire made people think of Roman Empire. With Empire, early Egypt concepts leaked too so people speculated the setting is going to be Egypt.

 

It's odd that the leak arrives so early. Maybe Ubi goes back to annual releases? If they do, for the love of god make it a rotation so we get a Bayek/Aya game every two years. The Hidden Ones DLC also hinted where the protags will go next, which also could be potential settings.

 

This post is pure speculation.