Ubisoft Forward: Everything Assassins Creed That Was Revealed
The recent Ubisoft Forward (Ubisoft’s own answer to the likes of a Nintendo Direct or Playstation’s State of Play) took place this past weekend and was being hyped up for its revolutionary Assassins Creed showings. Well, the show came and went, and the perception many people seemed to share from the event was… confusion? Assassins Creed has never been a simple franchise- from yearly releases to an RPG model to moving away from the Assassins theme entirely. Despite this, I’d wager to say that the most recent showcase of the franchise has been the most baffling yet. Even now, I’m not entirely sure what is in store for the series, despite them revealing five new games in the span of around 30 minutes. If the last few Assassins Creed entries had long-term fans worried, it's certain now that they don’t know what to think. So, what was actually shown at the showcase? Well, that’s still something that’s a little unclear…
The event started quite strong. The new big Assassins Creed project got a reveal trailer. ‘Mirage’ was rumored to be a return to the roots of the series, and that certainly seems to be what we’re getting here. First off, a return to the Middle-East that we haven’t seen in a main line game since the original entry. This is big, and it certainly gives the impression that Ubisoft want to recapture the magic of Assassins Creed, but this time with the graphical and technological enhancement we’ve seen in the past 15 years. We also got to see the return of dedicated stealth mechanics, such as the crowd blending and proper assassination targets that have been mostly missing from the series in a big way for a few entries. While we’ve only seen a cinematic trailer (meaning there’s not much to go on just yet), we can hope that Mirage delivers on its promise of a traditional, proper stealth experience. It seems the series is finally moving back to being all about Assassins.
Next up was a look at the final expansion for Assassins Creed: Valhalla and it really does look like, well, more Valhalla. Personally, I think it’s time for the series to move past the RPG phase and go back to a dedicated historical, third person stealth game. While that does seem to be what we’re getting with Mirage, the next announcement was more worrying. Assassins Creed: Jade was revealed to move the series to China, but with one caveat. The game looks great graphically, but that’s when it was revealed to be a mobile only entry. While this is not necessarily a bad thing (and the graphical fidelity is very impressive if rendered in engine), it doesn’t really hold that big, impactful intrigue that would be in place if it were a console game. But, then again, it would be strange for Ubisoft to announce another main series entry within such a short time frame of Mirage. Well, that’s what I thought until…
Assassins Creed: Codename RED and Codename HEXE were both revealed to be proper, console Assassins Creeds. While this does come with the point that these are going to be part of a wider ‘Infinity’ project, but this does not take away from the fact that three main series, big budget entries in the same franchise were announced within the same 30 minute period. Without practically any information on these games being revealed (besides Codename RED being set in the much-anticipated feudal Japan), it’s hard to really get excited about- especially before even Mirage is released. What the future holds for the series is now even more up for debate, and, although exciting in many ways, it is a little scary to see so many projects in the works at the same time. Only time will tell how this turns out, but I’m being cautiously optimistic.
So, that was everything announced. Of course, this is ignoring the live concert announcement and documentaries that usually come with anniversary celebrations, but I’m certain the majority of people are mostly just interested in the games. As for these games, well, I think the keyword would be worrying. To announce so many in such a short time frame promises a lot- even without a release window. We still have no real idea of what Assassins Creed: Infinity is, apart from encapsulating two main series games in some way. At the end of it, Saturday’s Ubisoft Forward left many with more questions than answers- which is not a great thing for a series with such a rocky recent history.
