User blog:Nygma PI/Ubisoft News — DevBlogs

As semi-requested, the UbiNews DevBlogs (and related articles).

Like with my previous blog / UbiNews archive, here are some notes:

• No hyperlinks have been added to the articles. All links that appear are those which appeared in the original articles.
• Promotions or articles which were just a video have not been included.
• I believe these are all relevant UbiNews articles, but feel free to tell if I missed any.

Assassin's Creed (series)

[29.08.14] The World of Assassin's Creed: #1 Ancestral DNA

At the heart of each new Assassin's Creed there is a deeply personal mission. It's what empowers the heroes in the face of adversity, and keeps us enthralled every fleet-footed step of the way.

In the first five games of the series, the ancestral memories of a man named Desmond Miles were explored via a machine called The Animus. Great secrets were contained in Desmond's DNA, of huge value to the company that invented the device, Abstergo Industries. Against his will, Desmond was strapped into The Animus, and we entered his mind to encounter ancient worlds of exquisite beauty.

Our journey starts with Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad whose exploits amid the Third Crusade take us across Jerusalem, Damascus and Acre. Altaïr had noble beginnings and became a Master Assassin as a young man, but is demoted to Novice after breaking all three tenets of the Assassins (never harm an innocent, hide in plain sight and never compromise the Brotherhood). The disgrace drives Altaïr to perform his duties at the very height of his abilities. We learn how to hide in plain sight by observing the flow of the busy crowds, assuming the posture of a praying monk, or recruiting people to aid an escape. The most careful approach to each assassination target is rewarded by the best results, and to achieve this we learned how to climb and free-run with Altaïr throughout beautiful historic cities.

With the compelling basics of Assassin's Creed now in place we next meet to Ezio Auditore da Firenze for three adventures: Assassin's Creed II, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood and Assassin's Creed: Revelations. As an Italian nobleman Ezio is almost entirely unlike Altaïr, but his family suffers great tragedy at the hands of Templar leaders. While seeking revenge, Ezio uncovers deeper truths and ancient rivalries, and rather dashingly accepts his new Assassin vocation. Charismatic Ezio is able to persuade the working girls of Venice and Florence to distract city guards while he goes about his business. Swashbuckling Ezio may also disarm his attackers and turn their weapons against them.

Ezio's saga is long and celebrated among Assassin's Creed fans, and we see his personality develop alongside capabilities as he becomes older and wiser. In Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood Ezio, who is now known as Il Mentore (The Mentor) recruits and trains fellow Assassins that come to his aid in sticky situations. In keeping with the grander scale element of control, Borgia strongholds must be overthrown before Ezio can rebuild the cities they terrorise, primarily a sumptuous vision of Rome.

As we reach the end of Ezio's involvement with the series, we accompany him as a middle-aged man in Ottoman-era Constantinople (now Istanbul). His combat and free-running abilities are enhanced under guidance from young Assassin Yusuf Tazim who teaches Ezio how to handle a hookblade. The tool has many uses, and allows for some spellbinding action sequences. A wiser, more inventive Ezio also learns how to craft bombs of many kinds to cause damage or distraction.

The embodiment of resourcefulness though is surely Ratonhnhaké:ton (adopted name Connor) during the American Revolution. From childhood Connor has learned how to survive in the forests and mountains and enjoys the closest of relationships with family and friends in his village. He does not know his father, but is reunited after a series of heartrending events, the first of which is pivotal. With a young man's fury tempered by an old Assassin's knowledge and experience Connor uses traditional methods to track and kill foes. He recruits downtrodden people from the Frontier and fledgling cities that include Boston and New York, building an idyllic homestead while healing his country from within. Connor becomes a great man, indeed.

In Part Two we take a look at Aveline de Grandpré (Assassin's Creed III: Liberation), Edward Kenway (Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag) and newcomer Arno Dorian (Assassin's Creed: Unity) to discover what Abstergo Entertainment holds in store for the general public... and at what cost.

[01.09.14] The World of Assassin's Creed: #2 History is your playground

The story of Assassin's Creed tells of an ancient war raging between the Templars and Assassins. Sophisticated present day technology has enabled the Templars to launch a commercial division within its Abstergo organisation. Initially the division releases videogames based on DNA research by Abstergo employees. Eventually though, everyone can experience memories of people from bygone eras via Abstergo Entertainment's latest ‘Animus' device for a price. But what is the true cost?

Aveline de Grandpré is the protagonist of Abstergo Entertainment's debut videogame, Liberation. Born in 1747, Aveline's exploits intersect with those of Connor from Assassin's Creed III, and Edward in Assassin's Creed IV. However the French-African Assassin has her own business to attend in New Orleans and the Louisiana Bayou. Aveline employs her high-society alter-ego to carry out missions while dressed as a noble lady, her parasol containing a dart mechanism. She also rides out in her Assassin's uniform, through the backstreets of New Orleans and treetops of the Bayou swamps. Thanks to Aveline's deadly blowpipe, many situations are best controlled from hidden spots. The highpoints of her stealth-oriented missions include those undertaken in the Mayan city of Chichén Itzá where she risks her life during a breathtaking canoe trip into the region's sinkholes.

Boundless enthusiasm is met by a world without limits for the hero of Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. A thirst for fortune becomes our own, inspired by privateer turned pirate Edward Kenway. Against the shimmering backdrop of 18th century Caribbean, Welsh-born Edward is free to sail the ocean between landmarks great and small. We visit Kingston, Nassau and Havana to parlay with notorious pirates Blackbeard, Charles Vane and Calico Jack. Edward's personal brig, the Jackdaw, is upgraded over time according to riches and rewards for special achievements. Sea battles eventually find our fledgling captain up against legendary ships that take tremendous skill and will power to send to the bottom. As you might expect to find from a pirate, Edward's fighting style is unique in the Assassin's Creed series, uniting dual-wield pistols and cutlasses in deadly harmony.

Whereas Assassin's Creed III: Liberation and Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag are games published by Abstergo Entertainment, Assassin's Creed: Unity is a DNA-resourced simulation. Abstergo has raised the bar with an upgraded Animus, called HELIX, which allows customers to experience life through the eyes of its Parisian hero, Arno Dorian – much in the same way that the original Animus allowed Desmond Miles to think and act as though he were truly alive in ancient times.

As the series' first fully-fledged next-generation hero, Arno is capable of much more impressive and realistic free-running displays. His method of scaling a building to reach the top is different to the act of clambering down, in particular the speed with which this is accomplished. In combat Arno uses counterattacks more readily than his predecessors, dodging and parrying in line with his nonchalant persona. All the while Arno is fearless, fuelled by anger and loss, kept in check by those close to him.

Assassin's Creed: Unity is released for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC on 14 November 2014.

[10.11.14] Assassin's Creed DevBlog – Introducing Initiates

Game Director Alexis Jolis-Desautels talks about the return of Assassin's Creed Initiates and the new direction of the platform.

Since it launched, Assassin's Creed Initiates has been the persistent, connected layer that talks about, and to players within the brand. It kept fans and newcomers alike engaged in the brand and delivered the present day meta-narrative in real time. After a period of downtime, the platform will be making a return alongside Assassin's Creed Unity. To learn more, we spoke with Game Director Alexis Jolis-Desautels.

"The present day is the living layer of the brand, one that is always on. Players are a part of this layer, and Initiates gives them a means to experience the events, as themselves, in real time. We felt it was really important to allow players to position themselves within that world."

It is a world in which the Initiates, as a group, have aligned themselves with the Assassins, providing aid to the Brotherhood against the Templar Order.

"Initiates are part of the Brotherhood, but not necessarily field Assassins. Some Initiates eventually graduate to become full fledged Assassins, but only after a lot of training. Essentially, the platform is a training program for new Initiates recruits. When the Brotherhood needs aid in the digital space, they turn to the Initiates, who need to have trained to be masters of the simulation."

And the platform through which this training is delivered has evolved considerably, as Alexis explains.

Initiates are part of the Brotherhood, but not necessarily field Assassins. Some Initiates eventually graduate to become full fledged Assassins, but only after a lot of training.

"Historically, Initiates existed as a website outside of (but connected to) the HD games. While it was rich and deep in terms of what it initially offered, it was also a very high friction experience. Players who wanted to complete the available missions would have to navigate repeatedly between their PC and console games. However that was only the birth of an idea.

As such, we knew we needed a new platform for Unity and we were acutely aware that the platform needed to live in game. So we made that change. Now, players who want to access the platform can swap over to their console browser seamlessly, without having to end their gaming session at all; Unity continues to run in the background, just in a suspended state. It is a major technological hurdle we overcame in order to reduce most of the friction that plagued the previous iteration of Initiates."

Even with this evolution, the Initiates platform is still designed to offer rewards to players in game.

"Those who interact with the platform will find a variety of Drills, which allow players to craft their own experience within Unity. These drills also grant XP when successfully completed, allowing players rank up their profiles and benefit from extra privileges and rewards. The aim of Initiates is to really enrich and extend the Unity experience for fans and players alike."

And one more thing?

"Yes, the Initiates platform is now mobile, touch and tablet compliant too. It is not a separate app, but rather, the same platform that exists on the console within the game. It is important to note that anything you see while roaming around Paris that is linked to Initiates, is very easy to access now. Actually, you don't have to do much to access that content. It is literally a single button press away for connected Uplay members"

Alexis Jolis-Desautels has been at Ubisoft Montreal for 10 years, having begun as a game tester. He previously worked on Splinter Cell Double Agent, amongst other titles.

You can hear more from Alexis on The Network Podcast from Assassin's Creed Initiates!

[20.04.15] Assassin's Creed Chronicles DevBlog – The Art of China

Learn more about the unique visual style and art of the Chinese episode of Chronicles with Climax Studios' Art Director, Glenn Brace

Ask any game developer and they will tell you that the final few months of a project are always exhilarating. This is especially true for the team at Climax Studios, working hard on Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China. So when we caught up with Art Director Glenn Brace to talk about the art and visual style of the game, he was more than eager to discuss his team's work.

Glenn explained that the team didn't feel the pressure of expectation tackling a game led by such a well-loved character in Shao Jun. "From the outset, Assassin's Creed Chronicles was intended to be a fresh new take on the Assassin's Creed universe, so [a relatively unexplored character like] Shao Jun was the best possible choice to champion the first chronicle."

Along with many of his colleagues at Climax, Glenn was very familiar with Assassin's Creed prior to starting work on Chronicles China. In fact, he cites Assassin's Creed II as his favorite in the series so far. When Shao Jun was confirmed to be the main protagonist of the game, the team was pumped.

One of the unique features of Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China is the 2.5D orientation of the game and how the pillars of Assassin's Creed are interpreted in this way. "Ubisoft was very clear that they wanted to see our own interpretation of what a 2.5D Assassin's Creed experience could be and what it could look like. We were left to devise our own artistic direction, which obviously resonated with Ubisoft very early on." With such an amazing opportunity before them, the team at Climax worked hard not only on leveraging the benefits of 2.5D, but also on developing an art style that communicated more than just period and location. "We wanted something that captured the essence of China, something that expressed the kinetic and graceful movements of our hero, Shao Jun."

The art style and direction evolved into a more contemporary, impressionistic take on inks, inspired by the works of Jung Shan. This helped overcome one of the challenges of working in 2.5D; interpretation of real-world locations meant that Climax had to capture more of the essence of a setting than, say, a geographical recreation. "With Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China, it was tough seeking out authentic 16th-century data to reference, but what we could find we put to good, inspirational use, specifically when it came to character design. Our historical research got us so far, but when you consider the goals of Assassin's Creed Chronicles, it was those visual references and influences that helped forge the art style and experience."

Glenn and his team were even able to implement a clever use of parallax while staying true to 2D influences, in order to deliver a unique illustrative style brought to life through gameplay. And he points back to the freedom Ubisoft gave to the Climax team when they started working on Chronicles. "I'm still in awe of the freedom and trust Ubisoft allowed us to expand the Assassin's Creed universe. The fact is that we've presented three distinctly different chronicles, extreme in their style, genre, and contrast from each other, and yet an Assassin's Creed experience still prevails. It proves just how strong and iconic some of the Assassin's Creed concepts, silhouettes, and themes can be. If it were not for the freedom afforded by Ubisoft in the first place, I don't think we would be looking at such a new take on the Assassin's Creed universe."

As far as existing Assassins within the legend and lore go, Shao Jun really stands out. Her backstory, unique black-and-red costume, even her shoe blade all offer something new to help echo our fresh interpretation of the Assassin's Creed experience.

Glenn Brace has been in the videogames industry for 15 years now. He got his start in the racing genre, for which he still has a passion. He has a background in illustration and digital 3D art and has been with Climax Studios since 2002.

You can also hear more from Matt Duff, Lead Designer at Climax Studios on The Network Podcast from Assassin's Creed.

Assassin's Creed: Unity

[09.06.14] Assassin's Creed Unity DevBlog – Navigation with Max Spielberg

Join us as we explore the newly revamped parkour system with our Game Designer Max Spielberg.

We stole some time with Game Designer, Max Spielberg, to talk all about the navigation system in AC Unity. Max has been with Ubisoft since 2012, and has been working on Unity since the very beginning.

"In previous games, you were either running on your feet from object to object, or you were climbing." stated Max. "What we did is basically create a transition between the climb system and the navigation system. So now, you no longer have to drop down from climbing a wall to an object to continue running. You can, from your climb, perform a transition into a direct run, or swing, or any move possible in the game."

The goal from the start was to provide the player with more freedom, and this would mean taking the navigation to the next level with the debut of a new generation of consoles. To accomplish this, the team would have to break away from the trusted navigation system base present in the previous seven games in the series.

"It was a challenge for the entire team to wrap their heads around that kind of change in the system, so we really had to start from scratch."

#DevTip: If you fall too far and are about to take damage, use the Roll move as you land to minimize the damage taken.

The result, is a navigation system that allows Arno to operate on different planes of motion within 3 control schemes; two on the vertical plane and one on the horizontal plane.

"There's the standard Right Trigger control method, where we tried to emulate previous AC games as best we could. So if you've played any previous AC game, you should feel at home with the Right Trigger.

The A button [Parkour Up] will start trending you upwards. If you are on a façade or have a wall next to you, and there are props along the wall, holding A will use the façade itself - the actual wall - to scramble up to the next object that's nearest to your current position.

On the other hand, the B button [Parkour Down] will start dropping you down objects until you reach the ground. This all happens very quickly. In fact, at one point we were toying with the idea of not even needing the leap of faith, because the player can get down facades so quickly with the B (down) option."

A big change to the navigation system also meant that the team would need to clearly make the distinction between the art of free running and that of parkour. Especially when it came to the issue of Arno's moves.

"Parkour is the fastest way to get from Point A to Point B using the environment, whereas free running is the same concept, except using flashier moves to complete that sequence, like doing tricks with your body. We have elements of free running in AC Unity, but we focused more on the parkour aspect of keeping the flow, and keeping some sense of realism. That being said, all these moves are possible since our mocap actors did all of them for us at some point."

Arno will learn new moves as the story progresses, but players will also be able to purchase some new skills too.

"There is a skillset that you learn as you progress through the game. Arno starts out with basic moves and learns more parkour moves along the way. But there are also a few skills that you can purchase, that add some flair to the moves."

"One of my favourite new moves, and one of the coolest ones I think you'll see in the game is called the Base Jump. The player jumps out, arms outstretched, almost looks like he's going into a Leap of Faith and then catches a pole right at the last second to swing off. That's very impressive."

Max Spielberg began his career at Ubisoft nearly three years ago on Assassin's Creed Unity. He hates cilantro, but loves his PlayStation Vita. His Corgi, Mochi, thinks Max spends too much time playing games and not enough time feeding him socks.

[10.06.14] Assassin's Creed Unity DevBlog – Combat with Alex Pedneault

We dive right into the rough and tumble of ACU's new fight system with Lead Game Designer Alex Pedneault

We grabbed Lead Game Designer, Alex Pedneault, from his desk and got him to chat with us about the new combat system in AC Unity. Alex is in a unique position to talk about the evolution of Assassin's Creed since he has been working on the brand since ACII.

"We basically had to start from scratch," chuckled Alex. A new engine on new consoles would require a new approach. After looking at feedback and statistics from various AC games, the core team noticed that fighting had become the main go-to for most players. If they wanted players to take full advantage of Unity, they were going to have to rethink combat.

#DevTip: If you are stuck in a fight with more NPCs than you can handle, use a berserker dart to cause confusion and give you time to flee.

"We wanted to shift combat from being a spectacle and add some real weight to it. In previous games we had mechanics where you could do a counter-kill combo and switch into a kill streak. We knew from the start that we wanted something more challenging. That way we could make the players use more of the other mechanics like navigation and stealth because in previous games combat was the easiest solution."

So they went back to the drawing board and looked to fencing for inspiration. Whether it's with foil, sabre or épée, fencing is a system of checks and balances and trying to out-think your opponent by being 2 steps ahead. Like fencing, the new combat system is more timing based and the counter-kill is a thing of the past.

"We still have counter moves like the parry, perfect parry and dodge but it is much harder to kill NPCs right away. And that changes the way the fight feels. Instead of simply pressing "B", you now have to work for the kill. It shifts the dynamics from a very defensive fight to a more offensive one." This can lead to some sticky situations for Arno. Gone are the days when you could take on an entire army!

"If you are fighting against 1 or 2 NPCs, you can probably beat them. As more and more NPCs join the fight, their attacks get faster and faster and their tactics get better. There will be ones lingering outside your range to shoot you. It becomes overwhelming and you will finally have to flee."

Arno will also have a host of cool, new weapons to play with, the most interesting being the Phantom Blade. It uses the mechanics of a crossbow to fire a silent projectile a great distance, while still serving as a tradition Hidden Blade.

"The Phantom Blade is very cool. It has two kinds of projectiles: the ones that kill and the berserker poison projectiles. It allows for a silent ranged assassination option. It also allows for a distraction, like if you kill a guard others will walk over to check on him. The phantom blade's main goal is to give Arno a way to have a ranged stealth kill option. The blade won't be very useful in combat but it is highly effective in stealth situations."

Alexandre Pedneault started working at Ubisoft in 1998. He is a loyal Habs fan and enjoys fishing on the weekends with his family. He holds a B.Sc. in Anthropology, with a specialisation in archaeology, which lead him to want to work on Assassin's Creed.

[12.06.14] Assassin's Creed Unity DevBlog – Stealth with James Arthur

Uncover the new meaning of being a blade in the ACU crowd with Associate Level Design Director James Arthur

In the flurry of preparing for E3, we were able to wrestle James Arthur, Associate Level Design Director on Assassin's Creed Unity, into a corner long enough to pry free some details on how we're handling stealth.

James is quick to point out that the new toggle for Stealth Mode is, "NOT A CROUCH BUTTON!" But once he'd finished glaring at us, he continued, "Well, it does make you crouch. But if you think back to AC1, where you'd hold the blend button and Altaïr would put his hands together in a sort of praying motion, it's a hybrid between that concept and a crouch. You're less conspicuous when you're in Stealth Mode. So, in Guard Posts, for example, if you want to move silently behind the guards, in Stealth Mode that's possible because they won't be aware of your presence, but if you walk or run past them, then they'll turn around and detect you."

"There's a light cover system as well, so if you're by a low wall or pillar, you'll automatically snap to that and you can move along it. It's a light snapping, though, so you can move away from it as well when you're ready." reassured James. And that's a detail worth pointing out, since it's derived directly from feedback received through player behavior, as James explains, "we discovered in Black Flag that people wanted to run between cover spots, so you'd have two bushes with a path between and they'd sprint across... we're trying to encourage less of that type of behavior because the whole stealth gameplay loop is about looking at the situation, analyzing it and then making your move using whatever methods you have at your disposal."

#DevTip: If you want to go in and fight everyone, sure, in most cases you can do that... that's a perfectly valid approach, but you'll want to rank up your character first.

Of course, those methods include a host of tools both familiar and pleasantly surprising to seasoned Assassins. "We've got the Phantom Blade, which enables you to snipe people from a distance and do headshots, but ammo is really limited. Smoke Bombs work differently, in that the bomb doesn't make people cough and sputter, it doesn't stop them in their tracks as it did previously. It's a line-of-sight breaker."

And breaking line-of-sight is of crucial importance, as James outlined further, "We have introduced a Last Known Position system, so when you run around a corner you'll see an outline or a ghost of Arno's Last Known Position and that's your moment to hide, whether it's by blending in a crowd, jumping into a haystack or getting onto a roof as fast as possible. So, it's really about that loop of: if you're detected, break line-of-sight."

That gameplay loop is of pivotal importance, because it's at the core of removing player frustration we've observed over the run of the Assassin's Creed series. James explains, "We took the feedback from missions and missions where you fail for doing something wrong have the lowest score. And it's easy to see why: they're frustrating, they're super hardcore and they're unforgiving... and that's something we're really trying to remove in ACU." When pressed for an example, James added, "What happens if you kill a person you're supposed to tail? We need to provide other ways of reaching that location, so maybe the guy's got a map in his back pocket, you can kill that guy and loot that map or you could pickpocket him, and you can look at that map and it will tell you where to go. We're trying to remove that hard fail that puts people off."

James Arthur has worked on nearly every Assassin's Creed game since AC2 (he skipped Revelations to go straight onto AC3). He holds an Msci in Astrophysics, but doesn't like to tell anyone at the risk of sounding pompous... we happen to think it's awesome though.

[31.07.14] Assassin's Creed Unity DevBlog – Arno with Travis Stout

Learn more about our newest Assassin with Travis Stout

We managed pry our Single-Player Scriptwriter, Travis Stout, away from his keyboard and got him to tell us all about Arno Victor Dorian. Travis is in charge of the over-arching story of the main single-player experience of Unity. He writes all the dialogue for the single-player missions, develops the characters and the story arcs.

We started the interview with a question that fans have been asking since we released our teaser trailer in March: Have we misspelled our Assassin's name?

"The spelling of Arno, A-R-N-O, is an older French/Germanic, I believe Frankish variation, of the name. It's not as common as Arnaud but you still see it occasionally. It comes back to Arno's family history. His family is a very old one and they've been Assassins for a very long time so we wanted to give him a slightly more antiquated name. Also, the phonetic spelling makes it easier to pronounce."

There is nothing wrong with difficult names, right Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad and Ratonhnhaké:ton? But I digress, back to Arno!

#ArnoFacts: He is known to cheat at cards.

"He is a very driven young man. He is haunted by mistakes in his past or perceived mistakes, that he feels he must atone for. He is very devoted to the Assassin Order as an ideal but, at the same time, he is not as impressed with the weight of the long mystical tradition and ancient rhetoric as some of the other Assassins. He likes to think for himself and make his own decisions. He isn't the type of person who will believe something just because someone tells it to him."

"He is a very well educated young man. He was raised in a noble household and had access to tutors and books so he is very well-read. He has a habit of quoting the classics and tends to use humour to deflect when he is emotionally vulnerable, like a lot of people do I think. We very much wanted him to not be the sort of grizzled bad-ass spouting one-liners that you see in a lot of action movies. We wanted him to feel like an actual person."

Travis Stout has been at Ubisoft for only a year but he has been working in the video game industry for the last decade. Before that he was working on table-top games like Dungeons and Dragons and the World of Darkness games.

[20.08.14] Assassin's Creed Unity DevBlog – Elise with Alex Amancio

Assassin's Creed Unity's Creative Director, Alex Amancio, has been very busy as of late but he managed to find some time to sit down with us to talk about Elise de la Serre.

As Creative Director, Alex's duties are vast! He is in charge of all creative elements of the game including visuals and narrative.

Ever since the release of Unity's second cinematic trailer, fans have been chomping at the bit to know more about the red-headed Templar. Perhaps we can start by clarifying her relationship with Arno.

"Elise is not Arno's sister. They grew up together but never shared a brother/sister relationship. They became fast friends and, as the years went on, they eventually fell in love."

"Elise was born into a noble family, a very influential family. Her family's influence greatly surpassed their title and that is because of their Templar connection. Elise had a very privileged childhood, she would never want for anything, but she wasn't interested in sitting around and doing nothing. She'd rather be hanging out with the servants playing pharaoh than going to a ball. She has always been one for adventure and, more often than not, would drag Arno along, getting him into trouble."

Growing up in an influential Templar family mustn't have been easy for young Elise. How young do Templars start their training?

They became fast friends and, as the years went on, they eventually fell in love.

"She has had that training throughout her whole childhood, it was just disguised as other things. Fencing classes may have seemed like a fun activity but she was being trained to fight. The training was never obvious; it was just a part of growing up. She was never aware of what the applications of these activities would be but she was always very fit and well educated. Her christening into the Templar order only happens much later and it is something you witness in the game."

"Elise and Arno are two sides to the same coin. She is extremely driven, fiercely independent and deeply in love with Arno. Their choices and events around them have brought them to this point but while Arno is on a quest for redemption, Elise is driven by vengeance."

#EliseFacts: She once convinced Arno to hide from guards by jumping a fence into an orchard. Unfortunately it was being patrolled by guard dogs.

When asked if Elise would be able to beat Arno in a swordfight, Alex reflects for a moment before answering:

"Elise could probably take him. Arno is an efficient fighter and would go for a quick kill but Elise is very strategic and would have planned for each of his moves."

There is one last question that seems to be on fan's minds: If Arno was raised in a house with a Templar family and fell in love with a Templar, why is he an Assassin?

"You'll find that out when you start playing the game!"

Alex Amancio started his Ubisoft career in 2005 on the game Far Cry 2. He joined the Assassin's team in 2010 as Creative Director of Assassin's Creed Revelations and moved on to Unity after it shipped. He once saved his Montreal studio mates from a confused bat by trapping it in a cardboard box in the 5th floor cafeteria.

[21.08.14] Assassin's Creed Unity DevBlog – Player Progression (Part 1)

Learn more about player progression in Assassin's Creed Unity with Benjamin Plich.

It wasn't easy, given how busy he is. But we managed to pull aside Benjamin Plich, Lead Game Designer on Assassin's Creed Unity to get more details on how player progression will work within the game.

"With Unity being a fresh start for the franchise on a new generation of consoles, we had to revamp some core gameplay elements while ensuring that we retained the essence of the franchise. Which wasn't an easy task." stated Benjamin. "And traditionally, the franchise has had separate single-player and multiplayer experiences. From a game design standpoint, Unity represents the unification of these game systems into a single, online experience."

From the very beginning, Benjamin and the team aimed to maintain the open world freedom that Assassin's Creed has come to be known for, while ensuring a seamless transition for players between their solo and cooperative experiences within the game.

"All activities in the game world can be joined and accessed seamlessly. This means that the player doesn't have to navigate any complicated menus. There are mission givers present in the game world; some grant solo missions and others supply missions that can be completed with the aid of other players. A player can complete all of the content in game alone should they wish to do so."

#DevTip: Want to wander around Paris without the worry of mission constraints? No problem. Online Free-Roam has you covered.

That is an important point to note. The player always has control over their online experience, be it as part of a group in Online Free Roam, or tackling a specific mission with three friends. "There isn't the concept of world invasion in Unity like there is in Watch_Dogs." Benjamin added. "Any player you see in your world will be someone who's invitation you have accepted, or someone you have specifically invited. You always have the power to determine your online experience."

This new approach brought with it a whole new set of gameplay challenges. In response, Benjamin and the team introduced an individual mission difficulty system in Unity.

"For the first time in the franchise, we have a real difference in difficulty between missions. This means that all the missions in game are rated across 5 levels, similar to the character rating system. So a level 1 character attempting a level 5 rated mission is definitely going to find that very tough to complete. However, you could also team up with a higher levelled friend and coast through a difficult mission just to earn some valuable experience."

In order to level up Arno, players will need to spend Sync Points to purchase additional skills across the 3 main pillars of Unity: Stealth, Navigation and Combat.

"There are no set classes for players to choose from. Instead, we decided to give players the choice on how to customize their character. You can specialize in a particular area, or allocate your Sync Points evenly across all pillars."

Benjamin Plich has worked as a programmer, Creative Director and Game Designer. He joined Ubisoft a year and a half ago. Prior to this, he worked in Japan as a video game translator.

You can hear more from Benjamin on The Network Podcast from Assassin's Creed Initiates!

[01.09.14] Assassin's Creed Unity DevBlog – Paris Stories

Russell Lees is one of the writers on Assassin's Creed Unity; so naturally, we were keen to chat about the Paris Stories, which form some of the side content that will appear in-game. We began by asking Russell to give us a brief overview on them.

"Normally in open world games, you have standard, open world activities. But we realized that we had Paris, France, and there was tons of historical content there that we wanted to take advantage of." said Russell. "As a result, every single one of the side content activities has a historical tie, either to some interesting person or event that took place during the period."

Given how eventful the French Revolution was, especially in the city of Paris, this should make for quite a lot of activities within the Paris Stories alone.

#DevTip: Some of the Paris Stories are chained to form mini narratives. Curiosity is your friend.

"There were so many that we wanted to include, yes. Often they centered on fairly minor characters, at least in terms of the overall French Revolution. Nevertheless, their stories were very interesting, and should give a lot more narrative impact to the open world activities."

But how do the Paris Stories tie into the main narrative path of Arno, and ultimately the Assassin Brotherhood?

"Occasionally some of the stories connect to, or spin off of some of the characters you meet on the main path, like the Marquis de Sade for instance. But as the player can attempt these at any time, they couldn't link too closely to the main narrative thrust." Russell elaborated, "The idea is that one of the directives from the Assassin council is for Arno to make life as livable in the city as possible for the citizens. As a result, some of the Paris Stories missions will be dictated to you by the Assassin Brotherhood. However, you'll just as frequently stumble upon someone interesting with a task they'd like you to help them with."

We then asked Russell how these Paris Stories would appear to players in the open world.

"Although you can stumble upon some of the mission-givers around the city, you can also read the newspapers that are scattered around the city for clues. If you read an article of interest in the newspaper, you might suddenly see a new icon appear on the map, which you can then go and investigate. So it pays to really explore the open world."

Russell Lees worked on both Assassin's Creed III and Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag as a writer prior to joining the Assassin's Creed Unity team.

[10.09.14] Twitter Q&A; with Alex Amancio and Ivan Balabanov

With a new convention and a new demo to show off, we got lots more questions on Twitter about Assassin's Creed Unity. So we convinced Creative Director, Alex Amancio to take charge of the Assassin's Creed Twitter account for a whole hour...

Q: Can you tell us more about Elise's relationship to Arno?
A: Elise and Arno grew up together and were always friends, they've known each other since 5 or 6. When they got older, they fell in love.

Q: Will the modern day story line be as interesting and inter-connected as it used to be during the Desmond Saga? or self-contained?
A: It is the beginning of new cycle, and the context changes significantly.

Q: Can you upgrade everything by the end of the game?
A: You can purchase every skill, because that means you've become a Master Assasin, but gear is a different story.

Q: Hey Alex, I know Unity will focus on the main pillars of AC, but will it have epic action scenes like Revelations?
A: Yes! But I am not going to spoil anything!

Q: What kinds of new things will we see in Unity?
A: Co-op, character progression, stealth mode, revamped core pillars, open-ended missions, biggest city in an AC.

Q: How extensive is the character load-out customization?
A: There are four different specializations and you can choose to focus on any of them... There are four co-op skills, but you can only have one active at a time.

Q: Why was Unity the best game to introduce the new co-op mode?
A: It's the first fully next-generation Assassin's Creed, so we had to reinvent a lot of the engine.

Q: How does it feel directing Unity compared to directing Revelations? How have things changed, other than the tech?
A: Both projects are very different in that the challenge lies in two very different areas of the game. For Revelations, it was about concluding the trilogy of one of the most beloved characters in AC. For Unity, we had four years, but because we want to reinvent the fundamentals, we were working with more unknowns.

Q: Do you have a preferred playstyle for the game? Stealthy, combat, or a bit of both?
A: I like to play the traditional Assassin way... more stealthy and be the blade in the crowd.

Q: What were the reasons for delaying the game?
A: When the game comes together at the end, we can get the most done in polish. In those last two weeks, the little details can add up. They can be the difference between a good game and a great game.

Q: Can I do story missions co-op with my friends or is the story completely separate from co-op?
A: Everything happens within the same world. Certain missions are related to Arno's redemption quest. While other missions are related to the Brotherhood and their dealings in the French Revolution, those are co-op. Both are available to Arno and comprise his story.

Q: Is Eagle Pulse the less "matured" version of Eagle Vision?
A: Eagle Pulse is the first level of the Eagle Vision skill.

Q: Will we be able to access the Catacombs of Paris???
A: You will indeed be able to access the Catacombs of Paris!

Q: Can all guards parry? Or will some guards be hit-able always from the beginning, like the grunts from AC3-4?
A: It really depends on whether or not you catch them by surprise, but you can't do automatic counters anymore

Q: How hard do you find making a game? Do you find much tedious or is most of it interesting?
A: Making a game is extremely interesting. Every day is a new challenge. There's no specific set of rules. You need to treat every situation like a new challenge.

Q: Will Arno be speaking any French in the game like Ezio spoke Italian?
A: Arno speaks the occasional word in his native language, just as previous Assassins did.

Q: Is Arno related to Desmond or is he from another bloodline?
A: He's not related to Desmond, he is from another bloodline.

Q: Will there be different difficulty levels/settings in Unity?
A: The missions have a star rating system to indicate their difficulty.

Thanks very much, I enjoyed talking to you directly! I hope you guys enjoy the game as much as we enjoyed making it!

[16.09.14] Assassin's Creed Unity DevBlog – Player Progression (Part 2)

In the second part of our Devblog on Player Progression, Lead Game Designer Benjamin Plich talks about skill specialization, customization equipment and weapons.

Specialized characters should open up the way for a variety of tactics when tackling co-op missions especially.

"Personally, I like to specialize in the Stealth pillar. However, that might mean my character is not as strong in Navigation. So it helps if one of my friends has spent their Sync Points in levelling up a character adept in Navigation and free running. This is extremely useful because of the 360 approach that we have adopted within the level design for Unity. It means that every mission has a variety of opportunities for players; at least one Navigation opportunity, one Stealth opportunity and one Combat opportunity."

Besides skills, players can also acquire and level up a variety of equipment and clothing customization options, each with their own unique benefits.

"We have almost 200 different pieces of customization equipment, mainly spread across 5 different categories – Hoods, Coats, Lower Body, Forearms and Belts. If I wanted to improve my Eagle Sense beyond the Sync Points I've spent on that skill, I could acquire a specific type of hood that might increase the range of the ability."

#DevTip: Stun Bombs make for great offensive equipment. Where you'd normally use a smoke bomb to escape combat, you can use a Stun Bomb to disorient guards and take the fight to them.

The fashion conscious amongst you need not worry. Players will be able to match the colors of their customization equipment to ensure they are the best dressed Assassin on the streets and rooftops of Paris.

"We definitely thought it was important to give players the ability to select the color of their equipment. In fact, when you select colors, you are doing so for the overall appearance. That way we can ensure that your custom Assassin will also match and look badass."

You have your skills set up, and your Assassin looks the part. But what about tools of the trade, that is, weapons?

"There are a whole range of weapons to choose from in the game, like swords, two handed swords, long weapons and rifles" said Benjamin. "Each has different animations and types of attack. Oh! And bombs return too."

Bombs you say?

"Yes indeed. In game, players will have access to smoke bombs, money bombs, stun bombs, cherry bombs and poison bombs. In addition to those, Arno will also be able to utilize Beserk darts via the new iconic weapon, the Phantom Blade."

Benjamin Plich joined Ubisoft a year and a half ago. Prior to this, he worked in Japan as a video game translator, gameplay programmer, game designer and creative director.

You can hear more from Benjamin on The Network Podcast from Assassin's Creed Initiates!

[25.09.14] Assassin's Creed Unity DevBlog – Co-op Gameplay with Christophe Rossignol (Part 1)

Associate Level Design Director Christophe Rossignol gives us a glimpse at the underlying concepts behind Co-op Missions.

These final months of development are always exceptionally exciting for our developers as the game starts coming together after years of hard work. This is especially true of our Cooperative Missions, so when we caught up with Associate Level Design Director Christophe Rossignol to discuss the philosophy and gameplay, he was eager to discuss the teams' work.

To begin, he offered the guiding concept from which the Co-Op Mission team began: "The core idea of co-op is giving freedom to the player."

From this starting point, the team had to re-evaluate what they'd done in previous games. "If you look at the past ACs, mostly when you are playing a mission, it's like ‘go over there, open that door, follow that guy and kill him.' You know, it was really like breadcrumb objectives... so the first thing we did was remove those mid-path objectives so players could do what they want."

This was more challenging that it might seem, as Christophe explains, "The first thing we had to do was break our own habits, because, as Level Designers, we're used to helping the player navigate their objectives. So, we have to give the player a playground, what we've been calling a ‘black box' and just let the player play. Now, we tell you ‘go kill that guy' and then it's up to you to figure out how to do it."

Everyone loves the Assassin because they want to be that badass character. Like, nobody wants to be the sidekick.

This is a concept that Christophe is actually quite familiar with, though. "I'm coming from Far Cry 3, and one of the things we found while working on the Outposts was this idea of a 360° approach: basically a small gameplay area with one central objective."

And from there, it was a natural progression... "We apply this to ACU by providing huge locations, both interiors and exteriors, and we give only one objective to the player... but they can have many different skills and tools, so we force ourselves to design for all the skills and tools while not requiring any specific tool to complete an objective."

Even with his considerable experience, defining the core concepts behind the cooperative ACU experience also included research. To that end, Christophe and the team examined several different cooperative game types... but one stood out. "In MMORPGs you have multiple players who have different skills, so I can do things that you can't do and you have skills that I don't have, so we combine together to be stronger."

"We liked that idea, but we wanted to keep all the players as the Assassin, so we have a bit of that, but not such that two players can be completely different. For example, everyone can fight like an Assassin... everyone has the Hidden Blade, but there are skills that you can earn to differentiate yourself from your friends and to give you a specialty that helps your co-op partners."

We'll have more insights from Christophe Rossignol in Part 2 of this interview where he'll tell us more about mission structure and the interplay of gameplay elements.

Christophe Rossignol feels like a dinosaur, because he's been working for Ubisoft Montreal for a bit more than nine years. He started as a Programmer/Scripter, but switched to Game/Level Design and enjoyed it so much that he's been doing it ever since.

[29.12.35 (sic)] Assassin's Creed Unity DevBlog – The Art of Unity

Art Director Mohamed Gambouz gives us some insight into the art of Assassin's Creed Unity, and how it brings the French Revolution to life. ==== Assassin's Creed has always had very strong Art Direction, and naturally, Unity is no different. In order to get a glimpse behind the curtain at this fascinating aspect of the game, we spoke with Art Director Mohamed Gambouz.

Mohamed is ultimately responsible for defining the artistic vision of the game, as well as orchestrating the work of the artists on the team. With such a big job, we wanted to know what the process of Art direction on a project looks like.

"Well, we start by reading and understanding what the game is about, usually via a pitch from the Narrative or Creative Director. In this case, the key themes were French Revolution and Paris. From there, we move on to doing a lot of research. This helps us both enrich the original vision, and provides inspiration for the art and designs."

For a project like Unity, there can be as many as 150 artists working on the team at any given time.

Mohamed continued, "At this point, we start to develop a solid idea of what fits with the vision and what needs to be filtered out; usually referred to as the Concept stage. This could be anywhere from 6 months to the first year of development. Once we are all aligned on the art direction, then we dispatch that to the artists."

And one of the defining pillars of the vision was of Paris as a city in turmoil. "When dealing with historical facts and time periods, we usually split the art direction in two. On the one hand, we have the reality, and on the other, we set the exaggeration and stylization. During our research, we usually travel to the location to get a good sense of the reality; facts, architecture, objects and elements. Once all that is gathered, then we start working on the exaggerated stylization as this is the side that helps us convey emotion and atmosphere in game."

This was a key point when it came to crafting the identities and flavors of the different districts of Paris. Mohamed explained further, "The overall direction for the game, and specifically Paris at the time was about the interplay between light, smoke, color and decay. Those four themes can be seen in varying combinations throughout the different districts of Paris, and those combinations are what help to give each district its own identity."

With all of that defined for the environments, it stands to reason that the same philosophy extends to the characters as well. We asked Mohamed how he came to define the eventual looks and styles of the game's main characters, Arno and Elise.

"Our main aim for the characters this time around, was to ensure they were grounded in reality as much as possible. As such, we were very heavily inspired by the real fashions of the French Revolution. So we began with realistic character designs that fit the era, and then worked the Assassin and Templar layers on top of those. Specifically between Arno and Elise, both their designs have similarities in the color palette, but also noticeable differences. This helps emphasize that they have a relationship, but exist on opposite sides of the ideological conflict. Visually speaking, Elise's design is centered around square shapes, like most Templars. Arno's design on the other hand, is dominated by triangles, like most Assassins."

Mohamed Gambouz is a veteran of Ubisoft, having been at the company for 16 years, and previously worked as Art Director on Assassin's Creed Brotherhood and Assassin's Creed II. He also worked on Prince of Persia, Beyond Good and Evil, Splinter Cell and Rayman.

Assassin's Creed: Rogue

[19.08.14] Assassin's Creed Rogue DevBlog – Narrative

We were able to catch up with Susan Patrick, one of the writers on Assassin's Creed Rogue. We started by asking Susan to tell us a little bit about Rogue's overall story.

"Rogue is a unique game within the Assassin's Creed franchise" stated Susan. "It is the first game that goes in-depth in exploring the perspective of a Templar. In the series up till this point, we've generally presented the Assassins as noble heroes and the Templars as scheming villains. But in Rogue, we are going to turn that on its head and show you he other side."

Interesting indeed. Which begs the question, who is this mysterious Templar that we will get to play as?

It is the first game that goes in-depth in exploring the perspective of a Templar.

"You play as Shay Patrick Cormac. He's brash and arrogant, but has a conscience. Born to Irish immigrants in New York, Shay finds himself searching for purpose after his father passes away. It is at this point that the Assassins find him and take him in. Despite becoming a successful Assassin, Shay will start to question the motivations of the Brotherhood and eventually, seek redemption by hunting the Assassins down."

A new perspective, a new protagonist, and a new time period.

"The game takes place between the 1750s and the 1760s. Historically, this is a time period that contains the 7 Years War, which was fought in both Europe and the Colonies. As it was the first global conflict, this was one of the reasons we chose the time period. The other reason we chose this time period was because it fit in perfectly with the Kenway saga. And as eagle eyed fans have spotted, Haytham makes an appearance in Rogue."

#ShayFacts: Cormac is a Gaelic name meaning "raven". His ship, The Morrigan, is named after the Irish goddess of battle and strife, who usually appeared in the form of a raven. Shay and his ship were truly meant for each other.

We tried to pry some more information from Susan on the appearance of any other familiar faces in Rogue.

"Well you'll just have to play the game to find out" Susan said with a wink. "However, fans who are familiar with the series and know a little bit about the timeline can probably piece a few things together"

Message received. But anyway, back to Haytham.

"When Shay meets Haytham, he is looking for a role model. And Haytham, in many ways, is the Templar's Templar. So Shay sees Haytham as someone he can learn a lot from. At the same time, Haytham sees Shay as someone he could learn some things from too. It makes for an interesting dynamic."

Susan Patrick worked on Assassin's Creed Initiates as a writer prior to joining the Assassin's Creed Rogue team. Before that, she was a technical writer for the Ubisoft Montreal studio. She loves mythology and has a kitsune tattoo.

[10.09.14] Twitter Q&A with Ivan Balabanov, Producer on Assassin's Creed Rogue

Assassin's Creed Rogue has continued to generate a lot of excitement. And with that comes a lot of questions. What better way to get answers than to hand over control of the Assassin's Creed Twitter to Ivan Balabanov, Producer on the game...

Q: For the best ongoing narrative experience, should I play Rogue or Unity first.
A: Each are unique narratives, so both have different advantages.

Q: Will there me multiple outfits as in other AC's?
A: Yes, there will be. Shay will have a variety of outfits.

Q: Can you tell us anything about the modern day story?
A: We can't say anything about that, except that there will be modern day. It exists.

Q: Will Rogue expand on Black Flag's naval system?
A: We'll expand the naval experience in #ACRogue, with features like burning oil, puckle gun and reverse boarding!

Q: What is the relationship between Shay and Haytham?
A: It's a professional relationship. And... that's all I'm going to say at the moment.

Q: How do you make the player want to kill who they've been playing as since the beginning?
A: We'd love to answer this, but it's for you to discover while playing.

Q: Does Shay have an interest in pieces of eden?
A: Shay will be exposed to First Civilization artifacts, yes.

Q: What was the most exciting new feature added in AC?
A: The whole Templar experience, on both land and the high seas!

Q: What's the reason of releasing two different storylines? Which would impact the storyline more?
A: The two stories compliment each other rather than contradict. They're both part of the same universe.

Q: What sorts of new side missions can we expect in #ACRogue?
A: The bulk of side missions are related to the Templar experience and Shay hunting down the Assassins. Or the Seven Years War... there are quite a few tie-ins there.

Q: Does Shay acts like a pirate sometimes ?
A: Who doesn't?

Q: What was the most challenging part of telling the narrative through the eyes of a Templar?
A: To portray a convincing transition from Assassin to Templar, which I believe we pulled off well.

Q: Will there be any new weapons in #ACRogue?
A: There will be new weapons galore, both on land and sea! Check this out.

Q: Is the armour that Shay used is the same as the Templar armour that Edward use in AC4?
A: It's not the same armor, but it's emblematic of the style of Templar uniform of the time.

Q: Will Edward Kenway make an appearance in Rouge (sic)?
A: The answer is in the book Assassin's Creed Forsaken, which you can pick up here.

Q: Will this game tell what happened to the Assassin's in the colonies prior to Connor joining?
A: #ACRogue explains what happens between AC4 and AC3, why Connor must rebuild the Assassins.

Q: Since we play as an Assassin who joins the Templar Order will the games soundtrack sound darker than other ACgames?
A: It does match the mood of the game, so, yeah, it does get pretty dark at times.

Q: How much fun was it to design a game around the "villain" for a change?
A: Shay is not a villain... he's a dark and powerful anti-hero and creating him was really enjoyable.

Q: Will the father of understanding guide us?
A: Always.

Q: Where does AC Rogue take place?
A: In the North America wilderness, North Atlantic and New York.

Q: Can I get clarity? In 4, it was stated Abstergo USED to be run by Templars, but later stated they still own it.
A: It was founded by Templars, and harbors many Templar agents, but not every Abstergo employee is a Templar.

Q: Is Shay an ancestor of Desmond or is he from a complete different bloodline?
A: Nope, Shay is not an ancestor of Desmond.

Q: Does Charles Lee appear in AC Rogue?
A: Some historical figures are returning, but we're not giving specifics just yet.

Q: Are Unity and Rogue connected in any sense and why is there no multiplayer this year????
A: Yes, they are connected.

Q: Will the diving bell and underwater diving return for Rogue or will it be replaced by something new?
A: Due to the harsh climate of the North Atlantic, diving isn't feasible for Shay and his crew.

[13.10.14] Assassin's Creed Rogue DevBlog – Narrative and Characters with Richard Farrese

Lead Writer Richard Farrese gives us a bit more insight into the narrative and characters of Assassin's Creed Rogue.

With the launch of Assassin's Creed Rogue fast approaching, we thought it was a good time to learn a bit more about the game's overall narrative, as well as some of the characters players will get to meet in the game. So we went over to Richard's desk, to get some more information out of him.

"As you already know, Rogue is the story of Shay Patrick Cormac, an Assassin who decides to turn his back on the Brotherhood and become a Templar. Shay starts out as a young Assassin, learning the trade. Eventually he gets sent out on a mission where something goes horribly wrong. When he returns to the Colonies and confronts Achilles, he is unable to make sense of what happened. It is at this point that Shay takes it upon himself to make sure the Assassins can never repeat what he was sent to do, and thus betrays the Brotherhood."

This already raises many interesting points, most important of which is getting to see things from a Templar perspective. Traditionally, Assassins have been (mostly) portrayed as a force for good, while the Templars have generally been seen as the evil side. However, Richard is keen to emphasise that it is not as clear cut as that.

Interception missions give Shay the opportunity to learn of Assassin targets by catching the pigeons the Brotherhood use to communicate. From there, he can move to prevent the assassination and protect the targets.

'"It is better to view them as having differing ideologies. Sure, you have exceptions like the Borgias and Warren Vidic, who were very villainous. But ultimately, both factions believe that they are working for the good of humanity. They just differ in their methods. Players originally got a peek behind the Templar curtain in Assassin's Creed III by playing as Haytham for part of that game. So in Rogue, we looked to push that experience even further."

With Shay fulfilling the role of both Assassin and Templar in Rogue, we pressed Richard for more information on some of the characters Shay will interact with on his journey.

"Well, we've already mentioned Achilles; when you start the game, Shay is a young apprentice under his tutelage. At the time, the Brotherhood was very strong in the Colonies, so Shay gets to learn from several Master Assassins. And one of them is another important returning character, Adéwalé."

Adéwalé is quite old during the events of Rogue, given its place in the timeline after Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag, and before Assassin's Creed III.

"Adéwalé is one of the Assassins Shay will try to track down at some point in the game. However by the time Shay meets him in game, Adéwalé is already a legend amongst the Brotherhood. In fact, he is one of the most famous Assassins of that time." Richard continued, "As for Haytham, he is the one that will eventually induct Shay into the Templar Order. However, the game starts a couple of years before Haytham first arrives in the Colonies. By the time you meet him in game, he had already begun gathering Templar allies, been to Europe and returned back to the Colonies."

Richard Farrese is both the lead writer for the Assassin's Creed brand, as well as the lead writer for Assassin's Creed Rogue. Richard also worked on Assassin's Creed III Liberation and Project Legacy. Prior to joining Ubisoft, he worked as a freelance writer on a variety of projects. He also plays in a couple of bands.

You can hear more from Richard on The Network Podcast from Assassin's Creed Initiates!

Assassin's Creed: Syndicate

[06.16.15] A Letter From Assassin's Creed Syndicate Senior Producer François Pelland

Hello! I'm François Pelland, the Executive Director of the Québec Studio and Senior Producer on Assassin's Creed Syndicate. I wanted to write a quick note just for our fans to express how thankful our entire team is for your support and how excited we are to show off the game in the coming months.

Back in 1997, I joined the Ubisoft Montreal team as employee number 56. Since then, there have been successes and trials, but one thing that was always present was a desire to learn and grow. Key to this, is an understanding, that to create truly innovative experiences for our players, we have to dare... we have to risk. This understanding is one of the best things about Ubisoft's presence here in Québec and gives us room to dream big.

But we couldn't do it without all of you. Your support, year after year, ensures that we are always able to try new things and bring new ideas to our games. From the feedback you provide us through social media, our forums, our playtest labs – we take it all in and try to synthesize it with our creative vision to make games you will love. Crafting these memorable experiences is why we do what we do, and you're an important partner in that work.

So, on behalf of the Québec Studio, and all of the many other studios around the world contributing to the creation of Assassin's Creed Syndicate, I want to thank you.

[07.21/28/31.15] 7 Things You Need to Know about Assassin's Creed Syndicate

The Industrial Revolution marked the dawn of the modern era. Technology was advancing rapidly, wealth disparity was rampant, and people turned to lives of crime to save themselves from harsh working conditions. It's at the tail end of the Industrial Revolution in Victorian London that Assassin's Creed Syndicate takes place. In the first part of this feature, we'll introduce you to our two main Assassins, Victorian London and Jacob and Evie's mission there, and their gang the Rooks. Head over to part two for more details on combat and stealth, weapons, gadgets, and vehicles.

1. TWIN BLADES
For the first time in Assassin's Creed you will be able to play as two Assassins – Jacob and Evie Frye. Born in a small town just outside of London, these twin Assassins were raised to follow the Creed. Together the Fryes head to London with the end goal of taking it back from Templar control. However, they both have very different ideas as to how to go about this. Where Evie is tactical and resourceful, Jacob is brutal and impulsive.

"Jacob and Evie represent a different side of the English persona," says Creative Director Marc-Alexis Cote. "Jacob is a charismatic brawler. He's going to be the leader of London's criminal underworld. Evie is much stealthier. She's really, really intelligent and witty. One of the things I really like about our two characters is how they bounce off each other."

"A lot of the brand has to do with human DNA, seeing into the past through DNA," adds Senior Producer Francois Pelland. "Having a brother and sister, twins that share so much of the same DNA, feels like something that plays into the strengths of the franchise."

The twins will have to use their unique skills to unite the London underworld under one banner and remove the stain the Templars have left on the great city, because whoever controlled London during the Industrial Revolution controlled the world.

2. THE CENTER OF THE WORLD
At the beginning of the 19th century, London's population was around one million people. By the time the 20th century rolled around, it had skyrocketed to roughly six million people. "Such a massive and swift expansion is bound to create instability," Historian Jean-Vincent Roy elaborates. "Certainly this is how it played out for Victorian England. There was huge progress and innovation, of course. But there were also extremely harsh working conditions, child labor, appalling hygiene and sanitation."

When the twins arrive in London, they are seeing everything for the very first time. They have never been to this city before and must learn all of its secrets alongside the player. "Because the game starts outside London, you reach London on the train with the characters and you see it with them for the first time," says Lydia Andrew, Audio Director. "So that is a nice moment of revelation and kind of seeing the city through their eyes as well. It allows us then narratively to grow their experiences, grow their relationship. They discover the city and at the same time the player is doing all those things, too. They're not starting from the point of view of being locals or experts."

"When Jacob and Evie arrive in London, the Templars are winning," adds Pelland. "They control all the key aspects of London. You have to remember back then London was the biggest center of humanity, with a quarter of the world's population living there, and the Templars were on top of every part of that city."

So in order to remove the Templars from power, the twins will need to make their way through each of the unique boroughs of London, winning over the locals and turning them to their cause. "London really is – and was at that point – a city where the boroughs have very strong personalities," says Andrew.

WHOEVER CONTROLLED LONDON DURING THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION CONTROLLED THE WORLD

"There are very strong visual differences, very strong socioeconomic differences and very strong audible differences."
As you travel through each of the boroughs, you'll not only be able to see and hear a difference in your surroundings, you'll also feel it in the way you interact with your surroundings. Take the local police, for instance. In a wealthy area like Westminster (where you'll find Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey), the streets will be crawling with police. You'll need to take your fights into the dark alleys of the city in order to avoid their watchful eyes. But if you head over into Whitechapel, rampant crime has practically caused the police to abandon the area. If you hijack someone's carriage and kill a few enemy gang members, chances are no police will be around to catch you.

3. NOBODY FRESHER THAN MY CLIQUE
In order to take on this massive city, Jacob and Evie are going to need an army. On their journey to wrestle control from the Templars, the twins will unite the street gangs of London under a single banner. The Rooks will be the Fryes' ears, eyes and blades in the deadly underworld.

"The criminal underworld is being controlled by the Templars," explains Côté. "That's how they maintain their control on the city. So Jacob and Evie will call the streets their home and they will rise up and take this criminal underground and unite it under the syndicate of the Assassins. That's how they'll take control away from the Templars and give the city back to its people."

Many of Assassin's Creed Syndicate's activities and side quests will revolve around winning over the various gangs in London's diverse districts, building influence to help them gain even footing in the war. "Upon arriving in London, Jacob and Evie soon take the side of the impoverished majority, though not necessarily for the same reasons," says Roy.

THE ROOKS WILL BE THE FRYES' EARS, EYES AND BLADES IN THE DEADLY UNDERWORLD

"Evie is much more idealistic and closer to the Creed, and Jacob perceives the rugged London poor as natural allies to the cause."
In the demo, we see Jacob taking on a hideout where the Templar-controlled Blighters are hiding out. Once you clear enough of the enemy gang members out of a district and remove their influence, their their Templar leaders will ambush you and challenge you to a Gang War. You'll face off in iconic locations in one final struggle for control over the district. Take out the Templar gang leader (in our demo this gang leader was a rough-and-tumble woman called Bloody Nora) and the district will belong to the Rooks.

4. LOOKIN' GOOD, FEELIN' LETHAL
Gone are the good old days when you could walk down the streets with a sword at your side and no one would bat an eye. Concealment is now key. In the world of organized crime, it's smarter to hide your advantage until the moment of attack. Combat is more about getting in close and fighting dirty. In order to support this brutal new style, the Assassins will need some more clever weapons. Weapons like the brutish brass knuckles and the compact revolver, or the gentleman's cane sword and the exotic kukri knife. These fiercely efficient weapons come together to form the perfect arsenal for an Assassin in the Industrial Revolution.

‘IT WAS A VIOLENT UNDERWORLD UNDER A SKIN OF RESPECTABILITY'

"London was harsh and unforgiving to many," says Historian Jean-Vincent Roy. "Even though progress permeates the city throughout the century, it remains an old city with a long history and many dark corners. Shady back alleys, densely populated slums, layers upon layers of old, crumbling buildings right next to sparkling new ones... This environment makes for close and vicious encounters. In the blink of an eye, a street full of young people loitering about could turn into a highly violent brawl. Fists, knives and sometimes guns would come out in a flash and vanish just as quickly upon the arrival of the Metropolitan police. It was a violent underworld under a skin of respectability, is what I would call it."

You may not see people walking down the streets of London with swords openly hanging at their sides, but you probably won't see too many people just waving guns around either. Though the 19th century did see incredible advancements in firearms technology, guns just weren't a very common thing to see in London. They would have been hidden, tucked away under coats. "Firearms weren't openly carried in London like they would have been on the American frontier, for example," explains Roy. "Public display of weapons was just not a thing in Victorian London. But this also sparked some pretty creative ways to conceal firearms (and other weapons), leading to a less obvious display of force, but not necessarily leading to a corresponding loss of offensive power."

5. A MODERN ASSASSIN'S TOY BOX
The world of Assassin's Creed Syndicate is like no world you've ever seen in Assassin's Creed. Carriages fill the streets, which in turn need to be made much wider to support the new traffic flow. The buildings are taller than ever and dense crowds pack the sidewalks. You'll need some help getting around the city. That's where the introduction of the rope launcher comes in. A new addition to the Assassin gauntlet, the rope launcher will propel you to new heights at a faster pace or even let you create a zipline between buildings and avoid the streets altogether. The rope launcher can be used at any time, on any building and becomes a very powerful tool in the hands of either Jacob or Evie.

In addition to the new tools at your disposal, there have also been some changes made to familiar toys. Take the upgraded hallucinogenic darts, for example. In our demo, we see Jacob trying to get rid of a small group of enemy gang members. Rather than use the dart on just one of them, he fires at a nearby fire drum they are warming themselves around. The effect is an explosive shower of hallucinogenic gas that hits multiple opponents, causing them all to attack one another in blind rage.

6. SWEET RIDES
Why walk when you can ride in style? Any carriage you see on the busy streets of London can be yours. Yes, even if they are already occupied. You can knock someone out of the driver's seat or hide in the actual carriage itself to escape from your pursuers. In our demo, Jacob hijacks a carriage to chase after a fleeing target, but is quickly noticed by the local police. After his carriage begins to take too much damage, he makes a daring leap into another nearby vehicle and neatly kicks the driver out before continuing his chase.

Of course, if you can do all these stunts, you can be sure your enemies can as well. They will be able board your ride and rip you right out of your seat for a good old fashioned brawl on the roof of the carriage. Square off against your foes or leap to the relative safety of another carriage top, performing an intricate dance over the vehicles of London.

You'll also have access to another common sight from the period: trains. This was an era of speed. These marvels of the modern age allowed people, goods and information to travel more rapidly than ever before and they provide a brand new playground for the Assassins. You may find yourself racing down the length of London's many trains as you take on your enemies.

7. GETTING A STEALTHY UPGRADE
As Jacob enters a restricted area in our demo, he slips effortlessly into stealth mode, whipping off his stylish top hat and pulling up the familiar hood of his brethren. He uses his rope launcher to rapidly propel himself to a nearby rooftop and get a quick layout of the guards in the area. From there, he locks onto a guard patrolling another rooftop, sends a zipline out over the guards head and quietly moves into place above him, before dropping down off the rope and effortlessly silencing the watchman. After that it's a matter of working his way through the base and freeing imprisoned recruits for the Rooks.

Down on the ground level, Jacob can swiftly slide into cover and make his way through enemy territory. Assassin's Creed Syndicate moves away from the hard snap cover function of Unity in favor of a more modern, softer snap to give the players a more natural transition from stealth to navigation. Jacob quickly darts around cover as he makes his way through the restricted area, whistling to grab a guard's attention before noiselessly taking him down and dragging his body to a better hiding place. He then rappels back up to the rooftops and uses a throwing knife to cut down a hanging stack of crates and send it crashing onto a patrolling enemy. The throwing knife can also now be used to create distractions and draw your enemy's attention away from an area.

When the time comes to hop out of stealth and engage the enemies en masse, you'll find combat is much faster-paced than ever before. Latency has been cut in half and multiple enemies will attack all at once. When you've got a crowd closing in, you'll have to put your reflexes to the test as you focus on stunning opponents to take them out of the fight for a few precious moments. Luckily, this is Jacob's area of expertise. "His style is very focused on close combat," says Cote. "You'll see him breaking bones and really putting enemies on the ground and taking them down."

Assassin's Creed Syndicate will be making its way onto PS4 and Xbox One on October 23 and PC this fall.

[08.04/11/18.2015] Assassin's Creed Syndicate – How Combat, Navigation and Stealth Are Changing

The modernity of Assassin's Creed Syndicate presents some of the biggest changes the series has seen since ACIV's pirate ships. As the time period shifts from the 18th century to the 19th, the three central pillars of Assassin's Creed's gameplay – combat, navigation and stealth – are evolving to fit the changing times. What's ahead as Jacob and Evie step into the spotlight?

COMBAT

An inveterate brawler, Jacob relies largely on a pair of brass knuckles to put the hurt on Templar stooges. "Jacob's really about close combat," says Marc-Alexis Coté, Assassin's Creed Syndicate's creative director. "You'll see him breaking bones and really putting enemies on the ground and taking them down very, very efficiently."

Fistfights are nothing new, but in Assassin's Creed Syndicate, they're faster and more brutal than ever, as Jacob overwhelms his enemies with wicked flurries of metal-enhanced punches, and quickly dodges and parries enemy counterattacks. If you've played Assassin's Creed Unity, Jacob's attacks, dodges and stuns will feel familiar, but the brawls they enable feel a lot quicker and much more brutal than ACU's swordfights. The new combat system also introduces a few entirely new twists, like contextual kills that let you do things like stomp and break an enemy's leg before smashing his face repeatedly into a wall. It's also possible to stun multiple opponents and chain together a rapid series of kills while they're staggered.

"We're making sure that the combat is faster," adds Coté. "We've cut the latency of the fight in half to make it more responsive for our players as they jump from one target to the other."

When things get deadly serious, Jacob can rely on a sword cane, his revolver, and of course his Hidden Blade. He can also switch quickly from punching to delivering lethal strikes. His most unique weapon, however, is a curved kukri blade, an outsized knife with its own unique place in the history of the British Empire.

"It is absolutely exotic," says Jean-Vincent Roy, Assassin's Creed Syndicate's historian. "Right before the period of the game, the British army encountered Gurkhas in Nepal, and they came to know this particular knife intimately, and they actually hired the Gurkhas for the British army, because these guys were so fierce. This particular weapon would probably end up in London as a trophy, an extremely rare trophy."

NAVIGATION

Victorian London is a huge city, and we're not just talking landmass. In the 19th century, the demands of industry and commerce reshaped it into a sprawl of broad streets and immense structures, and those present new challenges – and opportunities – for a series that has traditionally revolved around climbing pre-industrial buildings and leaping between rooftops.

"The buildings of Victorian London are taller and the streets are wider than any we've featured in the series before," says Côté. To help Jacob and Evie quickly get around these larger spaces, Syndicate introduces the rope launcher, which lets the heroes rapidly ascend to high ledges and create ziplines across wide gaps.

Like the pulley lifts in previous games, the rope launcher isn't meant to replace traditional Assassin's Creed parkour, but to enhance it. "This is another tool that will allow the player to use a lot of creativity and quickly chase down their targets," says Côté. In terms of navigation, we're really focusing on fluidity of movement, of parkour, on making it super accessible and making sure that the Assassin goes where the player intends to, and doesn't hang on every object or obstacle.

"It's really about maintaining the player's movement throughout the environment," he adds.

In practice, Assassin's Creed Syndicate's parkour has a comfortable familiarity. It looks as fluid as ACU's free-running, and retains the ascending/descending controls that ACU introduced, but navigating the angled rooftops of London's huge buildings feels noticeably smoother (and just a little quicker) than getting around in Revolution-era Paris.

When things get deadly serious, Jacob can rely on a sword cane, his revolver, and of course his Hidden Blade. He can also switch quickly from punching to delivering lethal strikes. His most unique weapon, however, is a curved kukri blade, an outsized knife with its own unique place in the history of the British Empire.

The rope launcher, meanwhile, is more of a game-changer than we expected; just walk up to any wall, and you'll see an L1 button prompt (on PS4) that lets Jacob launch himself straight up to the roof. It also works for crossing long horizontal distances; just point the camera at a faraway ledge or outcropping, and if the button prompt appears, then you can create a zipline and move hand-over-hand to your destination. It's a natural addition to the parkour, and especially useful for when you don't want to pick your way up the side of a ramshackle flophouse – or worse, drop down to street level and climb back up again just to cross a road.

"THE BUILDINGS ARE TALLER AND THE STREETS ARE WIDER THAN ANY WE'VE FEATURED IN THE SERIES BEFORE." – MARC-ALEXIS CÔTÉ

Then there are the carriages, which introduce challenges of their own, like driving on the left and constant interference from Templars. "If enemies see you hijacking a vehicle," says Côté, "they'll hijack one themselves and chase you, jump over, pull you out of the driver's seat and fight with you on top of the vehicle – which is going to keep moving, because it's drawn by a horse." Of course, if they can do it, so can you. "Players will be able to jump from one vehicle to another vehicle while they're in motion," says Côté. "You'll be able to hide in those vehicles, or coerce people into the vehicle, so you can abduct targets or people on the streets, put them into those vehicles, and drive them around the city."

STEALTH

Sneaking in Assassin's Creed Syndicate is as easy as tapping a button to enter stealth mode, at which point Jacob doffs his top hat, pulls up his hood, and drops into a crouch. In some ways, stealth hasn't changed much since ACU and Assassin's Creed Rogue; it still plays an important role, as you use Eagle Vision to pick out targets and silently execute them. Just like their predecessors, the Frye twins can sneak up on Templar scum while hiding behind cover, or drop from roof ledges – as well as from ziplines – to bury his Hidden Blade in an unsuspecting enemy's neck. But there have been a few small but notable changes intended to make the experience a little smoother.

"We're getting rid of the hard snap that we had on the cover," says Côté, "so we're moving to a more modern, softer snap, so it feels more natural to transition from stealth to navigation. But we're bringing back the whistle, which I know was one of the fans' favorite features."

Whistling, activated by tapping down on the d-pad, is just as useful as ever, as we found when we used it to lure a gang member to our hiding spot for a quick, clean kill from cover. Speaking of which, the ability to carry and hide bodies is making a comeback as well, meaning that you won't have to leave messes for enemies to discover if your sneaking turns lethal.

"We're also giving the players more tools to manipulate their environment, to lay traps for enemies," says Côté. Throwing knives, for example, are good for more than just quietly eliminating foes from a distance; they can also be free-aimed and tossed at objects to create distractions. Or to cut the ropes securing heavy objects that dangle precariously above your enemies' heads. Meanwhile, hallucinogenic darts can drive individual foes into a homicidal rage, and can also affect multiple enemies if you fire them into an open flame.

We're only beginning to see how Assassin's Creed Syndicate is changing, but it's already clear that it's making some impressive changes – and we're likely to see even more as we approach its October 23 release date on PlayStation 4, PC, and Xbox One.

[09.01.15] Assassin's Creed Syndicate – The Stealthy Mind of Evie Frye

Though she's older than her twin brother by just a scant few minutes, Evie and Jacob Frye are nearly polar opposites. Where Jacob is brutish and headstrong, Evie is patient. She plans. She considers every angle to ensure her mission has the best chance of success. She never leaves anything unfinished. But sometimes her careful nature gets in her way. Evie could probably afford to think a little less, just as Jacob should think a little more. Throughout Assassin's Creed Syndicate, the Frye twins will often need to meet in the middle, because while they have their own personal weaknesses, they're a force to be reckoned with when they work together.

TRUE BELIEVER

Evie Frye is a firm believer in the teachings of the Assassin Order, and wants to use what she's learned to take on the Templars. Jacob believes the path to victory over the Templars is to use the Rooks to force them out of power. So while he's on his own personal mission, Evie is gathering clues to the whereabouts of a Piece of Eden known as the Shroud – an incredibly powerful, incredibly mysterious artifact that can't be allowed to fall into the wrong hands.

In the Gamescom demo for Assassin's Creed Syndicate, those wrong hands belong to Templar lieutenant Lucy Thorne. A consummate Templar (and therefore Evie's target), Lucy is haughty and overconfident – although you might be too, if you had enough influence to effectively occupy the Tower of London while searching for the Shroud. "Evie wants to get her hands on the Shroud before Lucy, and the best way to ensure she does that is to eliminate Lucy," Associate Producer Andrée-Anne Boisvert tells us. Getting to Lucy takes every tool at Evie's disposal – and even when the two have their final, postmortem conversation in the series' familiar White Room, Lucy remains uncooperative, even ominous about the Shroud's true power.

IT TAKES TWO

One of the questions we've seen a lot is, Why make the main characters twins? Wouldn't it also make sense to have them be a couple whose children also go on to be Assassins? Sure, but the series has already been there, done that. They wanted Assassin's Creed Syndicate's story to feel as fresh as its gameplay.

"We've already done the romance angle in the past, and when we started making this game, we asked ourselves how we could make the story different," explains Creative Director Marc-Alexis Coté. "We know our fans, and this is something they want. They want the experience to feel fresh year after year, and this kind of dynamic is not one we have really explored at all in the franchise. So much of the Assassin's Creed brand has to do with human DNA, and seeing into the past through that DNA. Having a brother and sister – twins who share the same DNA – feels like something that really plays into the strengths of the franchise."

Together, these two very different individuals form the ideal Assassin and though their means are seemingly at odds, their motivations are the same. Through their trials, they both realize they need the other to see their mission through. "Evie is very clinical," actor Paul Amos (Jacob) says of his in-game twin. "She's very ordered and precise and she likes to plan, but don't mess with Evie because once she gets going she is lethal. Between Evie and Jacob, they've got all the skills that make up the perfect Master Assassin. As they learn to work together as twins, they're a powerful force."

"Jacob is much more like, ‘Let's get it over with. I'm going to get my guys and we're going to end this,'" says Boisvert. "Evie, on the other hand, sees London and everything around it as a political spider web that needs to be studied. She needs to have a perfect understanding of the situation before she jumps in. Of course, this is going to spark some heavy discussions between them. But their differences are complementary, and I think this will provide a lot of freedom to the players – plus, it's a fun story to see unfold."

TWO ROADS

After the decision to have two main characters was made, the team began thinking more in-depth about how this would affect the gameplay. "Our mission design actually depends on the personality of the protagonist that we are designing the mission for," explains Boisvert. "These two people have very different personalities, so of course we're going to design the missions to suit these differences."

"Evie's missions will be more oriented toward tactical choice and stealth by definition or design, and Jacob's will be more about confrontation," says Coté. And their personality traits are reflected in their skill trees. Coté adds, "Their trees are a bit different. They will share a lot of core skills, but Jacob will have more combat skills, and Evie will have more stealth and infiltration skills."

Evie's Chameleon skill is a prime example. While standing completely still in stealth mode, Evie is able to blend almost perfectly with her environment, allowing to her to quite literally hide in plain sight. Several times in our demo, we found ourselves out in the open with guards approaching, a situation that would normally end in a fight or a chase. With the Chameleon skill, we simply settled in and watched as the patrolling guards marched right past our obvious hiding spot. This also came in handy when hiding around corners that were somewhat exposed. With a little bit of cover, Evie's near-invisibility goes a long way for players who want a perfectly stealthy playthrough.

Evie's Knife Master ability is another perfect choice for those who prefer to work from the shadows. "Throwing knives are a very silent, very deadly weapon," Boisvert explains. "Jacob is going to be more of a gun guy. Evie is going to favor the quieter weapons. Once you get the Knife Master skill, throwing knives do more damage, Evie can throw them farther, and she'll be able to carry more of them."

SHARING IS CARING

Even though a weapon might make more sense for Jacob or Evie to use, they will both share the same arsenal. The development team wanted them to have different skills, but they didn't want to punish a player for choosing one over the other in the open world. So while Jacob might not be as good with them as his sister, he can still use the throwing knives and cane sword, just like Evie can still use the gun and brass knuckles. Both twins will also be able to use the newly revealed Voltaic Bomb. Letting loose a massive blast of electricity, the Voltaic Bomb stuns and weakens groups of enemies to the point where Evie or Jacob can rush in and finish the job with a few well-aimed hits, or distract them long enough to make an escape. It's especially useful when they're mobbed by enemies, at which point Jacob or Evie can simply drop a Voltaic Bomb without any damage to themselves.

Each mission in the open world is available to both players as well. "There are some activities in the open world that will come a bit more naturally for one of the characters than the other," says Boisvert. "Like the Gang Wars, for instance. Those fit a bit better with Jacob's narrative and playstyle, but you'll never be blocked from these types of missions if you choose to play as Evie. Freedom really is key with Assassin's Creed Syndicate."