Ubisoft Forward premiered today and of course new Assassin’s Creed titles and information were shown off. In numerous cinematic and gameplay trailers, the Assassin’s Creed franchise will see its titles expand into VR, mobile and
Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR will be the first VR title in the franchise’s history to transport players directly into the eyes of legendary assassins. The cinematic trailer showed a player putting a Meta Quest headset on and as it immersed himself into colonial New England, the setting for Assassin’s Creed III. There, the player seeing a first-person perspective of Assassin Connor Kenway, unveiled his hidden blade, parkoured down from the rooftops and stealth killed a Loyalist with his tomahawk. Other footage showed players stepping into the role of other assassins like Kassandra from Assassins Creed Odyssey and Ezio from Assassin’s Creed II. Locations from the respective titles, Antiquity Greece and Renaissance Venice, were also shown in a first person perspective. During the presentation Clement Dagonneau Community Developer of Ubisoft Montreal stated, “…let you become the assassin. You will feel what it means to parkour, fight, be stealthy in new memories from three legendary assassins.” Currently Assassins Creed Nexus VR will be coming to Meta Quest 2 and Meta Quest 3, and will release Holiday 2023. It’s unclear currently if it will come to any other VR platforms.
Assassins Creed Codename Jade also got a brief update. The free-to-play mobile showed off more gameplay footage, with views of the open world set in Qin Dynasty China, parkour reminiscent of the console entries, and fluid combat against multiple enemies. Starting today players can register for the beta. Assassins Creed Codename Jade is currently set to release on iOS and Google Play Store.
The main highlight from the Assassin’s Creed portion during Ubisoft Forward ended with two new trailers of footage for Assassin’s Creed Mirage. Assassin’s Creed Mirage is going back to what made the AC franchise a critical success, and the trailers today are reminiscent of it. Traversal, combat, stealth, all look like the older AC titles they seek to emulate. Fans have been nostalgic to see Assassin’s Creed return to its roots in gameplay and narrative. The past 3 games of massive open worlds, RPG mechanics, and hundreds of hours put into exploration and questing largely lost any semblance of stealth, parkour, and narrative that previous titles were known for.
Mirage seeks to take it all back, literally going back to how games like Assassin’s Creed I and II became such a huge commercial success. Incorporating near identical systems in parkour, combat, and narrative, Mirage will focus on a much smaller world, set in 860s Baghdad. From the description regarding the game’s story:
“In Assassin’s Creed Mirage, you are Basim, a cunning street thief with nightmarish visions, seeking answers and justice. After an act of deadly retribution, Basim flees Baghdad and joins an ancient organization – The Hidden Ones. As he learns their mysterious rituals and powerful tenets, he will hone his unique abilities, discover his true nature, and come to understand a new Creed – one that will change his fate in ways he never could have imagined.”
Gameplay footage shown will feel familiar to longtime fans, set in narrow city streets, players will control Basim in fast paced parkour action, scaling buildings, running across rooftops, cat walking on ropes, and new parkour features to make traversal fresh. The Eagle Vision will return to its classic functionality, where players can simply spot loot, points of cover, enemies and reveal targets while using Eagle Vision. There’s also the introduction of tools at Basim’s disposal such as blowdarts and traps.
Some other features making a return include blending into crowds for cover, bench assassination, the notoriety meter, along with much more.
Assassin’s Creed Mirage is set to release on October 12th, 2023 for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and PC.