The stabby new iPhone game could hold clues about the series' online future.
February 3, 2010 - This morning Ubisoft revealed an Assassin's Creed II iPhone game named simply "Assassin's Creed II: Multiplayer." The short description indicates that it will allow players to compete against three friends in maps inspired by Renaissance Italy. You hunt down other Assassins using crowds and the city as cover.
While this announcement is separate from the multiplayer element mentioned in next year's Assassin's Creed II follow-up for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, it does give us some pointers on where the series is heading. The IGN Editors are here to weigh in on what this means for the series, and the upcoming episodes when they hit the consoles next year.
Levi Buchanan: When Ubisoft sent over the first details of Assassin's Creed II: Multiplayer for the iPhone (in the middle of the night), I immediately scoured it for clues on how Ubi might handle multiplayer in the upcoming Assassin's Creed II sorta-sequel. In the iPhone game, up to four players use crowds for cover, kill each other with six different weapons (including the wrist blade, I presume), and then sprint across buildings to escape. It builds on the basic mechanics of Assassin Creed – cover and stealth kill – but places it in a playground environment.
The iPhone game is set in three Italian Renaissance metros, so you can bet that Ubi will reuse the architecture from the console games when setting up the online battlefields. It only makes sense. Why let a perfectly good – and gorgeous – asset go to waste?
One thing in the iPhone game that I think has standout potential is the notoriety system. You gain notoriety for kills, which sends you up the global leaderboards. But I hope the notoriety system has a lot more wrinkles to it than that. Let players gain extra notoriety for brazen kills in the middle of the town square.
Or for orchestrating a frightening kill, like flying overhead in the glider and shooting a rival assassin with a pistol. Sounds normal to people in the age of the Predator drone, but to folks in this time? Death from above like that has to be a total freakout and worth a few hundred wanted posters.
I know there is some hesitation over introducing multiplayer to Assassin's Creed. I understand it because if it borks the narrative, that carries over into impressions of the entire storyline. But I think the idea of assassins from different branches of the brotherhood turning on each other after an incredible betrayal has real merit, especially since we know the brotherhood was minimized in stature in the following centuries.
Or perhaps we could see some players being Assassins and others brutish Templars, in a real drag-out fight for a city. On the other hand, if the multiplayer is explained away as some sort of training exercise within the Animus, then yawn. No consequences, no care.
David Clayman: My gut reaction to the announcement of multiplayer in Assassin's Creed was the same sinking feeling I got when I heard about the inclusion of deathmatch in BioShock 2. I know that the inclusion of a multiplayer element helps a title to be more appealing to the masses, but there are also games that just don't warrant group play. However, after considering the overall direction of the Assassin's Creed series and the announced iPhone game, I'm going to pivot and say that I'm all for this feature.
The war between the Templars and Assassins has evolved from a lone, betrayed, hero in the form of Altair, to a cadre of Assassin brothers (and sisters) that coalesced around Ezio in the second game. It only makes sense that this group would learn to fight together and against one another.
The gameplay hinted at in the iPhone announcement shows the possibilities of multiple Assassins taking each other out while remaining hidden in a crowd. Using NPCs as cover or hiding is an approach that hasn't been exploited in a multiplayer game and could be extremely interesting, if Ubisoft can pull it off.
Even if you remove the city-folk from a multiplayer match, the small towns from Assassin's Creed II still make for an incredible multiplayer jungle gym. Imagine trying to traverse a city while opposing team members hide on the rooftops, ready to pounce on anyone running through the streets. It brings up a number of tactical possibilities, making players choose between speed or safety. We saw an obvious implementation of this during the capture the flag segment of Assassin's Creed II where players took on a somewhat predictable AI.
Ubisoft has a history of being very creative with bringing multiplayer to their big titles. The original Spies versus Mercenaries mode in Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow was fresh and addictive. I'm ready for something similar in the Assassin's Creed series.
While this announcement is separate from the multiplayer element mentioned in next year's Assassin's Creed II follow-up for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, it does give us some pointers on where the series is heading. The IGN Editors are here to weigh in on what this means for the series, and the upcoming episodes when they hit the consoles next year.
One thing in the iPhone game that I think has standout potential is the notoriety system. You gain notoriety for kills, which sends you up the global leaderboards. But I hope the notoriety system has a lot more wrinkles to it than that. Let players gain extra notoriety for brazen kills in the middle of the town square.
Or for orchestrating a frightening kill, like flying overhead in the glider and shooting a rival assassin with a pistol. Sounds normal to people in the age of the Predator drone, but to folks in this time? Death from above like that has to be a total freakout and worth a few hundred wanted posters.
I know there is some hesitation over introducing multiplayer to Assassin's Creed. I understand it because if it borks the narrative, that carries over into impressions of the entire storyline. But I think the idea of assassins from different branches of the brotherhood turning on each other after an incredible betrayal has real merit, especially since we know the brotherhood was minimized in stature in the following centuries.
Or perhaps we could see some players being Assassins and others brutish Templars, in a real drag-out fight for a city. On the other hand, if the multiplayer is explained away as some sort of training exercise within the Animus, then yawn. No consequences, no care.
The war between the Templars and Assassins has evolved from a lone, betrayed, hero in the form of Altair, to a cadre of Assassin brothers (and sisters) that coalesced around Ezio in the second game. It only makes sense that this group would learn to fight together and against one another.
The gameplay hinted at in the iPhone announcement shows the possibilities of multiple Assassins taking each other out while remaining hidden in a crowd. Using NPCs as cover or hiding is an approach that hasn't been exploited in a multiplayer game and could be extremely interesting, if Ubisoft can pull it off.
Even if you remove the city-folk from a multiplayer match, the small towns from Assassin's Creed II still make for an incredible multiplayer jungle gym. Imagine trying to traverse a city while opposing team members hide on the rooftops, ready to pounce on anyone running through the streets. It brings up a number of tactical possibilities, making players choose between speed or safety. We saw an obvious implementation of this during the capture the flag segment of Assassin's Creed II where players took on a somewhat predictable AI.
Ubisoft has a history of being very creative with bringing multiplayer to their big titles. The original Spies versus Mercenaries mode in Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow was fresh and addictive. I'm ready for something similar in the Assassin's Creed series.
Ryan Geddes: In January, Ubisoft announced that the next console installment in the Assassin's Creed franchise will include an online multiplayer component. Like a lot of gamers, I sort of shrugged my shoulders when I heard the news. Multiplayer? In a game about mastering the art of being a lone killer? That sounds like about as much fun as collecting purple flags.
I pictured a half dozen Ezios and Altairs running and jumping around poorly-textured maps throwing knives at each other. It's the sort of thing a certain former IGN colleague would have begged me to play with him for 5 minutes because he wanted the Xbox 360 Achievement or PS3 Trophy. Just another box on a list of "features" the Ubisoft's marketing team wanted to check off.
But just because Ubisoft is building multiplayer into Assassin's Creed 2 doesn't mean it has to be deathmatch or capture the flag. What if they did something radically different? What if it was more like Left 4 Dead than Call of Duty?
Four elite Assassins of varying strengths and abilities are assigned to take down a target or complete a task. Standing in their way are four boss characters, also specialized, who can thwart the attackers in different ways. Each group would need to master teamwork in order to survive. It shouldn't be a copy of Left 4 Dead, but it would be interesting to see Ubisoft embrace a similarly innovative concept for the multiplayer in Assassin's Creed.
Whatever Ubi chooses to do with the multiplayer in its hottest new franchise, I hope the team doesn't take its cues from the iPhone version. Nothing in the description sounds new or exciting. In the iPhone game, you're encouraged to "Increase your notoriety by defeating other players, and fight your way up to the top to become the Master Assassin."
Huh? I thought the whole point of Assassin's Creed was to carry out your actions without gaining notoriety. I can forgive such an abandonment of the series' ethic in an iPhone game. But such an approach to multiplayer in a full-fledged entry in the Assassin's series would be silly. And that's something the Assassin's Creed universe doesn't need any more of.
Daemon Hatfield: When it comes to versus multiplayer games, I prefer the slower-paced action of Ubisoft's Rainbow Six: Vegas to Halo or Modern Warfare 2. So that gives me hope for a multiplayer game where each player is an assassin. Sneaking around, scurrying across rooftops, and trying to spot your enemies in a crowd sounds like it could be a lot of fun. It should include the ability to instantly assassinate someone from above, just as you can in the single-player game. This would shift the challenge from combat (where it usually is in multiplayer games) to location and identification.
The Modern Warfare games have shown us that players want to be constantly rewarded for their efforts, and I agree with Levi that the Assassin's Creed multiplayer game should be taking notes. Certain types of kills should be worth more notoriety than others, with the ultimate goal of being as stealthy as possible. I don't want this multiplayer game to revert to a bunch of people duking it out in the street. Being an assassin is about striking from the shadows with grace and style, and I really hope Ubisoft keeps that in mind.
We've said our piece. How about you? What do you think Ubisoft will do with the online multiplayer in the next Assassin's Creed title? Let us know in the comments section.
I pictured a half dozen Ezios and Altairs running and jumping around poorly-textured maps throwing knives at each other. It's the sort of thing a certain former IGN colleague would have begged me to play with him for 5 minutes because he wanted the Xbox 360 Achievement or PS3 Trophy. Just another box on a list of "features" the Ubisoft's marketing team wanted to check off.
But just because Ubisoft is building multiplayer into Assassin's Creed 2 doesn't mean it has to be deathmatch or capture the flag. What if they did something radically different? What if it was more like Left 4 Dead than Call of Duty?
Four elite Assassins of varying strengths and abilities are assigned to take down a target or complete a task. Standing in their way are four boss characters, also specialized, who can thwart the attackers in different ways. Each group would need to master teamwork in order to survive. It shouldn't be a copy of Left 4 Dead, but it would be interesting to see Ubisoft embrace a similarly innovative concept for the multiplayer in Assassin's Creed.
Picture them with wrist blades. Squint. Harder.
Whatever Ubi chooses to do with the multiplayer in its hottest new franchise, I hope the team doesn't take its cues from the iPhone version. Nothing in the description sounds new or exciting. In the iPhone game, you're encouraged to "Increase your notoriety by defeating other players, and fight your way up to the top to become the Master Assassin."
Huh? I thought the whole point of Assassin's Creed was to carry out your actions without gaining notoriety. I can forgive such an abandonment of the series' ethic in an iPhone game. But such an approach to multiplayer in a full-fledged entry in the Assassin's series would be silly. And that's something the Assassin's Creed universe doesn't need any more of.
The Modern Warfare games have shown us that players want to be constantly rewarded for their efforts, and I agree with Levi that the Assassin's Creed multiplayer game should be taking notes. Certain types of kills should be worth more notoriety than others, with the ultimate goal of being as stealthy as possible. I don't want this multiplayer game to revert to a bunch of people duking it out in the street. Being an assassin is about striking from the shadows with grace and style, and I really hope Ubisoft keeps that in mind.
We've said our piece. How about you? What do you think Ubisoft will do with the online multiplayer in the next Assassin's Creed title? Let us know in the comments section.
MovieMiguel.com
