Man, I wish I got my issue this early.
- Ezio has a new item called the hookblade which allows him to use ziplines throughout the city. UBI says that it speeds up navigation by about 30%
Hm. Sounds like it could be a great replacement for the well system in Brotherhood (even though I would like to see that return as well). I wonder if you'll be able to abandon it along any section of the line or if you have to stay on it all the way to the end. Hope they include a cool motion blur effect when sliding down it.
- Ezio can now make bombs through a crafting system. UBI says that there are over 300 bomb types
I liked the idea when it was first presented in that AC survey a few months back, but now I'm not so sure that it will fit in. I totally imagined it for a different time period for some reason. I wonder what overall purpose bombs will end up serving in the game.
I'd like to see some sort of "capture" bomb that releases a net or something. I don't know.
- They've modified the control scheme so that circle/B will control the hookblade and triangle/Y will control project weapons and bombs
Well, the hookblade being on Circle makes sense since that was always the grab the button anyway. I don't know how I feel about the projectiles being moved to the triangle button though. I liked them being on the "Hold Square" function. This was really useful for the combo chains in Brotherhood. It also freed up some space on the weapon wheel because the projectiles were each attached to their own melee weapon.
- Eagles vision has become eagle sense. "Eagle sense let's you focus on a character and see where he's been," Amancio says. "You'll get an approximation of where he will go. If you're able to detect the path a guard will take, you can run ahead, set a bomb, and create a trap or an ambush."
Since the Triangle button is now being used for projectiles, I'm guessing they will attach this to the lock-on button (L1). I think I like this decision. Maybe they will do away with the completely darkened vision and instead just highlight the person or object you happened to be looking at with the zoomed-in view with the red/blue/gold aura. Actually locking on to that person could reveal their paths or whatever.
I do think the part about setting traps is funny though. It would be much easier to just go down there and stab the dude.
- They've expanded on the Borgia Towers concept in order to create a new system. Throughout the city there are Assassin's Den's, you'll need to complete various assault scenarios in order take down the Templar presence (UBI says that there's more variety than in the Borgia Towers). Once you obtain a den you'll be able to upgrade the buildings in that region along with adding ziplines across the rooftops. You'll also be able to change the guards from being hostile to neutral.
- You can lose control of you dens as you gain notoriety. You'll be able to send your own troops after the templars if you're unable to make it back to the specific den that's being attacked. You can do that by making it to any of the other dens that you currently control. You'll also be able to install a master assassin to control a specific den and you'll never have to worry about it being taken over.
- The assassin leveling mechanic has been increased from 10 to 15
I hope each Assassin Den is quite different from the others. Assaulting each new one should feel like a fresh experience. I think they should be treated like the Romulus Lairs/Assassin tombs, but with a larger mix of combat/platforming/puzzle solving.
I hope by 'neutral' they mean those annoying rooftop guards won't attack you immediately on-site in the very areas that you control.
I'm really curious to see how this whole tug-of-war for control of the Dens plays out. This could be an exciting new mechanic if done properly. I wonder how much time you will have to make it back to the area that is being attacked. I also wonder how sending your troops to battle for you will work. Will it be similar to the missions in AC:B?
Also, my basic thoughts on the Assassin Brotherhood in general (taken from some old posts and mixed with some new stuff):
While it was a fantastic addition, I don't think enough was done with it. For example, none of the assassins really seem all that unique. Sure, each one has their own name and a somewhat non-generic appearance, but I don't believe there was enough of a difference between them. Every potential recruit you approach is involved in a fight with three guards and they're all poor and wield swords. It would have been much cooler if they all had unique situations that you could find them in. Examples include: About to jump off a bridge and kill themselves; setting fire to a guard house; randomly roaming about the rooftops of Rome; being escorted away by a group of guards; commanding a group of mercenaries in a battle against the guards; and, for one special recruit, watching their family being hung by the Borgia (mirroring Ezio's own tale). It could have been cool to recruit a few pairs (like a father/son duo).
Each recruit should have had personal stats as well as having their own upgrade branches (instead of the basic four armor upgrades (pauldrons/greaves/chest guard/plate set); four weapon upgrades (dagger/sword/?/Axe); three equipment slots; and small selection of clothing dye that disappears once they become full assassins). These stats (including a personality type- rash, calm, clever, and so on and job- leader. strategist, fighter, tactician, etc.) as well as equipment would have had more of an affect on mission success than plain old level. Personality type/job would really come into effect when it came to pairing up assassins for more difficult missions. Having too many leaders wouldn't really work out all that well. Neither would assigning a bunch of brash assassins to a stealth mission.
Ezio should have interacted more with his assassin recruits as well. It would have felt much more like a brotherhood that way. Especially with the introduction of the new Den system, it would really be cool to see how your assassins are handling themselves overall. I want to care for my assassin guild and the way that could happen would to really give a personality to these people and letting them talk to Ezio. Some may like him, some may hate him and even try to overthrow him. There could be a mini-coup attempt. There's all kinds of interesting possibilities here.
It would also be nice if you could see small video clips of how each mission went once it is completed.
I liked the fact that you unlocked a recruit slot after destroying a Borgia tower. It just made sense. I was disappointed with the fact that you could only have three Brotherhood Assist Move slots even though you could have nearly double the amount of assassins in your guild.
In fact, I think the whole key to the Brotherhood system is diversity and uniqueness.
- In order to make the world more immersive they've done away with traditional side missions in favor of random events. For example you may be traveling through a city and notice a shop owner being robbed or a little girl asking for help
This could be good as long as there is a lot of diversity in the missions. AC1 had similar stuff where you rescued a woman from guards and then a group of mercenaries would show up in that spot and passively help you when guards were chasing you by tripping them up or holding on to them.
All in all, they need to avoid mission repetitiveness.
- They're using a new type of capture facial technology called Mocam that GI describes as an "intriguing amalgamation of traditional animation, performance capture and the fascinating new style of performance on display in games like LA Noire."
I'd like to see the results of this.
- Desmond is placed back inside Animus where he finds a safe mode called the 'Black Room'. You'll be able to access Desmond's lost memories through that back door
- The gameplay during Desmond's game is described as narrative-fueled puzzle sequences. "Through the manipulation and creation of geometry with the game world, Desmond seeks to reintegrate the splintered layers of his subconscious."
I wonder if these will play out like a mixture between the final section of Brotherhood in the hidden room beneath the Colosseum and the final Subject 16 section.