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[matrixman92]

good thread Eden, and welcome back

I loved Unity, but so far this one actually doesnt look that interesting to me. Hoping for a great showing at E3

Hoping for a return to actual present time gameplay

 

[GavinUK86]

Every game since the Ezio trilogy has had such garbage stories.

Yup! They really need to sort out the narrative.

 

[ROUGE_BLOCK]

It's nice to know the stealth is more fluid and not a "hard" controlled state. It was much to rigid and the game was screaming for the use of whistling. I am very glad they brought that back.

I love grappling everywhere in the arkham games, so now that I can do it in AC is a welcomed addition.

Still on the fence however as Unity was Ac3 again for me, or not good times at all. It was pretty but mediocre, but then again I loved Black Flag and Rogue is a solid AC installment.

So Ubisoft Quebec, the fans are looking at you to redeem this franchise!

 

[RespectThySole]

I just want another pirate game.

 

[Einchy]

Seriously, though, who thought it was a good idea to set an Assassin's Creed game in Victorian London and then have it take place before the Jack the Ripper murders.

They completely threw away one of the most interesting plots they could have done.

 

[BananasWithGuns]

Really excited for this. Loved Unity so I'm curious to see all the improvements in action.

 

[SketchTheArtist]

Truth be told the characters models in the pre-alpha and especially the animations looked worse than what was seen in Unity. Well, more specifically the new ones that weren't ported from Unity, (they always do this during the pre alpha of AC games). But ofc it's not finished yet so who knows.

I hope man. But the game has to be fairly advanced if it's gonna make its October/November release.

 

[Crossing Eden]

I hope man. But the game has to be fairly advanced if it's gonna make its October/November release.

Oh there's a reason they removed the MP/co-op. (._. )

 

[Duxxy3]

I thought Unity's combat felt pretty smooth on the PC, problem was that they took out so many mechanics which made it feel like a shell at times. Couldn't throw people, pick weapons off the ground, roll manually, use a human shield, hold multiple weapons, and on and on and on. So many weird omissions.

There were so few options in unity that most of the time the only option was to just run. Stealth kills are incredibly limited. Can't move bodies. Guards have perfect gun accuracy, even in a crowd.

If you're going to take away combat, then give the player options to remove guards effectively. Let us do window kills, cover kills and more varied stealth kills (even uncharted has more variety). Give more assassination options, other than just close up with the hidden blade. Dishonored and Hitman are far better in this regard.
Let us move the bodies wherever we want. Put into a closet or haystack? Great. Out a window? Sure. Tied hanging out of a window? Even better.

Weakening combat is a developer choice and one that I don't completely disagree with. But the rest of the game needs to be balanced with that choice in mind.

 

[MattyG]

Yup! They really need to sort out the narrative.

Nothing drives me more insane than how indecisive they are about the modern storyline. I understand that a lot of people hate it, but I really wouldn't mind it IF they could keep some semblance of consistency from game to game. It's like "oh, now you're going to have small modern day assassin mission" "oh, now it's a first person platormer" "oh go wander around this office in first person" "nevermind now watch these people talk to you on a computer monitor", but none of it feels like it's going anywhere.

At least in AC 1-3 I felt like the modern day stuff was leading to something. Now I just know that Juno (I think) is out there somewhere fucking shit up (or probably not, last I saw she was a computer program or some shit) and the british guy and Rebecca are assassins or something and training new ones and Desmond's DNA is being used to do that... but I have no idea why the fuck any of this is happening. It's just... happening.

 

[GavinUK86]

Seriously, though, who thought it was a good idea to set an Assassin's Creed game in Victorian London and then have it take place before the Jack the Ripper murders.

They completely threw away one of the most interesting plots they could have done.

At a quick glance it seems bugger all happened in 1868.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1868_in_the_United_Kingdom

The last ever public hanging was the only highlight.

Nothing drives me more insane than how indecisive they are about the modern storyline. I understand that a lot of people hate it, but I really wouldn't mind it IF they could keep some semblance of consistency from game to game. It's like "oh, now you're going to have small modern day assassin mission" "oh, now it's a first person platormer" "oh go wander around this office in first person" "nevermind now watch these people talk to you on a computer monitor", but none of it feels like it's going anywhere.

At least in AC 1-3 I felt like the modern day stuff was leading to something. Now I just know that Juno (I think) is out there somewhere fucking shit up (or probably not, last I saw she was a computer program or some shit) and the british guy and Rebecca are assassins or something and training new ones and Desmond's DNA is being used to do that... but I have no idea why the fuck any of this is happening. It's just... happening.

It all went to shit after they killed off Desmond. They need to introduce a new modern day protagonist not the you're-the-protag-in-first-person crap.

 

[Trogdor1123]

I like the twins idea, could make for two playthroughs

 

[Crossing Eden]

There were so few options in unity that most of the time the only option was to just run. Stealth kills are incredibly limited. Can't move bodies. Guards have perfect gun accuracy, even in a crowd.

If you're going to take away combat, then give the player options to remove guards effectively. Let us do window kills, cover kills and more varied stealth kills(even uncharted has more variety). Give more assassination options, other than just close up with the hidden blade. Dishonored and Hitman are far better in this regard.
Let us move the bodies wherever we want. Put into a closet or haystack? Great. Out a window? Sure. Tied hanging out of a window? Even better.

Weakening combat is a developer choice and one that I don't completely disagree with. But the rest of the game needs to be balanced with that choice in mind.

The bolded are in.

 

[Nori Chan]

Really wish mp was back

 

[ROUGE_BLOCK]

I just want another pirate game.

Rogue pretty much was another pirate game though...instead you were a privateer but the boarding, drinking, treasure hunting, its all still there

 

[CanUKlehead]

Wish they'd just port Rogue to PS4 already.

Yeah. I did play Black Flag on PS4 early last year and Unity earlier this year on XB1 and just started Rogue this week and it is a teeny bit rough, looks-wise.

 

[Einchy]

Nothing drives me more insane than how indecisive they are about the modern storyline. I understand that a lot of people hate it, but I really wouldn't mind it IF they could keep some semblance of consistency from game to game. It's like "oh, now you're going to have small modern day assassin mission" "oh, now it's a first person platormer" "oh go wander around this office in first person" "nevermind now watch these people talk to you on a computer monitor", but none of it feels like it's going anywhere.

At least in AC 1-3 I felt like the modern day stuff was leading to something. Now I just know that Juno (I think) is out there somewhere fucking shit up (or probably not, last I saw she was a computer program or some shit) and the british guy and Rebecca are assassins or something and training new ones and Desmond's DNA is being used to do that... but I have no idea why the fuck any of this is happening. It's just... happening.

Unity modern day spoilers, if anyone even cares.

Spoiler

They need to do away with the modern day storyline already, it's complete shit.

In Unity we had to find the bones of one of those prophets or whatever they're called so the Templars wouldn't get their hands on them. After doing 24 hours plus of shit to finally find the bones, you're told in one line that the bones are too old so the Templar probably wouldn't be able to get information from them. So neither you or the Templars will bother getting the bones.

Super interesting, guys. I'm so glad you shoehorned that amazing plotline in there.

 

[ROUGE_BLOCK]

Unity modern day spoilers, if anyone even cares.

Spoiler

They need to do away with the modern day storyline already, it's complete shit.

In Unity we had to find the bones of one of those prophets or whatever they're called so the Templars wouldn't get their hands on them. After doing +24 hours plus of shit to finally find the bones, you're told in one line that the bones are too old so the Templar probably wouldn't be able to get information from them. So neither you or the Templars will bother getting the bones.

Super interesting, guys. I'm so glad you shoehorned that amazing plotline in there.

Yep, basically all your actions LITERALLY did not matter, because Arno took care of it. You were basically just affirming it lol.

 

[GavinUK86]

Unity modern day spoilers, if anyone even cares.

Spoiler

They need to do away with the modern day storyline already, it's complete shit.

In Unity we had to find the bones of one of those prophets or whatever they're called so the Templars wouldn't get their hands on them. After doing +24 hours plus of shit to finally find the bones, you're told in one line that the bones are too old so the Templar probably wouldn't be able to get information from them. So neither you or the Templars will bother getting the bones.

Super interesting, guys. I'm so glad you shoehorned that amazing plotline in there.

AC needs a modern day storyline..... just one that's not complete shite.

 

[Crossing Eden]

Really wish mp was back

Spoiler

Likely next year.

 

[MattyG]

Unity modern day spoilers, if anyone even cares.

Spoiler

They need to do away with the modern day storyline already, it's complete shit.

In Unity we had to find the bones of one of those prophets or whatever they're called so the Templars wouldn't get their hands on them. After doing 24 hours plus of shit to finally find the bones, you're told in one line that the bones are too old so the Templar probably wouldn't be able to get information from them. So neither you or the Templars will bother getting the bones.

Super interesting, guys. I'm so glad you shoehorned that amazing plotline in there.

I didn't even remember that much about it because the whole thing was SO. FUCKING. INCONSEQUENTIAL.

 

[Phat Michael]

Same. My love for Black Flag and dislike for Unity makes me wonder if I actually like AC games or just pirate games

Totally with you. The pirate ship battles in AC Black Flag were absolutely incredible. I love the trade missions and fort battles.

I really hoped they would make an all out pirate simulator because that game just looked incredible.

I honestly wished they just removed all the collect chest/feathers/songs fetch quests from all the AC games and just put together a really great story line with less things to do but was more focused.

 

[Duxxy3]

The bolded are in.

That's some of it, but IMO it needs to go beyond the bolded. UBI spends a shitload of time developing these absolutely stunning worlds. I just wish that they would spend more time on the gameplay.

 

[wanderingprostheyltite]

Might be the first AC I skip. Got some serious fatigue after Unity. Might sit this one out till a sale down the road.

 

[privitsan02]

Wait so it only takes place in 1868? Hype decreased. Was hoping for potential Jack the Ripper.

 

[Crossing Eden]

That's some of it, but IMO it needs to go beyond the bolded. UBI spends a shitload of time developing these absolutely stunning worlds. I just wish that they would spend more time on the gameplay.

It's likely another situation where they can't talk about it. Especially the Evie stuff since they're being quite secretive about it. The environment being a big part of it now with distractions and such is a big step up since that aspect was usually a bit static. Admittedly there are times when I wish these games had the depth/craziness of FC and Dishonored.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdDtT4tcC8g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TImdTqKumg

Both are just insane examples of emergent gameplay.

 

[Dr_LucienSanchez]

Couldn't stand Unity (even after I got it for around $20 or so), so I'll be waiting on impressions/reviews for this one. Not particularly optimistic though.

 

[Lemonte]

Returning features make me happy. Still not sure if I buy it this year.

 

[Vinterbird]

That is such a bullshit-looking render image. Looks like it was rendered in 3D Studio Max for a student project. What is going on with that game!? Everything they've shown so far has not even reached the level of presentation quality as past games. Looks a bit amateurish for such a AAA title. And I'm an AC fan.

That's how actual in development games look. They are at least trying to be more upfront with this game, which is a good thing.

 

[Frozenprince]

It just seems like instead of fixing the issues with Unity, they did what they always do and just scrapped most everything other than the movement mechanics to make the game feel more "unique". Which leads to every single one of the AC games being pretty much a broken mess on release.

 

[golem]

Although Unity was a step back in many ways, it was still sort of fun and pretty beautiful to look at. Hopefully I can score Victory cheap off a bundle like the last few times

Also is it just me or does the lighting not look as good as Unity (yes I know, alpha build and all)

 

[ComputerBlue]

Looking forward to it, hoping to not be let down like last year. Too bad there's no PvP mp, they need to bring it back. Good to see day/night cycle return though.

But the hand to hand combat, I really hope it's not a lot like batman, I want to be an assassin, not a brawler.

And they better bring back ambient music ffs.

 

[Duxxy3]

It's likely another situation where they can't talk about it. Especially the Evie stuff since they're being quite secretive about it. The environment being a big part of it now with distractions and such is a big step up since that aspect was usually a bit static. Admittedly there are times when I wish these games had the depth/craziness of FC and Dishonored.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdDtT4tcC8g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TImdTqKumg

Both are just insane examples of emergent gameplay.

Before your edit I was just about to post this

https://youtu.be/Hk4V43m0TDs

Yes, so many of those kills are ridiculous. But it's about giving the player options. The vast vast majority of kills in AC happen with your character slowly walking behind a target and stabbing them. That's it. Maybe you'll get a mission where you can get an opportunity at an air assassination, but in the end it's the same thing - hidden blade kill.

It doesn't need to be a teleport kill or a telekinetic throw. Give the player the option to poison, or trap, or drop something onto the target. Give more options than just hidden blade to the back.

 

[Doctor_Thomas]

I honestly wished they just removed all the collect chest/feathers/songs fetch quests from all the AC games and just put together a really great story line with less things to do but was more focused.

That goes enitirely against the design of Ubisoft games. It's all about padding. The more padding a game has, the more value it has and the more chances they have to apply microtransactions.

 

[Gemüsepizza]

Any info about focus on better performance / DX12 support yet?

 

[Tagg9]

I really hope they take out some of the complexity in the game and make the core mechanics a lot more solid (ie. combat, stealth, and traversal). They're going to have to come out with one hell of an E3 demo to convince me Syndicate is worth purchasing.

 

[Dyson Industries]

Prefacing this. You know honestly I was debating whether or not to make this thread. So many Ubisoft threads turn toxic immediately, it's unbelievably tiring to read. But here it goes.

I wonder why that is. Truly perplexing.

Regardless, it's the first AC taking place in my city so I'll give it a cursory glance. Not much more, however. Not until the long-term reviews (technical and creative) are in. Unity was a lorry fire on the M5.

 

[JaseC]

I hope there's ambient music this time around. It's virtually non-existent in Unity.

 

[Frozenprince]

Have the hired a voice actor to do a future protagonist or no? Because the future narrative sections are basically determinate if I buy it or not. Because I don't want this to just be another narratively pointless exercise in nothingness.

Black Flag was fun to play but had an awful meta-narrative, Unity might as well have not even had one, if you're going to have future sections you need to have a narrative that's relatively compelling to give the player incentive to keep playing.

 

[Crossing Eden]

Before your edit I was just about to post this

https://youtu.be/Hk4V43m0TDs

Yes, so many of those kills are ridiculous. But it's about giving the player options. The vast vast majority of kills in AC happen with your character slowly walking behind a target and stabbing them. That's it. Maybe you'll get a mission where you can get an opportunity at an air assassination, but in the end it's the same thing - hidden blade kill.

It doesn't need to be a teleport kill or a telekinetic throw. Give the player the option to poison, or trap, or drop something onto the target. Give more options than just hidden blade to the back.

Yea i'm hoping they expand on the blackbox mission concept, even without calling it that. One of my favorite assassination missions in Unity was the second party assassination. Having the option the bribe the head maid so that she'd leave a window open so that you can sneak through a party and replace the wine with rotten wine that you stole from a cart. More stuff like that would be really great for the series. Hidden blade kills only was for narrative reasons, wouldn't be surprised if they're removing that since we know the targets from the start now instead of trying to figure out the identity of the hooded true main antagonist.

I wonder why that is. Truly perplexing.

Regardless, it's the first AC taking place in my city so I'll give it a cursory glance. Not much more, however. Not until the long-term reviews (technical and creative) are in. Unity was a lorry fire on the M5.

Even if a game is great it'll get pounced to hell and back in a thread. It happens quite often with Ubi games. Just earlier today I saw someone say that FC3 was shit and that FC4 was good. Even though FC4 is very similar to FC4. Like it's insane the hyperbole you see and the revisionist history. For some reason some on gaf have decided that Watch Dogs had a bad framerate on ps4, that the missions were super linear, and that everything about it was shit despite very compelling evidence of the contrary. Just seeing some of the stuff I read on gaf is some of the most disrespectful things i've read about a developer. It's not like this anywhere else on the internet and certainly not in the general gaming community considering their success. Don't even get me started on the horrible hyperbole during downgrade and faux outrage based on assumptions threads.

 

[NexusCell]

I can't believe that Ubisoft would intentionally limit themselves to 1868. Victorian England has some of the richest and most interesting events and they want to spend it all in one freaking year!

Instant turn off for me.

 

[Thretau]

Syndicate sounds very promising on paper. I recently started playing Unity on PC (it runs decently now) and I've been enjoying it so far. I'm just skipping 90% of all side activities since I don't find them interesting at all. Sounds good that they are trying to make them matter more. Wouldn't mind them taking a few cues from Witcher 3 in this department.

 

[rhandino]

Yeah, one of my most anticipated games =D

Hopefully they: 1) Improve the side-missions / activites and 2) Improve the meta-narrative...

I liked the framing of Black Flag and Rogue but i can't say that I'm looking forward to play this one after seeing the intro of Assassin Creed Unity, I love the setting and some of the ideas thay have presented but I really play this games for the present plot that connect this games =/

 

[Lakitu]

Really well done thread, OP. Thanks.

But...

There are many new side activities in the world

I can't bring myself to endure and slog through yet another AC with the amount of bloat it has.I'll be skipping it.

 

[Duebrithil]

Can you use the hidden blade as a weapon again or is it like Unity where you use it contextually? It is such a small thing but I was really bummed you couldn't do it in Unity.

 

[Crossing Eden]

Syndicate sounds very promising on paper. I recently started playing Unity on PC (it runs decently now) and I've been enjoying it so far. I'm just skipping 90% of all side activities since I don't find them interesting at all. Sounds good that they are trying to make them matter more. Wouldn't mind them taking a few cues from Witcher 3 in this department.

I feel that every game should take cues from Witcher 3 when it comes to side quests. Honestly I don't think any game will top it this year, at least not imo, especially when it comes to writing, so good. It's literally so good that I prevent myself from playing it just because I don't wanna finish it too fast despite spending around 50-60 hours on it so far and still not entering novigrad.

Can you use the hidden blade as a weapon again or is it like Unity where you use it contextually? It is such a small thing but I was really bummed you couldn't do it in Unity.

Unconfirmed.

 

[MattyG]

Really well done thread, OP. Thanks.

But...


I can't bring myself to endure and slog through yet another AC with the amount of bloat it has.I'll be skipping it.

I play them every year and generally love the series, but Unity made me feel the same way. When I look at a map and see this -

- it makes me feel like I don't want to play anymore. There's so much stuff - not content, just stuff - I feel like I'm not doing or seeing because I'm not willing to go pick up every last thing.

Ubisoft, give us more stuff like the murder investigations and less stuff like the chests and we'll be golden. Hundreds of collectibles doesn't make your game any more valuable, it makes it obnoxious and bloated.

 

[Markitron]

Every year they say they will fix the combat, every god damn year. They should just copy the Arkham system and be done with it.

 

[Gemüsepizza]

I can't believe that Ubisoft would intentionally limit themselves to 1868. Victorian England has some of the richest and most interesting events and they want to spend it all in one freaking year!

Instant turn off for me.

Maybe they want to start a new trilogy which takes place in Victorian England, with Syndicate just being the first entry.

 

[Dysun]

Every year they say they will fix the combat, every god damn year. They should just copy the Arkham system and be done with it.

I think the combat has gotten worse over time, not sure how they managed that feat.

Some of the 'new features' in the OP have been around since the Ezio trilogy with poison darts that turn enemies against each other