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Friday, March 29, 2024

Assassin’s Creed 4; New Hero, New Setting and Could Girl-Power Revive the Series?

 

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After messing around with Brotherhood and Revelations, Ubisoft finally released Assassin’s Creed 3 last October which took the franchise forward to 18th Century America. What a bloody disappointment that was. Whilst the leap in time and location was a refreshing change, the game just didn’t hold my attention. You’re a Templar, then you’re a kid playing hide and seek, then you get to actually play as adult Connor and are thrown back to basics. I’ll admit that I’m yet to even finish the game, it just sits there at the bottom of my pile gathering dust.

Over the past few weeks there has been a great deal of speculation about the release of another Assassin’s Creed title and the rumours have finally been confirmed. Ubisoft’s CEO Yves Guillemot has announced a new release for 2014 and it comes as no shock that it will feature not only a new protagonist, but yet another leap in time and new setting. As a big fan of the series, it’s a relief to know the developers have realised that Connor and the American frontier weren’t working out for them so soon after it’s release. However, it also begs the question as to whether it was a wise decision to introduce a new character and time period in the first place.

The other games in the Creed series feature stunning locations and some seriously beautiful graphics. I remember playing Assassin’s Creed 2 at my parents’ house and my Mum asking what film I was watching, commenting on the smooth visuals and great scenery. Whilst the graphics on Creed 3 were great an’ all, to me the locations lacked the allure of previous games.

assassins_creed_3So, where will Assassin’s Creed 4 (or 3.5 if Ubisoft follow suit with Brotherhood and Revelations) take our hero? At the moment there’s a lot of rumours going around, from feudal Japan to WWI, Victorian England to Russia. Personally, I think WWI is too much of a jump and Russia is a little too out there. China or Japan could be options and Victorian England would be interesting, but possibly a little too similar to the recent American adventure. Saying that, the Civil War could make for a very interesting game and a new hero. Some nice updates for me with the series would feature a co-op multiplayer and some changes to the combat system.

For me, the most interesting idea is that the new protagonist could be female. When Ubisoft made an announcement on Facebook earlier today they released the picture below which features Aveline from Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation, a game only available for PlayStation Vita, which could be a hint…

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We’ve got Altair, Ezio, Connor – then Aveline. This was the picture Ubisoft used to announce the next game, so could this be a hint for Aveline or another female to take lead? This has been debated, but it’s surely Aveline in the photo, and she’s bosomy… There have also been many rumours online about a female lead, especially after the idea was originally dismissed for the most recent game. So the new lead won’t be Aveline, as it’s a new character, but there’s every possibility of our new protagonist being of  the female variety. Some people have commented that maybe Ubisoft will give players a choice on their sex, but given that the Assassin’s Creed games involve a great deal of lengthy cinematics, I find it an unlikely and problematic scenario. Could girl power be the secret weapon for taking the series to the next level? Perhaps this could be the change that Assassin’s Creed needs. I’d love to here your thoughts, so comment away.

Here’s hoping for one change though, they get rid of Desmond. I can’t bloody stand Desmond.

Hani Fearon
Hani Fearon
I'm an aspiring film journalist living in Chester. Into all kinds of geekery from N64 to Xbox, graphic novels, cosplay anime and more. I have an unhealthy obsession with Pokémon and the Legend of Zelda series. So much so that I have two Zelda tattoos and various Pokémon lurking all over my house. In my spare time when I'm not busy being a real person and working, I'm writing or making retro games jewellery. I'm also obsessed with pandas. They're fabulous.

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