Assassin's Creed - First Look Preview

By now, any gamer worth their salt will have seen the trailer for Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed. Currently in development at Ubisoft's increasingly prolific studio in Montreal, the game (so far only announced for PlayStation3) sees players follow the adventure of one of the legendary Hashshashin during the Crusades in the Holy Land at the end of the 12th Century. Demonstrating the nature of the game, Ubisoft's trailer at May's E3 2006 showed the ruthlessness of the character as he assassinates a knight during a set of public executions, and the religious nature of the Hashshashins as he palms the eyes of the dead knight closed. But what of the game itself?

Coming from the studio that counts the reborn Prince of Persia series and the creation of the Splinter Cell franchise as two of its most high profile products of the past, it perhaps won't come as too much of a surprise to hear that Assassin's Creed will feature certain gameplay aspects familiar from both series, and meld them together into a new experience.

Interaction with the NPC population of Assassin's Creed is shaping up to be an important gameplay feature, and one that looks set to have a knock on effect in a number of facets. Taking the lead from Splinter Cell, stealth will be a feature of the game, but not in the same way that a certain Mr Fisher would use; instead players will have to think more like the Hitman series, where normal actions are more inconspicuous than abnormal ones like climbing up a wall or causing disturbances. Furthermore, players will be protected by NPCs that they've helped earlier in the game, with one instance seeing the Hashshashin (called Altaïr) help a group of priests who then allow him to walk amongst them and get closer to his target.

But NPCs will also play a more hindering part in Assassin's Creed, demonstrated following the killing of one target by the Hashshashin. Whilst running from the scene of the crime, bumping into the crowds in the streets hamper the getaway by slowing the assassin down. Not only that, but they also try to grab hold of Altaïr in order to wait for settlement guards to catch up and serve justice. Rushing through crowds, knocking people to the ground is also an example of when the character could find himself getting too much attention. A fine balance between slowing down the character and really creating a frustrating experience will have to be developed by Montreal, although it's really hard to think of a game that they haven't managed to deliver an enthralling and enjoyable experience; hopefully Assassin's Creed will be no different.

Players will also be able to ride on horseback to travel across the gameworld, which incorporates three cities as its main settlements, and though briefly demonstrated in Ubisoft's presentation, it wasn't really touched upon. Aside from the Hitman-like deadliness to the character, Altaïr will also be adept at using the environment, much like a certain Prince of Persia. Any object jutting more than two inches from the walls will apparently be climbable, and the team at Ubisoft Montreal is also basing the character's athletic and acrobatic movements across buildings and obstacles on Par Cour (Free Running), meaning that motion will be smooth, delicate, and ultimately, precise. The amount of climbable objects and structures also opens up the prospect of an open world greater than any seen in a Montreal title to date, allowing players to scout around the environment or escape from the scene of a crime across the rooftops of the settlements.

With photographs and surveillance footage of a target hundreds of years away in the game, there of course remains the question of how the Hashshashin identifies whom he's supposed to kill. Perched on a rooftop above a busy market place, the character's Eagle Vision (it's worth knowing that Altaïr means 'Flying Eagle' in Arabic) allows him to identify the correct target with a slight glow. Once identified it's up to the player how to best complete the mission and kill target, a knight who's busy executing potential adversaries. As seen in the E3 2006 trailer Altaïr has a wrist-mounted knife, which is very deadly in close range, a sword that is kept hidden from view, and a bow and arrows, which can be used from the rooftops to enable a faster getaway but has much less accuracy than the melee weapons.

Like every PlayStation3 developer (except the Warhawk team), Ubisoft Montreal were unaware of Sony's plans for a motion sensor based DualShock for the next-gen console until SCEA's conference at E3 2006. Asked by TVG about whether Assassin's Creed would utilise the motion sensors, one developer from Ubisoft Montreal stated that he was planning to sit down with the rest of the production team after the show in order to produce ideas. Like every PlayStation3 title, it does seem that the loss of a rumble pack in the DualShock controller could pose a number of problems for developers like Montreal, as they try to cope with the loss of an establish concept for sensory feedback.

Even at this stage, there's no denying that Assassin's Creed is looking like a stunning title visually, if not in terms of gameplay. Questions over the fidelity of PlayStation3 trailers have been kicking around for over twelve months, and continued to occur over the E3 2006 trailer for Assassin's Creed. Though not quite as polished as the trailer footage, the presentation did look impressive, especially with Montreal's almost trademark-like acrobatic animations now taken to the next stage and the levels of crowd density and uniqueness. Looking as hot and dusty as you'd imagine the environments of the Holy Land to be, Assassin's Creed is certainly painting the right atmosphere, and will feel familiar for anyone who has seen movies such as Kingdom of Heaven (both are set around the same time period and settings).

All is not what it seems in Assassin's Creed however, thanks to the purposeful death of the Hashshashin towards the end of the demo. Following the successful assassination of a target, Altaïr falls foul of the crowds and is overwhelmed. Which is when a rather unexpected futuristic element appears on the HUD and a curious 'System Offline' message...Ubisoft so far (rather teasingly) hadn't commented on how the message fits into the overall game, but reports suggest that anything from time travel to genetic memories could be the explanation. Then of course there's the speculation that Assassin's Creed will also be released on Xbox 360, though that too is yet to be confirmed by Ubisoft.