In a YouTube Q&A yesterday, Ubisoft shared new information on the combat and gameplay of its upcoming game, Assassin’s Creed: Origins. Ashraf Ismail, director of Origins, went into detail on the combat system and weaponry available to players in the game.
Assassin’s Creed: Origins promises a more extensive array of weapons and thoroughly updated combat gameplay to keep the franchise fresh. When responding to the question of what the biggest change to combat would be, Ismail stated that combat in Origins will use a hit-box system – essentially meaning that when engaged in combat, gameplay elements such as position, distance, and weapon speed will be important. The weaponry being using in each battle affects how enemies react, and in turn how players should strategize and mount their attacks.
That said, players will have many choices on how they fight their battles in the game. The ranged weapons of Assassin’s Creed: Origins include a number of bows, each with different functions: one bow for rapid-fire attacks, another for sniping targets, a bow with which to fire off multiple arrows simultaneously, and so on. In terms of melee weapons, players have an even broader spectrum of choices: dual swords, shields, spears, giant axes, heavy maces, a scepter, or more simply just your fists. Each weapon comes with a light attack, heavy attack, and combo attacks built off of them.
Of combat, Ismail says, “We wanted the fight to be able to get very difficult.” Combat in Origins will require strategy; players must find ways to manage a large number of enemies so as not to be overwhelmed. Fighting styles and weapons will be interchangeable during each battle for maximum efficiency.
Set in Ancient Egypt, Assassin’s Creed: Origins will be an open-world action-adventure-stealth game and the tenth major installment in the Assassin’s Creed series. Origins is scheduled for release on October 27, 2017, for PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4.