Assassin's Creed II - Q&A Feature

Assassin's Creed had great promise. With a brilliantly original setting and gameplay that tapped into the free-running zeitgeist, it had all the makings of a great game. Unfortunately Ubisoft Montreal seemed to have overlooked the mission structure, which resulted in the game consisting mostly of repetitive missions. This time around, having listened to feedback from both gamers and critics, Ubisoft Montreal hopes to have added more depth in order to create the game that Assassin's Creed had the potential to be.

We talk to Sébastien Puel, Lead Producer of Assasin's Creed II, about how he's fixed these problems and the game's new Renaissance setting.

Florence is definitely an original setting for a video game. What drew you to this setting and what other places had you considered?

The Italian Renaissance seemed like a very easy choice. Venice, Tuscani and Rome seemed obvious. We're looking at a pivotal moment in history, which is what the franchise is all about. The first one was about the religious war in the Middle-East, which was something that changed history forever, and so we scanned history trying to find those moments that talk to everyone, that need more explanation and that really changed mankind. There is no better moment then at the end of the 15th century in Florence. This is a period of 30 years in which you have Michelangelo, Da Vinci, Botticelli, Brunelleschi and all those great minds living two doors away from each other and changing the world as we know it. The things they started in Italy then impacted on the rest of the world and even effect the way we live today. So having one of the most beautiful cities in the world and all these events around it seemed an obvious choice. The stories in Italy are always about struggles for power between families, and this seemed like a great set of events to stage a game in.

What about your next game, any plans for where you might set that?

We'll still continue to scan history and scout for the best place and best time period. There are several of them that are interesting, but we haven't made our final choice yet. We have several options. There was a rumour about a World War two setting. Something I like about this franchise is that people are more interested in where we are setting it than if we had made, say, a sci-fi game for instance. I prefer to leave this as a mystery for the time being, especially because we don't know ourselves yet.

Were you nervous before this game, or the last, that your choice of location wouldn't be well received?

It was always a risk and a gamble, but I don't think you can be successful without taking any risks. For the first one, yes, we were all passionate about history. We were surprised, looking at the competition, that there have been very few games about history. It was very risky for the first one and we were surprised by the positive response it received. It showed us that people are really interested in history and so far people aren't being given what they want. Now that we know that, going for Italy never felt like a risk. Looking at the cities, we knew we were going to be able to create some of the most beautiful environments yet. We were also surprised looking at movies that this period has not been used more by Hollywood. As well as this great artistic time - let's keep in mind that first and foremost - this was also a time of political murder, internal wars and great cruelty, so if you want an action movie or an action game it seems like the perfect setting.

The gameplay does feel very familiar to the original but I am aware you made a lot of changes to the core experience. What can you tell us about those?

We wanted to take each component of the game and focus on the variety and diversity. We knew with the first game that we had a very solid core, being the fighting on the one hand and free-running on the other. So first on the free-running side, we were very happy with what we had in Assassin's Creed - it worked very well. The thing is though; the topography of this city is now pretty different. We have higher buildings and we very rapidly realised that we had to make it faster. So we defined several moves to make the whole process speed up.

For the fights there was more focus on the diversity. We had good systems in the original and now we wanted to exploit these with different types of weapons, with each type of weapon being linked to specific animations and strategies to add some depth. You wouldn't have seen much of this in the early sequences of course because you are mostly fist fighting, but in the game you have axes, war hammers, short swords, knives, pikes and so on. So there's a whole host of weapons with different types of rhythms, which adds variety to the combat.

On the other side you also have a big variety of enemies now that require different strategies. We have a big brute that you have to be very careful with when you fight but can evade easily. You have the agile, who is not a great fighter but can chase you across all the roofs. You have the seeker who can find you even if you are hidden or blended. We wanted to have enemies that challenged every type of gameplay to add extra depth to the game.

How have you actually sped up the free-running?

Firstly, climbing vertically is much faster now - two or three times faster. So we completely changed the animations for it and the way it works. We also have added more free-run highways - much more than in the first. On these highways there are also swings that help you to turn corners more rapidly. There is also the possibly to jump bigger distances using the climb jump, which is a little gameplay dynamic using the feet and then the grab button. It allows you to bridge bigger distances than the assassin was able to do before. They're little changes that, in terms of navigation, make it much faster in the end.

You've also added variety to the mission types. What types of missions can we expect to go on?

The idea was that in the first one, you had missions leading to assassinations and then the same mission over and over. We hoped this would make the game very accessible but this made it too predictable. To solve this we now have 16 or 17 different mission types, whether it's racing, tailing or using vehicles. Now, there are no two similar missions that follow each other in the game. I think that there are 70 or 80 missions in the main path; there are also secondary missions and secret areas that are more based on platforming, and then there are crowd events where missions come to you as people cross your path. The combination of all these means that at any point in the game you can switch to something that's more secondary or more to do with the main path, and even in that main path you will never see two missions in a row that resemble each other.

You mentioned crowds there. They played a big part in the first game; have they evolved this time around?

Assassin's Creed did something that was quite exceptional, which was to give you the feeling that you were really immersed in a crowd. I remember the first time I played this; I was really impressed by that. Now, in the second one, we've not only given you the feeling that you're immersed in the crowd but that you can play with the crowd too. First we give the players tools to play with the crowd such as smoke bombs to stun the crowd or the ability to throw money so that everyone will gather and collect it off the floor. Then the crowd is also the best blending spot. So every time you see a group you can blend right in with them to avoid the guards. Finally, within the crowds you have factions: prostitutes, mercenaries and thieves. Those factions can be used by the players to distract guards. So, for instance, the thieves steal from the guards and then run away, the mercenaries will go and fight the guards themselves and the prostitutes will distract them in a more sexy way. All of this is to ensure that the crowd is not only a visual element but also works as a gameplay tool.

Can you tell us about the secret locations?

In the first game you spend all your time outside in the city. In this one your main focus is outside too, but when you're doing Italy you have to show the interiors of those magnificent churches and catacombs. We wanted a good amount of gameplay happening inside. Also we had the feeling that in the original game it was very intense and we wanted to change the pace as much as we could. When you go inside these locations you decide what to do at your own pace.  It's more like a Prince of Persia game where you can take all the time you need - it's very rarely timed and you are all alone. The sound level is also very low compared to when you are in the city.

Did you ask Ubisoft Singapore to do these sections to make sure that it had a completely different pace, or was there another reason?

It was more that we wanted something completely different for our players. Out of the six locations, only one of them is compulsory. This is a pretty hard parody shift for developers: spending tons of time working on material that the player might never even see. I think this is what sandbox games are about. For me, as a player, just knowing it's there and that I could do it if I wanted to is part of the pleasure. Roughly speaking, these locations represent about 3-7 hours of gameplay - depending on the player.

Do have any DLC plans lined up?

Nothing has been announced on this side. We still have a universe that is expandable so it's possible but it's not something we're talking about before release.

And do you ever see Assassin's Creed having some kind of co-op gameplay or some form of multiplayer in the future?

This is something that does interest us. Assassin's Creed had a really strong core gameplay and for Assassin's Creed II we really wanted to nail the depth of gameplay. Once this is done, everything is open for the rest. With the Animus we have the potential to support any kind of new gameplay like that. It depends whether Ubisoft will be willing to go this way. I'm not saying yes or no, but we'll keep thinking about it.

TVG would like to thank both Sébastien Puel and Phillippe Bergeron, Lead Mission Designer, for their time.