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How would I write a preview of Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed? That is what I asked myself when approaching one of the most anticipated games of the next-gen consoles for 2007.
 Your character is Altair, a master assassin, trying to put a stop to the Crusades. His objective is to kill nine key figures responsible for perpetuating the wars in the holy cities. The holy cities include: Jerusalem, Acre and Damascus as well as the surrounding country side. As Altair assassinates his victims, he learns that there is more to the Crusades than Christians and Muslims fighting. There are three stages to every assassination attempt. First is the approach. Altair will have to gather information on his target. There are different means to gather this information; the most common will be eavesdropping on people. He will then have to plan when and how to attack his target, as well as how to escape with his own life after the fateful deed has been carried out. The second stage will be the actual act of assassinating the target. This part only lasts a second or two, but this is where Ubisoft plans to really bring the player into the game… as predator meets prey. The final part is the escape. AC will give Altair many choices he will need to make as the action gets fast paced and realistic. Do not plan on this to be your typical hack and slash or you will find yourself assassinated…so to speak. Ubisoft is bringing new artificial intelligence to AC called Crowd Flow. In any situation the crowds will have a natural and realistic feel to it. If you casually stroll through the crowd towards your target, you will mostly go unnoticed. If you should push and shove your way through, this will cause a commotion; thus, alerting the guards and your targets to your presence allowing him to escape. The other element to Crowd Flow is how they react to every situation and who you have allied with. If Altair befriends a beggar, he may find the beggar and his friends help block guards for a speedy escape after an assassination. There have been hints of a TOLERANCE meter. One would guess this will show you when Altair has drawn too much attention and needs to hide back into the crowd until all calms down. Ubisoft is also using a redesigned control system, allowing players to just grab the controller and play AC. If the job is done right, the player can function without ever looking at the manual. The new control system places one of Altair’s body parts to a button. In the case of the PS3, the triangle button is his head, the X is his legs, the square is his hand with weapon and the circle is his hand without a weapon. Probably the best part of Assassin’s Creed will be the interactive environment. Ubisoft will be using the basic two-inch rule. If it sticks out longer than two-inches, Altair can use it. This will allow Altair to plan several routes of attack and more importantly: retreat. If you plan on Altair escaping along a specific path, and the locals and guards decide to block your escape route, this is where planning will come into play. By having a second route, say… along a wall ledge or beam, then up to the rooftops will allow Altair to live and assassinate another day. If you should die, you may find that not all is as it seems. There is talk that this was all a dream or some other form of past life memory, but Ubisoft is being tight-lipped about that. Ubisoft has put one of the best faces behind Assassin’s Creed. No, I am not talking about Altair, but Producer Jade Raymond who has been the face and voice of AC. If there is information anywhere about AC, like the plans of its sequel or sequels, it most likely came from her. If you have any doubts, check out the video diaries hosted by Jade here. Make sure to check out the gallery for a sneak peak into what is sure to be a great game. |
Sunday July 6 2008 | |||||
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