Stabbin’ necks through history in 2.5D
It’s not often we see a major player in the big leagues of yearly releases reinvent itself in a more modest and distinct way. With Assassin’s Creed titles expected every year, it’s been a bit of a challenge for Ubisoft to keep things interesting for players. And after last year’s rough launch for its first true current-gen outing with Assassin’s Creed Unity, the company now plans to try something a bit different with its popular brand.
Though there’s still another major release coming this year, Ubisoft has hopes that theAssassin’s Creed Chroniclestrilogy will switch things up.At a recent press event, we got to learn more about this surprising smaller-scale reinvention of Assassin’s Creed, and how it has echoes of classic titles such as Prince of Persia.Speaking with the developers from Climax Studios, they seek to reinvigorate the AC experience in the 2.5D perspective while retaining the tried-and-true action-stealth gameplay the series is known for.
Assassin’s Creed Chronicles(PC, PS4, Xbox One [previewed])Developer: Climax StudiosPublisher: UbisoftRelease date: April 21, 2015 (Episode One)/ Fall 2015 (Episodes Two and Three)
“It’s a very exciting and very challenging project to work on,” said lead game designer Xavier Penin. “[Ubisoft] had a pretty [sizable] pitch for the project and wanted them to be short, episodic, and each of the stories would have their own specific artstyles that fit the character and time period.We knew we had to focus our efforts on making something that didn’t just feel like a smaller Assassin’s Creed.”
For the first episode, Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China, players take on the role of female assassin Shao Jun, who fans might recognize from the animated film Assassin’s Creed Embers. Picking up some time after the events of Embersin 1526, Shao Jun returns to China after her training with Ezio Auditore and seeks revenge against Emporer Jiajing of the Ming Dynasty after the massacre of the Chinese Assassin Brotherhood. During her exploits, she’ll acquire new abilities and contacts that will help in her quest, and revitalize the Assassin presence in 16th-century China.
China has been a top requested location from fans, along with a playable Shao Jun, and seeing it come to pass is exciting. In the three levels I played, set in The Forbidden City and Fujian Province, we got to experience a starkly different setting and visual palette not seen from the series. Moreover, the brief taste of the India and Russia episodes we saw also feature their own art styles and aesthetic. Granted, the nature of this downloadable title allows them to try different settings, but I was blown away by the potential AC has in such lush environments. This enthusiasm was also shared by the folks behind the title.
“When we were going to do this game with [Shao Jun], I was really excited about it and wanted to get all the information about background and her story, but it was actually pretty thin,” said Penin. “So eventually we decided to come up with new ideas and settings, beyond Embers, and we came up with a story that AC fans will enjoy.”
Understandably, the switch from 3D to 2.5D has brought some changes to the action-stealth gameplay. For the most part, players will still traverse the environment with free-running maneuvers while avoiding detection, and only using combat as a last resort. Players will run and leap across obstacles in the environment and move between the foreground and background during traversal. I was impressed with the depth shown in the environments, and I was quite surprised that areas shown off were largely interactive.
In one section during a prison escape, I had to find my gear before making an exit, which meant having to search for a guard’s keys. After traveling through a hallway, I entered a large cavern housing dozens of prison cells. Off in the distance in the background, there were several guards making their rounds near a number of prisoners. From the foreground, I jumped onto a fallen pillar, which allowed me seamlessly run across to the background of the environment, which had its own unique layout and design. It was neat to be able to see how much depth the levels have, and the later levels show off much more intuitive and clever design.
The stealth gameplay has had a bit of change, however, and the assassins now have to rely more on shadows and darkness to slip past their foes.Instead of the line-of-sight design from past titles, Chronicles utilizes a vision cone system. Similar to Mark of the Ninja‘s gameplay, all enemies can see and hear only a certain distance ahead of them, which gives you the means to figure out the best way around them. While it’s still very much AC, the new design feels different. The lead designer elaborated a little further with how they went about re-designing AC stealth for 2.5D.
“We had a lot of work to find the right recipe because this is the type of gameplay that require precise signs of feedback,” said Penin. “We experimented a lot with the detection system, which focuses on cones of vision that work really well because it shows accurately in the 2D perspective. While some people initially thought [the visual representation of enemy line of sight] got in the way of the art style, ultimately the function allowed for us to design the stealth for players to be more interesting.”
Though you can easily avoid all conflicts by sticking in the shadows or hiding inside doorways or off the sides of ledges, there are a whole assortment of gadgets that Shao Jun has at her disposal, such as the rope dart which can sling enemies and help her traverse to new heights. The action and pace of the stealth from past games is present, though there seems to be much more thought put into it. Some sections felt like actual puzzles more than action-stealth gameplay, and I mean that as a good thing. The narrowing of the perspective put a lot more depth into this facet of gameplay, and it was refreshing to have a more refined approach to it.
I’m also quite impressed with the visual aesthetic of Chronicles. The developers have stated that each episode will have a unique look to it, and China‘s style is stunning in its representation of perpetualautumn and uses of inkblot-style visuals and palettes. The colors are vibrant and lush, and the shadows and darkness show a certain roughness, as if it’s a place that only the Assassins, history’s wet-workers, can venture to. These still-images do not do this title justice — it’s quite gorgeous in action.
While I was enjoying myself throughout the China setting, a part of me wished this was a fully 3D title rather than a downloadable side story. Nothing against this game, as it’s really solid and makes some clever choices in regards to approach to stealth in a limited perspective, however I feel that such rich settings would be better used for full-fledged 3D Assassin’s Creed titles.
In any case, Assassin’s Creed Chronicles is looking to be a nice surprise for the franchise. Though we can undoubtedly expect to see another main entry in the series this year, Chronicles will serve to be a nice change of pace for those looking for a different take on the series. For those who bit on the Unity season pass, you’ll get the first episode on day one. The bite-sized nature of these titles will make them easy to get into, but they’re sure to surprise players with how much depth is present.